Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, newspaper publisher The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at New York Times' business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

New York Times facts

Headquarters (founded) New York (1896)
Market Cap $1.29 billion
Industry Publishing
Trailing-12-Month Revenue $2.37 billion
Management

Chairman/Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

President/CEO Janet Robinson
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years) 4%
Cash/Debt $352.3 million / $998.5 million
Competitors

Gannett (NYSE: GCI)

McClatchy (NYSE: MNI)

Washington Post (NYSE: WPO)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 60% of the 427 members who have rated New York Times believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include robertshrestha and All-Star abitare, who is ranked in the top 0.5% of our community.

Just last week, robertshrestha listed several of New York Times' negatives: "Core newspaper business is obviously in decline, free online alternatives threaten its digital expansion plans, still loads of debt. Nothing appealing here."

Over the next five years, in fact, New York Times' bottom line is expected to decline 1% annually. Meanwhile, rival publishers Gannett, McClatchy, and Washington Post are expected to grow at annual rates of 8%, 5%, and 29% over the same period.

CAPS All-Star abitare elaborates on The New York Times bear case:

[CEO Janet Robinson] said this: "While the challenges for our Company and for the larger economy are not yet behind us ..." Revenues are falling. Costs are rising. ...

The mainstream media are going belly up: the TV networks, the large daily newspapers, and the news services. No matter what they do, their salary costs continue to undermine their profitability. They are losing the battle for real estate: computer screens and flat TV screens. Cable is eating their lunch.

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