Is someone quietly buying up Gannett stock?

That's what an eagle-eyed Gannett Blog reader asks in an e-mail that points to a surge in the number of GCI shares sold in the past two weeks: "In addition to the recent run-up in the price of Gannett stock, note the approximately 50% increase in the average daily volume of shares traded since Dec. 10. While such spikes are not unprecedented, its possible that someone may be accumulating Gannett stock."

The chart, above, shows Gannett's stock prices and -- in the far-right column -- its sales volume during this month's first 15 trading days. Indeed, yesterday's 5.3 million shares sold was twice the company's 2.5 million-share daily average. There was no similar run-up in volume in the year-ago period, Google Finance data show.

Investor 101: So-called activist investors try to buy shares in companies without getting noticed so they can: A) get stock cheap, then B) force management to make changes that will drive up the share price. Those changes could require even more job cuts, or an outright auction -- the disastrous step taken by Knight Ridder. Noted: No. 1 Gannett stockholder Brandes Investment Partners, which has been accumulating Gannett shares this year, isn't known to be an activist investor.

GCI shares soared 11.5% during the past week vs. a much smaller 1.1% gain in the S&P-500 Index, a broad measure of market performance, Google Finance says. Gannett's closed yesterday at $39.37 a share.

[Image: today's Nashville Tennessean, one of several GCI newspapers that whacked newsroom employment this year, Newseum]