Will Craig Dubow be among departing CEOs?

Gannett's market value plunged by $8 billion, or 52%, since the end of 2004, I figure. That contributed to the $23 billion in overall lost equity racked up by U.S. newspaper publishers, blogger Alan Mutter says in a new post. Indeed, GCI's loss handily exceeded the 42% industry average for the three years. Nearly half the slide in the market capitalization of news stocks came in 2007, when shares lost a collective $11 billion, or 26%, of their value, Alan says. As I noted Monday, Gannett's stock performance was the industry's second worst in 2007, after that of McClatchy. That terrible showing only puts more pressure on CEO Craig Dubow and his team.

"With neither improved business prospects nor white knights likely to be on the horizon," Alan writes, "you can't blame newspaper executives for cringing as they turn a new page on the calendar. Unless they come up with a lot of creative and profitable ideas in a hurry, many of them may not be around to ring in 2009."

[Image: one of Gannett's 85 daily newspapers, The Des Moines Register, the day before the crucial Iowa caucuses -- the first major proving ground for 2008 presidential candidates; Newseum]