Self-portraits: Gannett's view of itself, 1994-09

Once a year, Gannett and other big companies give Wall Street's version of the elevator pitch -- the company-written "profile" in the annual Form 10-K. Yesterday, GCI filed its 2008 report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Following is how Corporate described Gannett at five-year intervals, since 1994. Now, consider this question: Does this annual "about us'' reflect the the sea changes buffeting our industry?

March 22, 1994
Gannett Co. is a diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations and outdoor advertising businesses, and is engaged in research, marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming. The company has facilities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Gannett's is the largest U.S. newspaper group, with 83 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, more than 50 non-daily publications and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Total average paid daily circulation of Gannett's daily newspapers in 1993 exceeded 6.3 million, more than any other newspaper group.

Gannett owns and operates 10 television stations, six FM radio stations and five AM radio stations in major markets. Gannett Outdoor Group is the largest outdoor advertising group in North America, with operations in 11 states and Canada. Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. Its nearly 147 million shares of common stock are held by more than 14,000 shareholders of record in all 50 states and abroad. The company has 36,500 employees. Corporate headquarters is located at Arlington, Va.

March 22, 1999
A diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations and cable television systems, and is engaged in marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming. Gannett is a nationwide company with headquarters in Arlington, Va., and operations in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.

Gannett is the USA's largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company's 75 daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of more than 6.7 million. They include USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper, with a circulation of approximately 2.2 million. In addition, Gannett owns a variety of non-daily publications, including USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. The company owns and operates 21 television stations covering 16.7 percent of the USA and cable television systems in major U.S. markets.

Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. Its nearly 280 million shares of common stock are held by more than 14,000 shareholders of record in all 50 states and abroad. The company has approximately 39,400 employees.

March 12, 2004
A diversified news and information company that publishes newspapers, operates broadcasting stations, operates Web sites in connection with its newspaper and broadcast operations, and is engaged in marketing, commercial printing, a newswire service, data services and news programming.

Gannett is an international company operating primarily in the U.S. and the United Kingdom (U.K.). Approximately 85% of its revenues are from domestic operations in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. It has foreign operations in the United Kingdom and in certain European and Asian markets. Its headquarters are in McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C., and is home to approximately 600 corporate employees.

Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. It reincorporated in Delaware in 1974. Its more than 272 million outstanding shares of common stock are held by approximately 12,800 shareholders of record in all 50 states and several foreign countries. The company has approximately 53,000 employees.

The company has two principal business segments: newspaper publishing and broadcasting (television). Financial information for each of the company’s reportable segments can be found in our financial statements, as discussed under Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” beginning on page 17, and as presented under Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” beginning on page 28 of this Form 10-K.

Gannett is the USA’s largest newspaper group in terms of circulation. The company’s 100 U.S. daily newspapers have a combined daily paid circulation of 7.6 million. They include USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper, with a circulation of approximately 2.2 million. In addition, Gannett owns USA WEEKEND, a weekend newspaper magazine, and more than 500 non-daily publications in the United States.

Newsquest plc, a wholly owned Gannett subsidiary acquired in mid-1999 and expanded through further acquisitions since (including Scottish Media Group plc acquired in 2003), is the second largest regional newspaper publisher in the U.K. with a portfolio of more than 300 titles. Its publications include 17 daily newspapers with a combined circulation of approximately 725,000. Newsquest also publishes a variety of non-daily publications, including Berrow’s Worcester Journal, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the world.

Total average daily circulation of the company’s domestic and U.K. daily newspapers was approximately 8.3 million at the end of 2003.

Yesterday
Gannett was founded by Frank E. Gannett and associates in 1906 and incorporated in 1923. The company went public in 1967. It reincorporated in Delaware in 1972. Its more than 225 million outstanding shares of common stock are held by approximately 8,500 shareholders of record in all 50 states and several foreign countries. The company has approximately 41,500 employees including 2,000 employees for CareerBuilder, LLC. Its headquarters are in McLean, Va., near Washington, D.C.

The company is a leading international news and information company. In the United States, the company publishes 85 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, and nearly 850 non-daily publications. Along with each of its daily newspapers, the company operates Web sites offering news, information and advertising that is customized for the market served and integrated with its publishing operations. USATODAY.com is one of the most popular news sites on the Web. The company is the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S.

Publishing operations in the United Kingdom, operating as Newsquest, include 17 paid-for daily newspapers, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, locally integrated Web sites and classified business Web sites with national reach. Newsquest is the second largest regional newspaper publisher in the U.K.

In broadcasting, the company operates 23 television stations in the U.S. with a market reach of more than 20.8 million households covering 18% of the U.S. population. Each of these stations also operates locally oriented Web sites offering news, entertainment and advertising content, in text and video format. Through its Captivate subsidiary, the broadcasting group delivers news, information and advertising to a highly desirable audience demographic through its video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies across North America.

Gannett’s total Online U.S. Internet Audience in January 2009 was 27.1 million unique visitors, reaching about 16.1% of the Internet audience, as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings.

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[Today's front pages from four of the 85 U.S. dailies, Newseum]