Stock | Reader: Why have GCI shares fallen 10%?

With less than two weeks before Gannett announces third-quarter financial results, the company's shares fell again yesterday, closing at $24.39, down 72 cents.

That prompted Anonymous@12:36 to ask: "Any speculation on why GCI shares have tumbled about 10% in the past week?"

Anonymous@2:09 replied: "Could it be the government shutdown and the looming possibility of loan default?"

That, 2:09, might make sense if the overall market had fallen by about the same amount, or if other newspaper publishers had similarly fallen that much. But they haven't. In fact, GCI's recent performance has been far worse.

GCI's last intraday high was $27.04 on Oct. 1. That was a week after Belo shareholders gave a formal OK to Gannett's $1.5 billion takeover of the TV company -- a deal that had already propelled GCI's stock after it was first announced in June.

But since Oct. 1, GCI has been trading down.

Comparing numbers
Here are yesterday's closing prices for three other newspaper publishers plus the widely followed S&P 500 index, and the change in prices since their Oct. 1 intraday highs:

• GCI: $24.39, down 9.8%
• New York Times Co.: $11.94, down 5.8%
• McClatchy: $2.99, down 2.9%
• Lee Enterprises: $3, up 13.2%
• S&P 500: 1,656, down 2.4%

Circling back to 12:36's question, why did GCI perform so much worse than the others? Two possibilities come to mind.

Investors may have sold to grab profits after the Belo-driven climb; after all, GCI is still up 36% from a year ago.

Or they might be fretting about Gannett's third-quarter results, which are scheduled for release Oct. 21. Wall Street stock analysts already expect a poor quarterly showing, and only see things getting grimmer during the fourth quarter.

And yet, the seven analysts tracking Gannett forecast shares will go higher. On average, they see GCI rising to $28.64, according to consensus estimates gathered by Thomson Financial.

FCC chair nominee punts on Belo deal questions

At a U.S. Senate hearing yesterday, President Obama's nominee to lead the Federal Communications Commission declined to comment on whether Gannett and other companies were skirting FCC regulations on ownership of multiple media outlets in the same market.

Wheeler

The nominee, Tom Wheeler, was responding to remarks by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who criticized GCI over its proposal to buy 20 Belo stations, including three in Washington State, according to trade publication Broadcasting & Cable.

FCC local market caps prevent GCI from retaining ownership of Belo stations in five markets where it already owns a station or a newspaper. Those will be spun off to a new, third company led by former Belo executive Jack Sander. GCI has said it will provide some back office services for the Sander stations. And GCI will help the company, Sander Holdings Co., with financing needed to buy the five stations, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing yesterday.

The $2.2 billion Belo deal announced last week can't proceed without an OK from the FCC and other regulatory agencies.

At the hearing, Wheeler, 67, said he understood the seriousness of the issue, and said he's been a longtime advocate of diversity of voices. He said the FCC has asked the General Accounting Office to study the issue and he "looked forward to their opinion," Broadcasting & Cable says.

He said the key is for the commission to look at competition, localism and diversity as the touchstones, not business plans. He declined to comment on whether some broadcasters could abuse shared service agreements to get around the rules. "I am not informed enough to be explicit on that," he said, "but I am going to be."

Obama nominated Wheeler, a telecom investor, on May 1.

Belo units in St. Louis, Phoenix to stay independent

KMOV-TV in St. Louis and KTVK in Phoenix will compete head on with Gannett's existing stations in those two cities when GCI completes its $2.2 billion acquisition of Belo Corp. later this year, according to a published report today.

In three other cities -- Louisville, Ky.; Portland, Ore., and Tucson, Ariz. -- Belo stations in the deal will also be spun off to a third party. But GCI will have more of a hand in their operation through a shared services contract, according to the report in Media Bistro's TVSpy.

Sander

In announcing the acquisition plans last week, Corporate told GCI employees that five of the 20 Belo stations in the deal would be owned by the as-yet-unnamed third party. Jack Sander, a senior advisor to Belo, will lead that entity, Broadcasting Division President Dave Lougee told TVSpy.

Lougee's remarks clarified how GCI and Belo will satisfy any regulatory concerns about maintaining competition in those markets where GCI already has a presence. Federal Communications Commission regulations generally prohibit investors from owning more than one station per market, or a station and a newspaper in the same market.

In St. Louis and Phoenix, GCI already owns KSDK and KPNX, respectively. In Louisville, it owns The Courier-Journal. In Tucson, it publishes The Arizona Star with Lee Enterprises. And in Salem, Ore., near Portland, it owns the Statesman Journal.

Bulletin: GCI buying TV owner Belo for $1.5B cash; surprise acquisition doubles broadcast presence; GCI shares rocket 28% to new post-recession high

[Updated at 2:12 p.m. ET with latest stock price, other details.]

In a stunning announcement this morning, Gannett said it's agreed to buy television company Belo Corp. for about $1.5 billion in cash, plus assumption of $715 million in debt -- a deal that nearly doubles GCI's current broadcast portfolio, stepping up the media company's push to diversify revenue streams and its geographic footprint.

The acquisition also moves Broadcast Division President Dave Lougee more firmly into the lead position to succeed CEO Gracia Martore over the next three years.

GCI will pay Belo's shareholders $13.75 a share, representing a 28% premium over yesterday's closing price for the Dallas-based company and its 20 stations. Including the assumption of debt, the deal is worth $2.2 billion, according to MarketWatch.

GCI's stock soared on the news: At mid-afternoon, it traded for $25.43 a share, up $5.58, or 28%. That is the highest shares have traded since the depths of the Great Recession in spring 2009, when GCI fell below $2.

"From a strategic standpoint, it's very good news for the company," analyst Michael Kupinski of Noble Financial told USA Today. "It makes Gannett a big player in the industry. Without acquisitions, they could have been marginalized."

The timing is crucial. GCI has been facing a deacceleration in revenue growth beginning in the third quarter. That is when the company cycles against big, one-time increases in print newspaper subscription rates a year ago. What's more, the Broadcast Division faces similarly tough comparables because of the surge in advertising revenue it got from the summer Olympics in London and the presidential election.

GCI said it expects to finance the purchase through cash on hand, accessing the capital markets and bank financing. At the end of the first quarter, however, GCI had just $143 million in cash on hand.

Risky gambit on TV's future
Combined, those forces had Wall Street analysts pressing Martore for details on other growth initiatives. She has consistently promised to consider new investments, especially beyond newspapers, the historic heart of GCI's operations. TV stations were a logical target, amid broader shifts in the media market.

But in doubling down on TV, Martore is gambling on another legacy industry that's facing some of the same challenges decimating newspapers. Viewers and advertisers are moving to mobile and online rivals, including YouTube and Netflix that are now producing original content of their own.

The Belo acquisition raises Gannett's broadcast portfolio to 43 stations from 23, including stations to be serviced through shared services or similar sharing arrangements. (List of Belo stations.)

Lougee

The deal is one of the biggest in GCI's history, rivaling the $2.6 billion cash purchase in 2000 of Central Newspapers, which included The Arizona Republic and The Indianapolis Star.

The acquisition further raises the profile of Lougee, 54, among candidates to succeed Martore, 61; she faces mandatory retirement age in 2016.

Regulatory hurdles ahead
Following the transaction, Corporate said in its statement, GCI’s Broadcast segment is expected to contribute more than half of the company's earnings before interest, taxes and amortization, and the Digital and Broadcast segments combined are expected to contribute nearly two-thirds.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. But it's subject to regulatory approval, including from the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC could express concern about overlapping properties in five three markets where GCI already owns media outlets: Phoenix, home to both KPNX and the Arizona Republic; Tucson, where GCI and Lee Enterprises jointly publish The Arizona Star; St. Louis, where GCI owns KSDK; Louisville, Ky., home to The Courier-Journal, and Portland, Ore., an hour north of Salem, where GCI owns the Statesman Journal.

Generally, a long-standing FCC rule bans companies from owning a TV station and a newspaper in the same market to prevent concentration of media ownership. But the agency has given companies waivers to the rule, such as in Phoenix. GCI and other companies including News Corp. continue opposing the rule.

In the Belo deal, GCI might offer to divest one or more newspapers or TV stations to win FCC approval. For example, that could put Louisville in the crosshairs at a time when investors including financier Warren Buffet are warming to newspapers.

In an FAQ to employees, however, Corporate said the Belo stations in those five markets would be "separately owned," and that GCI would provide support services to them; Corporate didn't identify the future owners of those five, however. In all of the remaining markets, the Belo stations will be fully integrated into the Broadcast division’s operations. (List of GCI's U.S. properties.)

Martore and Lougee are scheduled to brief employees during a 2 p.m. ET "town hall" meeting. A live video stream will be accessible on the GCI's intranet.

Martore hinted at TV deal
In a conference call this morning with stock analysts, Martore said she began talking with her counterpart at Belo, Dunia Shive, some time ago. The two eventually concluded that a merger to create one of the country’s biggest providers of local broadcast television made sense, and eventually began exclusive takeover negotiations, according to The New York Times.

Martore

In late April, Martore told analysts during the first-quarter conference call that Corporate was watching the market for TV stations. "We're getting lots of calls on them. In some situations vis-à-vis overlap situations or other things, they don't necessarily make sense for us to do."

She continued: "But I would say as a general comment, as you know, our broadcast business had its best year in its history last year. We believe conceptually in the fact that more scale and a bigger footprint matters in the broadcast arena. . . . We have very, very good scale now, but improving on that scale could only be a positive going forward. But as always, we would be incredibly disciplined in what we would look at and what multiple we would pay."

In today's announcement, Corporate also said the company will continue its share buyback program and has replaced its existing remaining authorization with a new $300 million authorization expected to be used over the next two years. The company will also continue its existing dividend payment plans.

Belo, originally known as a Texas newspaper company, spun off its newspaper business into a separate publicly traded company called A.H. Belo Corp., which publishes the Dallas Morning News and the Providence Journal, among other papers. Belo now owns 20 television stations and their associated websites, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Dallas paper is also reporting the deal.

In addition to Central Newspapers, GCI's other major acquisitions have included the $1.5 billion cash deal for U.K. newspaper division Newsquest in 1999, and $1 billion for 19 Thomson dailies in Wisconsin, Ohio and Louisiana in 2000.

Related: TV networks face falling ratings and new rivals.

Why Gannett won't be bidding for the Boston Globe

A day after the New York Times Co. announced plans to put The Boston Globe up for sale, there's plenty of speculation about possible bidders -- including Boston-connected moguls such as Mitt Romney and former General Electric CEO Jack Welch.

But Gannett isn't on anyone's list. Larger chains are reducing their newspaper holdings, the Poynter Institute's Rick Edmonds told the Globe, making it more likely a buyer would emerge from the Boston area. Although Edmonds only called out GCI by name, other big chains absent from today's speculation on potential buyers include McClatchy Co. and Lee Enterprises, plus Tribune Co. and Journal Register, both of which are just now emerging from bankruptcy.

One exception might be News Corp., which is about to spin off its newspaper holdings including The Wall Street Journal and a group of small New England dailies. CEO Rupert Murdoch has a soft spot for print that might make him a more emotion-driven bidder. Another exception could be Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, who has recently been adding papers to his portfolio.

GCI's investments recently have been relatively small, and focused on digital ventures that complement existing businesses, such as in sports media.

New York Times watchdog Ira Stoll lists 25 potential buyers on his Smarter Times blog; GCI isn't among them. The competing Boston Herald has a shorter list. And the Globe story includes some of the same names floated by Stoll and the Herald.

The Globe's weekday circulation is 230,351; Sunday is 372,541, according to the Sept. 30 ABC report. Those figures are less than half what they were in 1993, when the NYT Co. paid $1.1 billion for the Globe plus other businesses.

Today, after the industrywide depression, the Globe and its sister daily, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, might fetch only $100 million to $150 million, according to industry consultant Ken Doctor. And that's assuming pension obligations aren't part of the deal.

Warnings in '93 prescient
But that would be a significant improvement over the puny $35 million offered four years ago, when the NYT Co. last entertained bids.

Even in 1993, when the deal was announced, some Wall Street analysts wondered whether it made sense for the NYT Co. to invest so heavily in the newspaper business, which was already growing slowly even as it still produced substantial profits, the NYT reported at the time.

Sulzberger

But the late Arthur Sulzberger Sr., the NYT Co.'s board chairman at the time, told his paper he believed analysts who predicted the death of the newspaper business were wrong. He said the Globe could become an attractive part of the company's offerings to advertisers and that there could be joint advertising sales.

Even if newsprint is eventually replaced by electronic delivery of information, Sulzberger said, businesses like the Times and the Globe would remain viable because of their information-gathering abilities.

Viable, yes. But nowhere near as profitable.

Urgent: GCI shares tank 7% on Q4 earnings report

Gannett's stock just closed at $18.51, down $1.33, or 6.7%, despite the company's reporting better-than-expected financial results for the fourth quarter. Shares had traded even lower, falling to $18.38 at one point, according to Google Finance data.

That places the shares well below their recent trading high of $20.61, set less than two weeks ago.

GCI's plunge came as overall stocks dived. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day at 13,880, down 130 points, or nearly 1%. The broader S&P 500 index close at 1,496, down 17 points, or 1.2%.

Other major newspaper publishers fell, too. Shares of the New York Times Co. closed at $8.34, down 6%; McClatchy, $3.04, off 3.5%, and Lee Enterprises, $1.22, down 3.9%.

Federal regulators are ordering employers to scale back policies that limit what workers can say online

Employees have a right to discuss work conditions freely and without fear of retribution, The New York Times reports today -- whether the discussion takes place at the office or on Facebook, or other social media such as Gannett Blog.

“Many view social media as the new water cooler,” said Mark Pearce, the National Labor Relation Board’s chairman, noting that federal law has long protected the right of employees to discuss work-related matters. “All we’re doing is applying traditional rules to a new technology.”

The board’s rulings, which apply to virtually all private sector employers, generally tell companies that it is illegal to adopt broad social media policies -- like bans on “disrespectful” comments or posts that criticize the employer -- if those policies discourage workers from exercising their right to communicate with one another with the aim of improving wages, benefits or working conditions, the NYT says.

But the agency has also found that it is permissible for employers to act against a lone worker ranting on the Internet. And one example involves a reporter for The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, which is published by a company owned equally by Gannett and Lee Enterprises.

Frustrated by a lack of news, the reporter posted several Twitter comments. One said, “What?!?!?! No overnight homicide. . . . You’re slacking, Tucson.” Another began, “You stay homicidal, Tucson.”

The newspaper fired the reporter, according to the NYT, and board officials found the dismissal legal, saying the posts were offensive, not concerted activity and not about working conditions.

Earlier: News-Press reporter leaves Fort Myers, Fla., paper after being disciplined over Chick-fil-A post on Facebook last August.

How do you feel about posting online comments critical of the company? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

Newspaper stocks tumble on surprise NYT Co. loss

Gannett's stock is down nearly 4% to $17.06 this morning after the New York Times Co. reported an unexpected loss for the third quarter. McClatchy also disclosed lower quarterly earnings today.

The NYT Co.'s loss from continuing operations was 1 cent a share, excluding severance and other costs, the company said today. Analysts had estimated a profit of 8 cents on average.

Advertising revenue fell 8.9% on a 11% decline in print ad sales. Digital advertising revenue decreased 2.2%. The company said it expects ad revenue trends for the fourth quarter to be similar to third-quarter levels.

NYT Co.'s shares plunged 15% to $9.09 -- the biggest intra-day drop since April 2009, according to Bloomberg News.

Other major publisher stocks fell, too: McClatchy was down 5.4% to $2.47, and Lee fell 0.7% to $1.49.

McClatchy's decline came after the publisher of the Miami Herald and Charlotte Observer reported lower quarterly results as well.

MNI said third quarter profits fell to $5.1 million from $9.4 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings fell to 6 cents from 11 cents. Throwing out various one-time adjustments, profits fell to $8.8 million from $10 million a year ago.

In contrast earlier this month, Gannett reported better than expected revenue and profits for the quarter, buoyed largely by strong political and Olympics advertising in the broadcasting division's 23 TV stations.

Stock | On eve of meeting, checking GCI's pulse

Gannett's stock closed today at $13.82 a share, off 1.5% for the day -- and down 9% from May 3 last year, when shareholders last gathered for their annual meeting at Corporate's headquarters in McLean, Va.

The broader S&P 500 index was up 3% during the same period.

GCI's shareholders are to gather once again tomorrow, at 10 a.m. ET.

A sampling of other newspaper publisher shares since May 3:

• Media General: down 29%, to $3.57
• New York Times Co.: down 21%, to $6.31
• McClatchy: down 3.9%, to $2.72
• Lee: unchanged, at $1.13

Stock | In the home stretch, GCI bests weak pack

With just two weeks left in the year, Gannett's stock is on track to turn in the least-worst performance of six major newspaper publishers I follow, according to Google Finance's latest data. GCI recently traded for $12.78, down about 15% so far this year.

So long as GCI trades for under $15 a share, hundreds of thousands of stock options granted to senior executives this year and in 2010 are worthless. They represent a serious chunk chuck of their annual pay.

Moreover, falling prices renew pressure on the top brass to find ways to shore up shares, typically through cost-cutting such as the new round of first-quarter furloughs and always-possible layoffs.

Following are today's recent trading prices and year-to-date performances of those six publishers vs. the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In this group, only the Dow is up YTD.

• Gannett: $12.78 a share; down 15.2%
• Lee: 69 cents; down 71.9%
• Media General: $4.08; down 29.4%
• McClatchy: $2.14, down 54.2%
• New York Times Co.: $7.54; down 23.1%
• E.W. Scripps: $7.78; down 23.4%
• S&P: down 3.4%
• Dow: up 2.5%

Urgent: GCI partner Lee plans bankruptcy filing

Lee Enterprises, one of the industry's biggest newspaper publishers and a partner with Gannett in Tucson, Ariz., said today it will file for bankruptcy court protection on or about Dec. 12, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch is now reporting.

The announcement came after efforts failed to reach an out-of-court refinancing deal with lenders.

Lee said earlier this year it would seek a "prepackaged" Chapter 11 bankruptcy if it failed to refinance $904.5 million in debt that matures in April 2012, the Post-Dispatch says.

In a press release today, the publisher said that filing a pre-packaged plan would allow the company to restructure its debts and exit bankruptcy in 60 days or less.

Lee, based in Davenport, Iowa, and GCI are in a 50/50 partnership that publishes the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson; it's one of four papers where it holds an interest. Overall, Lee owns 48 dailies, including the Post-Dispatch.

Lee shares closed at 53 cents, down 1 cent. In after-hours trading, shares rose 15 cents. GCI shares jumped 65 cents, closing at $11.91, up nearly 6%.

Stock | Pubs' shares rise amid Slim's NYT Co. move

Slim

From a new MarketWatch story: 

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim increased his stake in newspaper publisher New York Times Co. to 8.1%, according to filings late Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The move lifted New York Times stock 12% today. Slim acquired a 6.4% stake in New York Times in 2008.

The Big Board
Mid-afternoon prices for major newspaper publishers vs. the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average:

• Gannett: $10.48, up 0.2%
• Lee: 75 cents, unchanged
• Media General: $1.34, up 11.7%
• McClatchy: $1.48, up 8.8%
• E.W. Scripps: $6.66, up 2%
• S&P: up 1.4%
• Dow: up 1.3%

Stock | GCI's shares just closed at $8.95, down 6%

[Updated at 5:38 p.m. ET with more closing prices.]

It was a terrible final minutes on Wall Steet overall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 284 points, or 2.5%, to 11,125. The S&P 500 index tumbled 2.9%.

Earlier today, Gannett's stock traded at a new 52-week low: $8.94 a share, Google Finance says.

Other newspaper publishers' shares were mixed. Closing prices of major publishers:

• Gannett: $8.95, down 5.9%
• Lee: 82 cents, up 0.6%
• Media General: $1.96, up 2.1%
• McClatchy: $1.35, down 1.5%
• New York Times Co.: $6.18, down 6.9%
• E.W. Scripps: $7.06, down 5.6%

The NYT's closing price also was a record 52-week low, Google Finance says.

Stock | Lee rises 4% on debt refinancing accord

[Updated at 4:58 p.m. ET with closing price.]

Lee Enterprises' stock closed at 62 cents a share today, up 2 cents, or 3.7%, as investors digested yesterday's news that the publisher had reached a crucial agreement with lenders on refinancing most of $1 billion in debt. Earlier in the day, shares traded as high as 84 cents.

Lee, a business partner of Gannett's in Tucson, Ariz., had announced the development after markets closed yesterday. The company's initial stock rally this morning came even as major market indexes tumbled.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index both fell sharply at the close: down 2.7% each. GCI closed at $9.84, down 3 cents, after trading as low as $9.55.

Based in Davenport, Iowa, Lee publishes the Arizona Daily Star and 48 other U.S. dailies.

Lee says it's reached crucial refi deal with creditors

Aiming to avoid a trip through bankruptcy court, Lee Enterprises said early last night that more than 90% of its creditors had agreed to a refinancing of about $1 billion in debt due in spring 2012. Shares of the company, which is a Gannett business partner in Arizona, jumped in late trading after the news.

In a statement, the publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Arizona Daily Star and 47 other papers said the company's loans will be amended and extended beyond the current maturity of April 2012 in a structure of first and second lien debt.

Junck

The first lien consists of a term loan of $689.5 million, along with a $40 million revolving credit facility that is not expected to be drawn at closing. The second lien consists of a $175 million term loan. The company must still refinance another $175 million in loans, however.

In a letter to shareholders and employees, CEO Mary Junck said: "The refinancing will remove a cloud that has obscured Lee’s formidable strengths in our markets, how far we have advanced against the challenge of the national economy, and how successfully we are seizing emerging opportunities in the changing media landscape."

Lee's announcement came after equity markets closed. Its stock rose 10 cents, or 16.7%, to 70 cents a share in late trading. In regular trading, shares closed at 60 cents, a 6.3% decline on a day when many newspaper publisher stocks fell.

Gannett's stock closed at $9.87, down 68 cents, or 6.5%.

Lee, based in Davenport, Iowa, and GCI are in a 50/50 partnership that publishes the Daily Star in Tucson.

By the numbers: Key employment report out today

The U.S. Labor Department releases one of the most closely watched economic barometers this morning: the monthly employment report.

It's the government's first estimate for the number of jobs created in the United States in August, and right now expectations are low, according to this New York Times story.

"Wall Street analysts have a median forecast of just a 60,000 net gain in nonfarm payroll jobs, about half of the gain from July,'' the NYT says. "The unemployment rate -- which comes from a different survey, and reflects the share of people who want work and are actively looking for it but can't find a job -- is expected to remain 9.1%."

The report is released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Consumers react strongly to news about rising and falling unemployment rates. That drives their spending, and the fortunes of all companies -- including Gannett.

Wall Street's view
Investors are especially sensitive to the report. Stock trading resumes today at 9:30 a.m. ET. Yesterday, GCI's stock closed at $11.18, down 37 cents, or 3.2%.

Changes in major newspaper publishers' shares so far this year vs. the S&P 500 index, according to Google Finance:

• GCI: down 26%
• Lee Enterprises: down 74%
• Media General: down 80%
• McClatchy: down 67%
• New York Times Co.: down 19%
• E.W. Scripps: down 20%
• S&P 500: down 4.2%

Related: the Labor Department's report for July.

Stock | After Monday's run-up, a rally again today?

Trading in major newspaper publishers' stocks resumes today at 9:30 a.m. ET, after investors sent shares and market indexes soaring by yesterday's close.

Gannett's stock finished at $11.56 a share, up 87 cents, or a whopping 8.1% -- ranking its performance in the middle of a group of shares I follow. (See chart, above. Bigger spreadsheet.)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 255 points, or 2.3%, to 11,539. The S&P 500 index, a broader measure of overall market activity, rose 2.8%, to 1,210.

Yet, even with yesterday's gains, publishers have a tough slog ahead in order to recover year-to-date losses. For one, GCI is still down 23.4% since the start of the year -- once more, in the middle of the pack. The S&P, meanwhile, is down a far smaller 3.8%.

Entering the final stretch of the current quarter, the revenue outlook isn't encouraging, The Wall Street Journal's Russell Adams reported last week.

"Newspaper companies are resetting their advertising expectations," he wrote, "after a discouraging first half of the year, a shift that could spur a return to more of the job cuts and other belt-tightening moves that spread through the industry in 2008 and 2009."

"Right now," one newspaper executive told him, "I'd have a hard time presenting a plan with revenues flattening out."

Stock | GCI closes up 8%, as markets surge higher

[Updated at 4:07 p.m. ET.] Gannett's stock just closed at $10.23 a share, up 75 cents, or 7.9%, as major indexes marched higher throughout the afternoon, according to preliminary Google Finance data. The S&P 500 index closed up 4.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 423 points, for a 3.9% gain.

Since Aug. 1 alone, GCI's shares have fallen 19% -- a middling performance among six newspaper publishers I'm now watching. This spreadsheet tracks today's changes.

Earlier: Defining GCI as an "outstanding investment."

Stock | Over past month, GCI hit especially hard; today alone, shares fall 9% more, closing at $9.48

[Updated at 4:19 p.m. ET.] Gannett's stock has plunged 26% in the past month through yesterday, the second-worst performance of six newspaper publishers with comparable operations, as investors worldwide hit the panic button over debt worries here and abroad. And that was before today's newest steep dive. (See table, above; view it as a spreadsheet. Plus: historical stock prices.)

Indeed, GCI closed moments ago at $9.48 a share, down 95 cents, or a whopping 9.1%. The S&P 500 index, a widely watched barometer of overall stock market activity, dove 4.1%, and the better-known Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 520 points, or 4.6%, according to Google Finance.

The past month's rout has whacked more than $1 billion off Gannett's market capitalization -- the value of all its outstanding shares multiplied by the stock price. Yet, even at today's $2.3 billion market cap, the company remains the biggest of the six publishers.

Urgent: GCI dives 7% at close, in market meltdown

[Updated at 5:28 p.m. ET with closing prices.] 

Gannett's stock closed at $10.06 a share today, down 74 cents, or 6.9%, as major stock indexes plunged, dragging down newspaper stocks across the board.

Today's was GCI's lowest closing price since Dec. 3, 2009, when shares finished the day at $9.85, according to Google Finance. (Graphic shows GCI prices over past two years.)

Earlier today, the company's stock traded as low as $9.94 a share, setting another new 52-week low.

Markets overall took a deep, deep dive in the first trading since Standard & Poor's downgraded U.S. debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 635 points, or 5.6%, closing at 10,810. The S&P 500 index fell an even steeper 6.7%.

Closing prices of select newspaper publishers:

• GCI: $10.06, down 6.9% 
• Lee Enterprises: $0.72, down 11.1% 
• Media General: $2.30, down 8% 
• McClatchy: $1.69, down 7.1% 
• New York Times: $6.95, down 8.2% 
• E.W. Scripps: $7.08, down 10.3%

Over the past 52 weeks, GCI has traded as high as $18.93 a share -- a benchmark set on Feb. 7, according to Google Finance. (Historical stock prices.)