Bloodletting in U.S. newspaper industry slows to a trickle

After several years of bloodletting, the hemorrhaging appears to have been stanched in the U.S. newspaper industry. Major publishing companies are showing some of the first signs of improvement in advertising revenue since the economic downturn in 2007. The numbers are still decreasing, but the declines are leveling off, as auto makers, financial institutions and luxury retailers have begun to spend more on print campaigns.

“Things are slowly turning around,” says John Miller, senior vice-president and portfolio manager at Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based firm that holds about 5 per cent of the outstanding shares of Gannett “We’re beginning to see some of the traditional advertisers return. It’s just a matter of time before we see print advertising growing again.”