• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, February 11, 2010

While the newspaper industry may be approaching the bottom of a long, vertiginous slide, big publishers aren't about to take any chances with their new cost discipline measures. The latest evidence: Gannett Co. announced that employees of national flagship USA Today will be asked to take another week of unpaid leave in the second quarter of 2010, and also said that last year's pay freeze will continue through the second quarter.

The latest round of austerity measures was announced to USA Today employees by publisher David Hunke in a memo that was first made public by Gannettblog.com, maintained by former Gannett employee Jim Hopkins.

Hunke noted that in the fourth quarter of 2009, "National advertising revenues in general were still down from the previous year as were paid advertising pages at USA Today," adding that "the nation's economic recovery still appears inconsistent and unsure."

USA Today employees, along with most Gannett employees, were required to take several weeks of unpaid furloughs in 2009. The pay freeze, which was instituted on February 1, 2009, will be extended by at least 90 days -- possibly more, according to Hunke.

Gannett recently announced its fourth-quarter results, reporting that total revenues fell 14.4%, from $1.7 billion in 2008 to $1.5 billion in 2009, while operating expenses dipped 16.2% to $1.2 billion (not counting a $4.5 billion non-cash impairment charge in the fourth quarter of 2008).

Full-year revenues fell 17.1% from $6.8 billion in 2008 to $5.6 billion in 2009. The fourth-quarter revenue declines were due mostly to a 17.9% decline in newspaper ad revenues from $963 million to $791 million, which includes USA Today and more than 80 other newspapers.

This also reflected a 4% drop in newspaper circulation revenues from $303 million to $290 million, and a 13.9% decline in broadcast ad revenues from $213 million to $183 million. However, in percentage terms, these results are an improvement over previous quarters. Gannett's total revenues dropped 18% in the first quarter, 18% in the second quarter and 19% in the third quarter.