• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 2, 2002

A recent article in Editor and Publisher by Lucia Moses reports that newspapers are showing better-than-expected revenue results, generating more hope that an advertising recovery may be close at hand. Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine, who had forecast a 7% year-over-year decline in newspaper ad revenue in February, now believes the slippage was closer to 5% to 6%.

The McClatchy Co., reported revenue in February declined only 1.5% after an 8.3% drop in January. Gannett Co. Inc. also experienced a big improvement in February, as newspaper revenue declined 3% after an 8% decline in January. The Conference Board, though, said its index of leading U.S. indicators was flat in February after four months of gains, signaling that the path to recovery may be bumpy.

All in all, though, this year is starting out much better than the last one, when newspaper ad revenue declined 4.3% in the first quarter. The Barry Group's Miles E. Groves has predicted newspaper ad spending would dip 2% in the current quarter.

John F. Sturm, Newspaper Association of America CEO and president said, "I personally think it's going to be a slow, but hopefully steady, recovery."

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