• by Erik Sass , September 30, 2008

As the stock market plunged on Monday and most corporate executives hyperventilated, newspaper publishers were probably among who were nonplussed. Having distinguished themselves by a continuous decline in stock prices during an otherwise buoyant market, their under-performing sector is just one of many in a general washout.

The good news is relative, of course. Most newspaper companies were down Monday, but less than the stock market average. The New York Times Company's Class A stock was down 3.8% to $14.35 late Monday afternoon, and Gannett's was down 6.6% to $17. McClatchy's stock was up 1.78% to $4.50.

All these figures compare with the stock market in general, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 6.98% and the New York Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 8.7% by the end of the day.

Fittingly, in the final analysis, the stock market tanked in part of because of the same trend that has steadily undermined newspapers: the steep downturn in the housing market.

The single biggest area of revenue loss for newspapers has been the real estate classified listings, which turned south over a year ago and never got better.

Now investors -- and the market -- are panicking anew. Congress refused to approve a giant $700 billion bailout for banks pushed to the brink of failure by bad loans -- mostly in the form of sub-prime mortgages.