everal factors contributed to dismal profits in the second-quarter earnings results for many newspaper industry companies. Executives blame the rising cost of newsprint, flat or falling circulation and sluggish advertising growth for the discouraging results. The Tribune Company, which runs dailies including Chicago, Tribune, Los Angeles Times and The Sun, announced that its second-quarter net earnings slid 62 per cent, to $85.7 million, or 28 cents a share, from $231.3 million, or 73 cents a share, the year before. Second-quarter revenue slid 1.4

per cent, to $1.43 billion, from $1.45 billion. McClatchy (publisher of, among others, The Telegraph, The Mimami Herald and The Tri-City Herald) reported steady second-quarter earnings of $44.1 million, or 94 cents a share, compared with $44.2 million, or 94 cents a share, last year. Circulation sales have also declined 4.4 percent. The Gannett Company, the largest newspaper publisher in the US and owner of USA Today also reported that its second-quarter earnings fell 8.3 per cent. ... more