Gloom for two leading US newspaper companies

America's newspaper companies continued to show weakness yesterday, with the New York Times Company and the Tribune Company both reporting lacklustre earnings, citing soft advertising sales as a major culprit. The Times company reported a 39% drop in profit for the third quarter compared with the same period a year ago. The Tribune company managed an increase, thanks primarily to a one-time gain (due to a restructuring of two partnerships), but once this is excluded, its earnings also fell short of expectations. A Financial Times report attributed Tribune's difficulties to Hollywood's dramatic pullback from newspaper advertising. (Via New York Times)