This good news would be even better if Gannett had achieved these profits as a result of some systematic change in its approach to advertising. The AP story reports that sharp cost cutting measures were used to achieve the gains.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Gannett Co., the largest U.S. newspaper publisher and parent company to the Reno Gazette-Journal, used sharp cost cuts to deliver a higher-than-expected second-quarter profit Wednesday and offered a wisp of hope that the industry's advertising drought might be subsiding.

Although the report showed Gannett's revenue continuing to slide in the last quarter, its executives indicated advertisers are gradually spending a little more money on newspapers.