GANNETT CO., INC.

one of the largest newspaper groups in the United States. It also has interests in broadcasting and outdoor advertising. It is headquartered in Arlington, Va. The company was started by the newspaperman Frank Ernest Gannett (q.v.), who in 1906 began buying small newspapers in New York state. The company was incorporated in 1923, and it grew as Gannett continued to purchase the newspapers of small and medium-sized cities. These newspapers were usually the only ones published in their city and so could be run very profitably. The company's growth was further spurred by the attention it paid to advertising and circulation and by its tight control of costs. By the late 1980s the Gannett Co. owned more than 90 daily newspapers with a total circulation of more than 6,000,000. In 1982 the company began publishing USA Today, the United States' first national, general-interest newspaper. In subsequent years the company began buying larger newspapers, including the Des Moines Register (1985), the Detroit Evening News (1986), and both of the newspapers in Louisville, Ky. The company also owns numerous radio and television stations and the largest billboard-advertising firm in the country.