Let's read USA Today
out loud.

Yesterday Gannett, the parent company of USA Today and around 1,000 other publications and associated websites, reported a 31 percent drop in Q4 profits compared to last year.

Earnings totaled $245.3 million. Newspaper revenue was 1.7 billion and ad revenue $1.2 billion, down 12 percent from the same time last year, reports the Associated Press.

Gannett blamed lower broadcasting revenue and paltry newspaper ad sales, including "the relative lack of politically related ad demand," the Wall Street Journal found.

To compensate, the publisher is looking elsewhere. Two weeks ago it created a chief digital officer position, whose responsiblities will include managing "hyper-localized" sites. Among others, Gannett owns 50 mom-oriented social networks.

In November, Gannett also joined other major newspaper publishers in building an online ad network.