2008: The Year Newspaper Stocks became worth less than the paper they were once printed on

How bad was 2008 for the newspaper industry in the United States? E&P calculated the stock price movements, and massacre doesn’t fully describe it:

GateHouse, down 99.55%
McClatchy, down 93.6%
Lee Enterprises, down 97.3%
Journal Register Co., down 99.58%
Media General, down 92.47%

Gannett Co which owns non-newspaper assets as well as newspapers dropped 80% and the New York Times Company was the best performer losing only 59% of its value. Notably the Dow only dropped 36% for the year.

Of those, Gatehouse Media now has a market cap of only $2.3 million, despite publishing hundreds of papers.

The only question now is: how many will be left on the list by the end of 2009.

Related posts:

1. New York Times/ Gatehouse Media settle links lawsuit
2. US Newspaper circulation down 4.7%
3. Dumb has a new name: GateHouse Media sues the NY Times Company over links
4. New York Times ad sales down 28.4%
5. Media Briefs: Sun-Times, Boston Globe Cuts, NY Times Cash Crisis