Shares of McClatchy, owner of the News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer, jumped more than 25 percent today after the Sacramento, Calif.-based newspaper chain reported fourth quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations.

The company reported net income of $42 million, or 49 cents per share, compared to income of $15.7 million, or 18 cents per share, during the fourth quarter of 2010.

That beat the consensus of 40 cents per share among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Revenues in the fourth quarter were $351.4 million, down 5 percent from the same period in 2010. Advertising revenues were down 5.7 percent and circulation revenues were down 3 percent.
 

Newspaper publisher The McClatchy Co. reported weaker sales and profit this morning, as the slump in advertising and circulation revenue continued.

Second-quarter revenue fell to $314.3 million, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier. That rate of decline was an improvement from double-digit declines during the depths of the recession, but still reflects a weak economy that's hurting the newspaper business.

Sacramento, Calif.-based McClatchy publishes 30 daily papers across the country, including the News & Observer, Charlotte Observer and Miami Herald. Its papers in Florida and California have been especially hard hit by the housing slump and high unemployment rate.

The News & Observer is transferring newsroom production work to a new center in Charlotte.

Beginning in August, the new center will perform copy editing and page design for The N&O and its community newspapers, as well as The Charlotte Observer and The Herald of Rock Hill, S.C., which also are owned by The McClatchy Co.

In all, about 25 N&O positions are being moved to the center, which will be housed in the Observer's building in Charlotte. The papers' computer servers and much of the technical support staff are in Charlotte.

All N&O copy editors and designers will have the opportunity to relocate to the new center.

"Given the new economic realities of our industry, we must find more efficient ways to deliver the very best products to our readers and advertisers, and we are confident the new center will be an important part of our future," said Orage Quarles III, publisher of The N&O.

The McClatchy Co. reported weaker fourth-quarter profit and revenue this morning, and the newspaper publisher warned that January brought bigger declines in advertising sales as the economic recovery remains shaky.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based publisher of The News & Observer, Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald and other newspapers across the country has been slashing costs to offset lower ad sales and to repay debt. McClatchy, like other media companies, was hit hard during the recession and is scrambling to beef up its online content as advertisers and readers migrate to the Internet.

For the final quarter of 2010, the company reported adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $33.6 million, or 39 cents per share. That was down from $49.6 million, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 5.9 percent to $369.9 million.

The News & Observer and several other media outlets are suing UNC-Chapel Hill over documents related to the ongoing football investigation.

The lawsuit is seeking documentation the newspaper has requested but not yet received related to alleged academic misconduct by members of the football team as well as ties between former assistant football coach John Blake and sports agents.

The Charlotte Observer, the Daily Tar Heel and several local television stations have joined the N&O in the lawsuit. It seeks documents the university has not yet released, citing privacy laws.

State lawmakers voted today in favor of giving a power plant fueled with trash triple credit as a renewable energy facility.

That means that if the measure is approved by the full General Assembly, ReVenture in Mecklenburg County would be able to sell three renewable energy credits for every megawatt of electricity it generated.

Environmental groups fought the measure, saying it would reduce the total green power output in the state.

ReVenture plans to sell electricity it generates to power companies in this state that are required to buy more green power under a 2007 state law.

Our sister paper, The Charlotte Observer, has been following the issue.

In the Charlotte Observer today, some advice for prospective college students sitting down to write the all-important admissions essay.

First: You don't want to go to Big State U because the football team is awesome! Or, if you do, keep that to yourself. Also, don't tell them stuff they already know. 

Check it out.

Our sister newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, has a piece this morning about an Oregon artist traveling the country in his van, collecting stories about the recession.

Aaron Heideman is stopping in 22 cities to gather stories on a huge banner for his "The Man in the Van Project."

“The economic downturn forced me to close my business and re-enter corporate America…but I am choosing not to participate in the recession,” one man wrote.

Scrawled another: “I've lost my job, became homeless, been robbed, abused, discriminated, arrested and neglected. There is no compassion in America.”

Read the full story here.

Here's the winning caption for the latest McClatchy caption-writing contest. To see weekly roundups of cartoons by company artists, go here.

The Charlotte Observer has chimed in on the Mike-and-Mary-Easley/N.C. State controversy, recommending that the former First Lady step down from her post at NCSU.

The Observer writes that Easley's job at NCSU, cloaked in questions related to her husband's connections to NCSU's now-former board chairman, "smells bad."

Read it here.