MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2007--Gannett today introduced the first class of its innovative Talent Development Program, which is designed to recruit, hire and train thirty-two of the nation's top graduating college seniors annually. The program's goal is to identify top candidates while they are still in college and guide them through to pre-assigned jobs at Gannett locations around the country, including USA TODAY, daily community newspapers and TV stations.

The first class, which today begins a summer of training followed by full-time jobs in September, comes from premier colleges and universities in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

"A highly competitive selection process means these graduates are the best of the best from some of the nation's top schools. We are thrilled to welcome them to our industry," said Craig A. Dubow, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "These new hires - and they are employees, not interns - will receive in depth training and mentoring for several months before beginning their full-time jobs."

The thirty-two were chosen from among 350 applications received early in the year. The second class will be chosen next spring from applications received beginning in the fall. More information about applying to the program is available at www.gannett.com/career. The program is open to students in their senior year who are scheduled to graduate or will have graduated mid-term.

Some members of the class are journalists and will work in Gannett Information or Pulse Centers at publications or TV stations. Others in the class will be work in advertising, finance, circulation or other jobs throughout company. A list of the first class is available via http://www.gannett.com/leadershipanddiversity/talentdev.htm.

Gannett's Information/Pulse Centers are the newsrooms of the future for our print or broadcast operations. They are organized to gather and disseminate information to multiple platforms, 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Audience-based ad sales are Gannett's method of delivering customers to advertisers using innovative approaches and multiple products and platforms.

Members of the Talent Development Program have been assigned mentors and will be working in one of four regions of the country: West, Midwest, South and Northeast. At the successful completion of their training, they will be placed in full-time positions in the same region. Throughout the process, they will receive career guidance, feedback and multiple layers of experience.

Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) is a leading international news and information company that publishes 85 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns nearly 1,000 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom's second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes nearly 300 titles, including 18 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 23 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.

CONTACT: Gannett Co., Inc.
Media inquiries:
Tara Connell
Vice President of Corporate Communications
703-854-6049
tjconnel@gannett.com

SOURCE: Gannett Co., Inc.