Gracia Martore, chief financial officer with Gannett Co. (GCI), said Thursday that the publishing company's U.S. newspapers, excluding USA Today, posted a 20% decline in online revenue in the first quarter.

On a conference call with analysts following Gannett's first-quarter earnings release, Martore said the division posted an increase in online revenue at a percentage rate in the low single digits excluding declines in online employment classified advertising.

Newspaper publishers have touted their online ad businesses as a growth engine that can offset the industry's print declines over time, but that growth has largely disappeared amid the global economic crisis.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5216; nat.worden@dowjones.com