“There is a recognition that the business is transforming,” she said in an interview. “Now is a good time to pursue opportunities to monetize real estate and redeploy that capital into new revenue initiatives and/or return cash to shareholders.”

A.H. Belo, which also publishes the Dallas Morning News, had 1,900 full-time employees at the end of 2011, compared with 3,400 in 2007, according to regulatory filings. Revenue in the third quarter was down 29 percent from the same period four years earlier, though the company reported a $1.5 million profit after losses for three of the previous four years. The stock has fallen more than 60 percent since its spinoff from Belo Corp. in 2008.

Cheaper Rent

Newspaper companies are finding they can save money by renting offices outside of urban areas, said Leo Kulp, a New York-based advertising and publishing analyst at Citigroup Inc.

“Newspapers aren’t in the central spotlight anymore as they used to be in times past,” he said. “With the rise of online communications you don’t need to be in center of town. You can pay down debt, raise capital and get cheaper real estate in the suburbs.”

Gannett, the owner of 82 daily newspapers, has been “actively engaged in finding ways to use our real estate assets more efficiently,” Chief Executive Officer Gracia Martore said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call in October. The company is considering “all options” for its real estate, including its 650,000-square-foot headquarters building in Tysons Corner, Virginia, she said.

“As we look to optimize our real estate portfolio, none of our facilities, including our Tysons Corner building, are off the table,” Martore said.

Leasing Elsewhere

In October, the company put its Des Moines Register office up for sale and said it plans to lease 86,000 square feet of office space elsewhere in town. It also is trying to sell properties ranging from the Indianapolis Star building to a production facility in Cincinnati.

Jeremy Gaines, a spokesman for Gannett, declined to comment on the prospect for more sales.