Gannett's CEO, CFO Certify Financial Statements; Board of Directors Determine Independence Under New NYSE Rules

Business Wire, August 7, 2002

Business Editors

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2002

Douglas H. McCorkindale, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) and Larry F. Miller, executive vice president/operations and chief financial officer of Gannett, today signed and filed sworn statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) affirming the SEC filings made by the company in 2002.

The certificates were reviewed by the company's full board of directors as well as its audit committee.

McCorkindale and Miller also signed and filed similar certifications required under the new Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The documents covered by these certificates include Gannett's 10-K for 2001, its 10-Qs for the first and second quarters of 2002 and its 2002 proxy statement.

The officers filed their sworn statements a week before the Aug. 14 deadline imposed by the SEC. In June, the SEC requested the statements from the nation's largest companies. Copies of the filings are posted on the company's Web site, www.gannett.com.

Also today, the company's Board of Directors determined that all seven of the board's eight non-management members, a clear majority, are "independent directors," as defined by the New York Stock Exchange. The eighth director is McCorkindale.

The NYSE has approved new rules relating to director independence, including a requirement that a majority of directors of companies listed on the exchange be independent. The definition of "independence" is stricter than the previous NYSE rules. All of Gannett's non-management directors satisfy the new definition.

McCorkindale commented: "Gannett is pleased to comply with the SEC request and to file the required documents early. We also are proud of the independence of the company's directors. Shareholders' confidence in the management of Gannett can and should remain at the same high level it has always been."

Further, McCorkindale said, Gannett's Ethics Policy complies fully with the new NYSE requirements with respect to company codes of ethics.

Gannett Co., Inc. is an international news and information company that publishes 94 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns in excess of 300 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. In the United Kingdom, Gannett subsidiary Newsquest plc publishes more than 300 titles, including 15 daily newspapers. Gannett also operates 22 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by most of its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the web.

Web site address: www.gannett.com