NEW YORK » Gannett Co. offered more evidence yesterday that 2010 will not be quite as painful for newspapers as 2009, when the recession compounded the industry's problems.

Cost cutting and a less severe drop in advertising revenue boosted first-quarter results for the company, which owns USA Today, the Honolulu Advertiser and more than 80 other daily newspapers along with TV stations. Gannett's net income jumped 51 percent despite a 4 percent decline in revenue.

(Gannett's deal to sell the Honolulu Advertiser to Oahu Publications Inc., owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and MidWeek, is expected to close on April 25.)

Gannett reported its smallest drop in ad revenue in more than a year. Its publishing division posted a decline of about 8 percent from the same period a year earlier. That was better than the decline of 18 percent in the final quarter of 2009.

But the newspaper business is still far from healthy. The year-ago comparisons are being made against a period in 2009 when almost every media company was hemorrhaging ad revenue as the recession forced businesses to cut their marketing budgets.

By contrast, Gannett's broadcast stations started to rebound in the first quarter with help from advertising tied to the Winter Olympics. Revenue at its 23 TV stations rose 15 percent, and they should benefit this year by political ad spending.

Gannett's overall revenue fell 4 percent in the first quarter from the same period of 2009 to $1.32 billion.

The company has remained profitable largely by slashing expenses. Last year it cut 1,400 jobs, or about 3 percent of its work force.

Gannett still has outstanding debt of roughly $2.8 billion.