Winners of Gannett’s 22nd annual “Unsung Heroes” awards were announced today by Craig A. Dubow, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI). They are:

• Brian Anderson, technical architect, applications, USA TODAY. Brian was the technical “go-to guy” supporting Gannett and USA TODAY at a convention of journalists. He coordinated all the technology “giving Gannett the digital face we wanted,” kept all the equipment functioning properly while constantly figuring out ways to save money. In his regular job, “Brian’s knowledge, ability to learn any new system quickly and his level of dedication to the company” make him a truly valuable member of USA TODAY IT.
• Amanda Davis, sales and marketing manager, The Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY. Amanda began her career with Gannett at age 5. Truly. Some of her earliest memories are helping her parents deliver the paper and collect from subscribers. She got her own route at age 14, and a touch of frostbite helping dig out the delivery van during a snowstorm. Today, Amanda remains just as dedicated. She has grown circulation this year, grown the number of subscribers, grown other revenues and won a top award for innovating along the way. As her nominator said, “Amanda has The Courier-Journal in her DNA.”
• Carmen Inocencio, HRIS, benefits manager, Tucson (AZ) Newspapers. Carmen is the person everyone goes to for help, comfort or guidance. Her compassion and patience make her invaluable to the people; her accuracy, quality and diligence make her invaluable to the organization. In 2008, she led her team through a difficult conversion from one system to another in the middle of a restructuring, completing the project accurately and on time. Said her nominator, “Carmen does her best simply because for her there is no other way to work.”
• Lubna Rehman, project lead, corporate card and expense reports, Gannett. Lubna garnered not less than eight nominations, all from a grateful team in the corporate accounting department. Words like “super woman,” patient, calm, pleasant, always there to help, dedicated are used to describe her time and again. Her capability to work extremely hard, leading a project to completion, while remaining good natured and helpful have endeared her to many. Says one: “She is the person this award should be named for.”
• Keith Warren, systems editor, The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS. Keith doesn’t simply keep the computers working, or email working, or the servers working. Keith also writes complex computer scripts, creates databases and acquires the data from reluctant government officials. Then he jumps to the content side to be a videographer and a blogger on running for the paper’s fitness site. Five years ago, he founded an annual 5K run/walk in his late father’s name to raise awareness for melanoma - and raised $50,000. As his nominator said: “If there ever were an employee who can cross department lines to help solve a problem, it is Keith.”

“Our Unsung Heroes represent the heart and soul of Gannett – all the people who work hard everyday, do their best, support their friends, family and coworkers and remain upbeat through it all,” Dubow said. “Our 2009 Unsung Heroes are a particularly hardy group. They accomplished great things for our company in this difficult year. I applaud them all and thank them sincerely.”

The winners were selected from more than 100 nominations this year. Each winner will receive $1,000 and be honored at a reception April 2 at corporate headquarters in McLean, VA.

Judges for the Unsung Heroes awards were Dubow; Gracia Martore, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Robert Dickey, president, Gannett U.S. Community Publishing; Paul Davidson, chairman and CEO of Newsquest plc; Roxanne Horning, senior vice president of Human Resources; Dave Lougee, president of Gannett Broadcasting; Craig Moon, president and publisher, USA TODAY; Chris Saridakis, senior vice president and chief digital officer; and Wendell Van Lare, senior vice president of Labor Relations.

Gannett Co., Inc. 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 more than 850 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 17 daily paid-for titles, more than 200 weekly newspapers, magazines and trade publications, and a network of award-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.