Good news for the newspapers industry! The rate of catastrophic quarterly decline in ad revenue is slowing, slightly. Looks like that strategy of "Ohmigod, Jesus Christ...just fire everybody" is finally paying off, very modestly!

Whereas newspaper revenue was down nearly 30% in the first couple quarters of the year, analysts think it might only fall 25% in the third quarter. And the outlook only gets sunnier, according to the NYT:

[An analyst] said ad revenue would show a percentage decline in the mid-20s for the third quarter, about 20 in the fourth quarter, and next year, "more modestly negative, but still negative."

By god, come 2011 we could be staring at only single-digit quarterly declines on top of the catastrophic quarterly declines of the year before! Champagne? Anyone? How about you over there, the 35,000 laid-off journalists of the past year? Journalism jobs have disappeared three times faster than average jobs, according to a new report.

Adventure!