If this were a movie, executives at Gannett would be crowded around a conference table at the head of which would be a giant poster that reads “ad revenue,” and underneath would be a big red arrow plummeting toward hell. Then, a white-haired man in a suit would lean down, place his hands gently on the table and say something like, “We need to make cuts.”

The result of that scenario played out last week — again — as Gannett, a media company that owns 101 papers in the U.S. and the U.K., including USA Today, laid off 1,400 workers. Among the hardest hit were the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Arizona Republic, two of the chain’s largest papers.

Here in Lansing, the Gannett-owned Lansing State Journal cut 26 workers — that’s the official word, though some blogs covering Gannett report that two more were let go from the LSJ, but aren’t counted because they work for corporate — including the paper’s controller and circulation director. The official word from the LSJ is that no reporters were let go, but the editorial staff did suffer: at least two copy editors were cut and the staff librarian, too.

A call to LSJ Publisher Brian Priester was not returned; neither was an e-mail sent to Priester and Executive Editor Mickey Hirten with specific questions about this most recent round of layoffs.

Between August and December 2008, the LSJ cut 40, including the entire staff of Noise and longtime entertainment writer Mike Hughes. Leading up to last week’s layoffs, every Gannett employee was required to take 10 unpaid furlough days. (Some employees say that the furloughs screwed up their finances; others, like the LSJ’s John Schneider, got creative, donating their unemployment pay to a charity, forcing a match from Gannett.) According to the LSJ Web site, 310 work for the company, but that number has not been changed since last week´s layoffs occurred.

Newspaper industry analysts say that the layoffs Gannett and many other newspaper chains are doing should not be taken sentimentally. Yes, it sucks to lose reporters or any staff, but at the same time, newspapers are businesses that exist to make a profit. And if you’re not making a profit, you must do something to change that. (City Pulse recently cut the hours of its part-time Lansing City Hall reporter, who chose to resign instead.)

The State Journal has long been known as one of Gannett’s cash cows, and it may still be. After all, Gannett’s cutbacks aren’t the result of losses or even imminent losses. Rather, they are resulting from reduced but still substantial profits.

The official word from Gannett is that ad revenue is tanking and so operations need to be cut back. The reasons for declining revenue are several: a national recession, the ongoing technological revolution that seems to be driving more and more people each day to the Internet, and a lack of creativity when it comes to making money on that technology.

The firm JP Morgan predicted in a report released last week that Gannett’s advertising revenue would drop 32 percent in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That means that instead of posting a profit margin of 25 percent, it would post a profit margin of 17 percent. Additionally, the company’s stock has plummeted in the last year from around $17 last July to around $3.50 today.

John Cribb, a newspaper broker with the firm Cribb, Greene and Associates, says that while local newspapers are making cuts, they are not fading away. The LSJ may have shed at least 66 employees in the last year, but that doesn’t mean it is being prepared for sale or permanent closing.

Newspapers are valued so low right now and for the foreseeable future, that it would not make sense for Gannett to sell it.

“It’s not a slam on employees, but when there’s less revenue, there’s less money to support all your business expenses,” Cribb said. “Gannett is a smart company operated by smart people. The prices for newspaper properties right now is so low — I’ve never seen newspapers valued so low. It doesn’t make sense to prep and sell a property if the values are the lowest they’ve ever been.”

Conversely, although newspapers appear to be doing badly, the information product they produce is more highly sought than ever, Cribb said. But that’s the problem. Newspapers haven’t found the magic bullet that allows them to make money and provide information in a digital world.

“The product you create is in demand — the problem is that our economic model has failed,” he said.

Robert Broadwater, a newspaper broker with Broadwater and Associates, was asked why Gannett would choose to spend resources on things other than reporters when the company’s product relies on those professional information gatherers.

The answer is cold, but true. The company makes decisions on what’s best for the bottom line, not on what makes people warm and fuzzy.

“There is the idea that somehow this is sentimental,” Broadwater said of the layoffs. “Hiring another reporter may not generate enough revenue — it’s just math, it’s not sentimental.”