NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. newspaper publishers Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI.N: Quote, Profile , Research), McClatchy Co. (MNI.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Tribune Co. (TRB.N: Quote, Profile , Research) have invested an additional $15 million in Topix.net, the news search and archive company said on Monday.
The Palo Alto, California-based Topix plans to use the money to expand its news communities, where people discuss local news issues across the United States in online forums.
It also plans to develop and market new consumer news services, as well as increase its exposure among online news consumers, Chief Executive Rich Skrenta told Reuters.
"A typical Silicon Valley start-up will spend some fraction of its investment on marketing," Skrenta said. "It kind of occurred to us earlier in the year that our fraction essentially was zero."
Following the investment, Gannett and Tribune each own a 33.7-percent stake in Topix. McClatchy's stake is 11.9 percent. The companies previously held stakes in Topix that valued the company, as of August, at $72 million. Topix management and employees own the rest of the company.
Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune also own stakes in online jobs site Careerbuilder.com, which is valued at $1.55 billion, as well as ShopLocal.com, valued at $85 million.
Topix may be a Silicon Valley technology company, but its owners' names are associated with a venerable newspaper world that is fighting declines in circulation and a migration of advertising dollars to the Internet and other media.
The company is one of many that offer news from various sources, but unlike larger search companies such as Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile , Research) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile , Research), it offers a year of news and Web log archives when people search for names or topics. It also emphasizes a focus on local news.
Many news experts and financial analysts say that metro daily papers should dive even deeper into local coverage.
Newspaper publishers also are sharpening their focus on and investments in Web sites such as Topix, anticipating that sometime in the next few decades online revenue could exceed that of printed editions.
