The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $12.24 per diluted share, compared with a profit of 53 cents per diluted share for the comparable period a year ago. Revenues were off 4 percent to $104.2 million, from $108.6 million a year ago.

The company also reported the completion of a restructuring plan in the last three months of 2008 that included a workforce reduction of 144 employees and the cancellation of some syndicated television program contracts.

"We are operating in a severe recessive economy and the financial distress on automakers, as well as the significant declines in consumer and business spending, are negatively impacting television advertising sales," said Vincent L. Sadusky, president and chief executive officer.

Earlier this month, Standard & Poor's lowered the rating on LIN's corporate debt, forecasting that the company's revenues and earnings will decline rapidly during the next few quarters.

EDC to offer its own projections

Amid the grim projections for the Rhode Island economy, the state Economic Development Corporation has come up with a novel solution: pay for happier projections.

For the first time, the EDC is hiring its own economic analyst, someone J. Michael Saul, the agency's interim director, hopes will compete for headlines with Leonard Lardaro, the economist at the University of Rhode Island who compiles an index that measures Rhode Island's economy.

Saul, it appears, considers Lardaro a hopeless Cassandra, and Governor Carcieri has also complained about "sky is falling" predictions about the state. The EDC's "director of economic strategic planning" will "provide continuous economic analytical analysis, incorporating local, national and global trends that guide the corporation's strategic initiatives," according to the job posting. Resumes are due April 6.

Agriculture needs to be a priority

Grow Smart's economic development plan encourages high-tech, knowledge-based companies in urban neighborhoods, restoration of the historic tax credit and development of the state's ports. All of that may not surprise Rhode Islanders.

But here's another priority buried near the bottom of the multi- point plan released last week: maximize the economic viability of the agricultural sector. The report by Grow Smart, the nonprofit, anti-sprawl advocacy group, said that from 2002 to 2007, the number of farms in Rhode Island grew by 18 percent.