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                     U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                     FORM 5

               ANNUAL STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

[  ] Check this box if no longer subject of Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5
     obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

[  ] Form 3 Holdings Reported

[  ] Form 4 Transactions Reported

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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Stier                    Mary                     P.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   (Last)               (First)                 (Middle)

Gannett Co., Inc.   1100 Wilson Boulevard
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    (Street)

Arlington                           Virginia                           22234
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   (City)                           (State)                           (Zip)


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2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol


Gannett Co., Inc.   ("GCI")
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3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)


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4. Statement for Month/Year

December, 1998
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5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)


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6. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
   (Check all applicable)

   [   ]   Director                             [   ]   10% Owner
   [ X ]   Officer (give title below)           [   ]   Other (specify below)


Group President/Midwest Newspaper Group
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7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing
   (Check applicable line)

   [ X ] Form filed by one Reporting Person
   [   ] Form filed by more than one Reporting Person


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           Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,
                             or Beneficially Owned
================================================================================


                                                                                                 5.             6.
                                                                 4.                              Amount of      Owner-
                                                                 Securities Acquired (A) or      Securities     ship      
                                                                 Disposed of (D)                 Beneficially   Form:     7.        
                                                                 (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)             Owned at End   Direct    Nature of 
                                      2.            3.           -----------------------------   of Issuer's    (D) or    Indirect  
1.                                    Transaction   Transaction                  (A)             Fiscal Year    Indirect  Beneficial
Title of Security                     Date          Code             Amount      or     Price    (Instr. 3      (I)       Ownership 
(Instr. 3)                            (mm/dd/yy)    (Instr. 8)                   (D)             & 4)           (Instr.4) (Instr. 4)
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- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          12/14/98       A               574        A       $61.125  5,576          D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                                                                                     4,300.506      I         (1)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                                                                                     2,395          I         (2)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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====================================================================================================================================

*    If the form is filed by more than one  Reporting  Person,  see  Instruction
     4(b)(v).

Reminder:  Report on a separate line for each class of  securities  beneficially
owned directly or indirectly.


                                  Page 1 of 2


FORM 5 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================ 9. 10. Number Owner- of ship 2. Deriv- of Conver- 5. 7. ative Deriv- 11. sion Number of Title and Amount Secur- ative Nature or Derivative 6. of Underlying 8. ities Secur- of Exer- Securities Date Securities Price Bene- ity: In- cise 3. Acquired (A) Exercisable and (Instr. 3 and 4) of ficially Direct direct Price Trans- 4. or Disposed Expiration Date ---------------- Deriv- Owned (D) or Bene- 1. of action Trans- of (D) (Month/Day/Year) Amount ative at End In- ficial Title of Deriv- Date action (Instr. 3, ---------------- or Secur- of direct Owner- Derivative ative (Month/ Code 4 and 5) Date Expira- Number ity Year (I) ship Security Secur- Day/ (Instr. ------------ Exer- tion of (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. 3) ity Year) 8) (A) (D) cisable Date Title Shares 5) 4) 4) 4) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Options/ $65 12/08/98 A 23,100 12/08/02 12/08/08 Common 23,100 0 23,100 D Option Surrender Stock Rights - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== Explanation of Responses: (1) Held by the trustee of the Company's Deferred Compensation Plan, The Northern Trust Company. (2) Held by the trustee of the Company's 401(k) Plan, Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. /s/Mary P. Stier 1/28/99 - --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **Signature of Reporting Person Date ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Alternatively, this Form is permitted to be submitted to the Commission in electronic format at the option of the reporting person pursuant to Rule 101(b)(4) of Regulation S-T. Page 2 of 2 (122795DTI)