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

                                     FORM 4

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

________________________________________________________________________________
1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Walker                              Cecil                   L.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   (Last)                           (First)             (Middle)

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

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


________________________________________________________________________________
2.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol


Gannett Co., Inc. ("GCI")
________________________________________________________________________________
3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)



________________________________________________________________________________
4.   Statement for Month/Year


April, 1999
________________________________________________________________________________
5.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)


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

     [_]  Director                             [_]  10% Owner
     [x]  Officer (give title below)           [_]  Other (specify below)
President and Chief Executive Officer/Gannett Broadcasting
_______________________________________________________________________________
7.   Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line)

     [_]  Form filed by one Reporting Person
     [x]  Form filed by more than one Reporting Person
________________________________________________________________________________


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


                                                                                                                6.
                                                                 4.                              5.             Owner-
                                                                 Securities Acquired (A) or      Amount of      ship
                                                    3.           Disposed of (D)                 Securities     Form:     7.
                                                    Transaction  (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)             Beneficially   Direct    Nature of
                                      2.            Code         ------------------------------- Owned at End   (D) or    Indirect
1.                                    Transaction   (Instr. 8)                   (A)             of Month       Indirect  Beneficial
Title of Security                     Date          ------------     Amount      or     Price    (Instr. 3      (I)       Ownership
(Instr. 3)                            (mm/dd/yy)     Code     V                  (D)             and 4)         (Instr.4) (Instr. 4)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                               

Common Stock                          04/09/99        M               6,000       A     $23.625   See Below      D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/09/99        S               6,000       D     $64.625   See Below      D  
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/09/99        M               4,000       A     $32       See Below      D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/09/99        S               4,000       D     $64.625   See Below      D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/13/99        M               11,000      A     $32       See Below      D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/13/99        S               11,000      D     $66       See Below      D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/26/99        M               8,000       A     $32       See Below      D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          04/26/99        S               8,000       D     $75.5     25,760         D
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          To 03/31/99                                                 13,942.101     I         (1)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock                          To 03/05/99                                                 2,771.226      I         (2)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

*    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.

                            (Print or Type Responses)
                                                                          (Over)
(Form 4-07/98)

FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================ 10. 9. Owner- Number ship of Form 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- 4. Securities Date Securities Price Bene- ity: In- cise 3. Trans- Acquired (A) Exercisable and (Instr. 3 and 4) of ficially Direct direct Price Trans- action or Disposed Expiration Date ---------------- Deriv- Owned (D) or Bene- 1. of action Code of(D) (Month/Day/Year) Amount ative at End In- ficial Title of Deriv- Date (Instr. (Instr. 3, ---------------- or Secur- of direct Owner- Derivative ative (Month/ 8) 4 and 5) Date Expira- Number ity Month (I) ship Security Secur- Day/ ------ ------------ Exer- tion of (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. 3) ity Year) Code V (A) (D) cisable Date Title Shares 5) 4) 4) 4) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Options $23.625 04/09/99 M 6,000 12/13/97 12/13/01 Common 6,000 0 0 D Stock - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Options $32 04/09/99 M 4,000 12/12/99 12/12/03 Common 4,000 0 38,800 D Stock - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Options $32 04/13/99 M 11,000 12/12/99 12/12/03 Common 11,000 0 27,800 D Stock - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Options $32 04/26/99 M 8,000 12/12/99 12/12/03 Common 8,000 0 19,800 D Stock - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== 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/ Cecil L. Walker - --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **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. Page 2