While many observers argue that recent profit swings for Gannett (NYSE: GCI), McClatchy (NYSE: MNI) and other newspaper publishers will be short lived, Ariel Investments CEO John Rogers Jr. is far more bullish. In fact, Rogers tells Bloomberg that he expects the newspapers to defy analysts’ dour projections and post profits for the next five or six quarters.

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As one of the largest investors in Gannett and McClatchy, Rogers probably has good reason to cheer the companies and on and hope the analysts are proven wrong. He insists that despite the ad declines, aggressive cost-cutting will pay off even beyond the next year. “Over the next couple of years, people are going to be surprised by the earnings power” of newspaper publishers, said Rogers, who is also an investor in Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE). “They don’t even have to get anything near the revenue of three or four years ago.”