Citi Investment Research downgraded Gannett Co. Inc. stock Wednesday, saying the publisher’s first-quarter earnings forecast suggests that a stable revenue stream is further away than previously expected, Forbes reported.

The Gannett chain of newspapers includes USA Today and The Des Moines Register. Several outlets reported that the publisher of Gannett’s Nashville Tennessean told employees in an email that “top executives and a few others in higher paid positions will be asked to take a furlough” in the second quarter.

Gannett recently reported huge pay raises for top executives in 2010, including a doubling of Chairman and CEO Craig Dubow’s compensation to $9.4 million.