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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(h) 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).

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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*

Watson                   Gary                     L.
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   (Last)               (First)                 (Middle)

Gannett Co., Inc.               7950 Jones Branch Drive
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                                    (Street)

McLean                             Virginia                           22107
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   (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

August, 2002
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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)


President/Gannett Newspaper Division
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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
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                                                                                                                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)
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Common Stock                          08/20/02       M               10,000      A      $23.6250 See Below      D
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Common Stock                          08/20/02       S               10,000      D      $75.6000 36,900         D
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Common Stock                          To 07/31/02                                                21,271.721     I         (1)
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Common Stock                          To 06/30/02                                                 2,842.628     I         (2)
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Common Stock                                                                                         24         I         (3)
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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 4 (continued)

Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
         (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

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                                                                                                                    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)
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Stock Options       $23.6250 08/20/02 M               10,000 12/13/98 12/13/02 Common    10,000  0        5,000     D
                                                                               Stock
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====================================================================================================================================

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.
(3) Held by the spouse and/or immediate family member of reporting person.
Beneficial ownership is disclaimed.


/s/Gary L. Watson                                               09/03/02
---------------------------------------------            -----------------------
      **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