Washington Post closes the last of its U.S. bureaus

"It's necessary to concentrate our journalistic firepower on our central mission of covering Washington and the news, trends and ideas that shape both the region and the country's politics, policies and government," stated Brauchli. However, the memo continued, "Our commitment to national news of interest to our readers is undiminished, and we will maintain the level and caliber of coverage our readers expect."

Traders today seem relatively pleased by WPO's continued belt-tightening efforts, with the stock up more than 1% in early trading. Strict cost-cutting measures helped the media company swing to a third-quarter profit of $1.81 per share, exceeding analysts' consensus estimates for net income of $1.31 per share.

However, WPO's technical outlook isn't too bright. The stock has been ushered lower by resistance at its 10-day and 20-day moving averages since late October, and -- from a longer-term perspective -- the equity's 20-month trendline has acted as a steadily descending ceiling since January 2008.

In response to WPO's most recent downturn, short sellers have been ramping up their bearish exposure to the media issue. After falling to its lowest level in nearly two years, short interest on the shares jumped by 6.1% during the past month. If shorts continue to bet against the security, the resulting selling pressure could provide an additional headwind for WPO.

Elizabeth Harrow is a senior equities analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.