The other bright spot in classifieds was the “other” category, which includes print and online legals, obits and private-party ads. That saw 6.6 percent growth online against a 3.2 percent loss in print, for a combined 1.6 percent year-over loss. Total revenues in the category were more than $22 million for the quarter. Pruitt said that the “other” category comprised 30 percent of the company’s classified base.

There was a hint that the company was poised to capitalize on that growing segment. VP of Interactive Chris Hendrix said the company was getting ready to launch a marketplace product in Q4.  He didn’t elaborate.

In total, McClatchy earned classified revenues of more than $73 million in Q2, down 8.8 percent from the same quarter of 2009. Almost $50 million of that $73 million was print classifieds, which as subcategory was off 11.4 percent from Q2 2009. Online classified revenues were more than $23 million for the quarter, off just 2.6 percent year-over-year.

Within classifieds, real estate led declines both in print and online, reflecting the housing market’s stalled recovery. Combined print and online real estate revenue was off almost 21 percent — both segments shared in the suffering. Automotive classifieds — print and online combined — was off 10.7 percent for the quarter but off only 5.7% online.

McClatchy also owns one-fourth of Classified Ventures’ Cars.com and Apartments.com, and a third of Homefinder.com.

Overall, McClatchy reported quarterly revenues of about $342 million, down 6.4 percent from the same quarter last year. Of that, ad revenues were $260.5 million, down 8.2 percent on the year.

Here’s McClatchy’s Q2 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.