by: Jon Chesto | Boston Business Journal

The newspaper industry, by and large, saw advertising revenue begin to stabilize last year. Ad sales were still down, of course, but not by as much as they were in 2011.

Unfortunately for New England’s largest newspaper, The Boston Globe headed in the other direction. Revenue figures released last week by The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) show that ad sales at the company’s New England Media Group — the Globe, its two websites, and the Telegram & Gazette — fell 7.8 percent from the same 52-week period in 2011 (backing out an extra week in the Times Co.’s 2012 fiscal year).