TheStreet.com gets the scoop on its own ad sales:

TheStreet.com Inc.(TSCM Quote), an online financial media company and the publisher of this Web site, swung to a loss in the fiscal first quarter and said revenue declined 26% from the same period a year ago. For the first quarter ended March 31, total revenue was $14 million, down from $18.9 million in the same quarter of 2008.

Does anyone know of a “publisher dead pool” that we can link to?

Emily Steele reports:In a sign that marketers have begun to deepen their cutbacks, TNS Media Intelligence, an ad-tracking firm owned by WPP PLC, reported Monday that ad spending in the fourth quarter fell 9.2% from a year earlier.That’s a lot worse than any numbers we’ve heard yet elsewhere.

I’m psyched to participate in a panel called “The Disruptors: Upending Old Media” sponsored by Mediabankers on May 14. Bonnie Fuller will be on the panel. And I’m looking forward to meeting Twitter-diva Martha Stewart.

I’m a sucker for start-up company tips and tales of failure. Some good ones in here, include a) content businesses suck, b) set a dollar value on your time, and c) the key to negotiating is having options.

Love the blogads logo tee-shirts? If you’re a blogads seller or buyer, please drop us a line with your address and specify your preferred color and shirt size. (Remember that American Apparel run small.)

Once your shirt arrives, head over to our new Facebook page and post a photo of yourself in some cool location, whether foreign or just around the corner.

More evidence that there are twice as many publishers as the market will support. Here’s the Washington Post’s report on its own health:

The newspaper division reported an operating loss of $53.8 million caused by steep fall-offs in advertising, which are being felt across the industry. Print advertising revenue at The Post plummeted 33 percent in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year, and revenue at The Post’s online properties — chiefly, Washingtonpost.com — dropped 8 percent in the quarter, the first decline in ad revenue at the online unit in recent memory.

Adding insult to injury, “The newspaper division is now The Post’s third-biggest revenue-generator, providing 15 percent of company revenue.”