The San Jose Mercury News, which has won accolades for the diversity of its newsroom and coverage, announced Friday it plans to drop its Spanish newspaper because the free publications aren't profitable.

Higher newsprint and health costs, combined with sagging advertising revenue, have cut profits across the newspaper industry. Knight Ridder, the second-largest newspaper publisher in the country, announced last week that its third-quarter earnings from continuing operations had fallen while its newsprint and related costs rose more than 7 percent.