Thursday, November 24, 2005
GOVERNANCE: Knight-Ridder "alumni" seek board slate
ORIGINAL URL:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001524631
Knight Ridder Alumni, in Open Letter, Take Stand for 'Excellent
Journalism,' Say They Will Name Candidates for Board
By E&P Staff
Published: November 18, 2005 11:30 AM ET
NEW YORK In an extraordinary "Open Letter from Knight Ridder Alumni"
circulated to the media this morning, a long list of journalists declared,
"We have watched mostly in silent dismay as short-term profit demands have
diminished long-term capacity of newsrooms in Knight Ridder and other
public media companies. We are silent no more. We will support and counsel
only corporate leadership that restores to Knight Ridder newspapers the
resources to do excellent journalism. We are prepared collectively to
nominate candidates for the Knight Ridder board. We wish to reassert John
Knight.s creed."
The signers include such well-known figures as Doug Clifton, Gene Roberts,
Buzz Bissinger, Mark Bowden, Philip Meyer, David Lawrence Jr., and Bill
Marimow, among many others. The letter was mailed to the media by Jim
Naughton, former editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer and former president
of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
Naughton told E&P today he had organized the effort just this week and
they hoped to nominate a "slate" of candidates for the Knight Ridder board
that would include journalists at the next annual meeting. The company is
currently the focus of an investor-led move to pressure a sale or break-up
of the company, or other moves.
The full text and signers follow:
John S. Knight, a founder of the company known today as Knight Ridder,
believed -- and proved -- that excellent journalism is good business. The
undersigned, all alumni of Knight Ridder, have lived that creed.
As did the late Jack Knight, we believe profit is not merely nice but
necessary. Knight Ridder routinely has generated double-digit operating
profits -- such as last year's 19.4%. We understand the obligation of an
institutional investor to maximize return on investment. An investor for
whom double digits are insufficient is free to sell Knight Ridder stock.
An investor who instead demands the sale or dismantling of Knight Ridder
merely in the name of a larger profit margin is engaged not in good
business but in greed.
As did Jack Knight, we speak out of confidence in, not fear of, the future
of the good business of excellent journalism. There is durable value in
businesses that treat their citizens, their communities and their
employees with respect. New technology is an ally of, not a threat to,
trustworthy and nimble media. Competition gives rise to innovation and
efficiency, much as recent declines in print circulation have been
accompanied by increased electronic readership.
Knight Ridder is not merely another public company. It is a public trust.
It must balance corporate profitability with civic purpose. We oppose
those who would cripple the purpose by coercing more profit. We abhor
those for whom good business is insufficient and excellent journalism is
irrelevant.
We have watched mostly in silent dismay as short-term profit demands have
diminished long-term capacity of newsrooms in Knight Ridder and other
public media companies. We are silent no more. We will support and counsel
only corporate leadership that restores to Knight Ridder newspapers the
resources to do excellent journalism. We are prepared collectively to
nominate candidates for the Knight Ridder board. We wish to reassert John
Knight's creed.
Signed by:
Dale Allen, retired editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, former associate
managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, former editor/reporter at
The Charlotte Observer.
Rich Aregood, retired editorial page editor of the Philadelphia Daily News
and recipient of a Pulitzer Prize.
Marv Berenblum, former Senior Vice President for Human Resources of Knight
Ridder and current Chairman and CEO of the National Executive Service
Corps.
Buzz Bissinger, Philadephia Inquirer reporter (1981-88) and recipient of a
Pulitzer Prize, author.
Mike Blackman, Philip G. Warner Endowed Chair in Journalism at Sam Houston
State University and formerly editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and
foreign editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ken Bookman, former Philadelphia Inquirer editor.
Mark Bowden, Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, author of 'Black Hawk Down"
and many other books.
Lorraine E. Branham, Director, University of Texas School of Journalism,
and former editor of the Tallahassee Democrat.
Doug Clifton, former Executive Editor of the Miami Herald and current
Editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Gary Cohn, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, formerly a reporter for the
Lexington Herald Leader, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Baltimore Sun
and recipient of a Pulitzer Prize.
David B. Cooper, retired Associate Editor, Akron Beacon Journal.
J. Lowe Davis,, formerly an editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer and The
Biloxi Sun Herald, both Knight Ridder newspapers, and currently Executive
Editor and CEO of The Virgin Islands Daily News, which is independently
owned.
Gary Farrugia, Editor & Publisher, The Day of New London, Ct. Formerly
Vice President of New Business Development for Philadelphia Newspapers and
an 18-year Knight Ridder employee.
Albert E. Fitzpatrick, Retired Assistant Vice President for Minority
Affairs of Knight Ridder and former Executive Editor of the Akron Beacon
Journal.
Gene Foreman, retired editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer and currently a
professor of journalism.
Gilbert Gaul, former reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer and recipient
of two Pulitzer Prizes.
Michael A. Graham, former reporter for the Detroit Free Press.
Joe Grimm, recruiting and development editor, Detroit Free Press.
Edwin O. Guthman, senior lecturer in journalism, University of Southern
California, former Editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and recipient of a
Pulitzer Prize.
Glenn Guzzo, former Editor of The Denver Post and a Knight Ridder editor
for 18 years.
Carol Horner, Director, Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, and
former reporter, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1979-94
Bob Ingle, former executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News; former
Knight Ridder vice president/new media; former president, Knight Ridder
Ventures.
Marvin Katz, former reporter at the Akron Beacon Journal (1960-67).
George Kennedy, Miami Herald 1967-74, now Professor of Journalism,
University of Missouri.
Maxwell King, former Editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and current
president of The Heinz Endowments.
Ann Kolson, former Philadelphia Inquirer and current New York Times
editor.
Thomas Kunkel, Dean, Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the
University of Maryland ,and former Executive Editor, Columbus
Ledger-Enquirer.
David Lawrence Jr., Retired publisher of the Miami Herald, now president
of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation.
Jan Leach, former editor of the Akron Beacon Journal; current Professional
in Residence, Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass
Communication.
Simon K.C. Li, formerly an editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, now
assistant managing editor of the Los Angeles Times.
Steve Lopez, columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Pam Luecke, Reynolds Professor of Business Journalism, Washington and Lee
University, former Editor and Senior Vice President, Lexington
Herald-Leader.
Janet Mandelstam, former Associate Managing Editor of The Philadelphia
Inquirer.
C.S. Manegold, James M. Cox, Jr. Professor of Journalism, Emory University
and visiting professor, NYU; former reporter for The New York Times, The
Philadelphia Inquirer and Newsweek Magazine. Part of the New York Times
team awarded a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1993 bombing of the
World Trade Center.
Bill Marimow, reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer (1972-1993)
and Knight-Ridder stockholder and recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes.
Jim McCartney, Knight-Ridder Washington correspondent and columnist,
retired.
Molly Sinclair McCartney, Miami Herald reporter 1969-79, Washington Post
reporter, 1979-1993.
David A. Meeker, adjunct professor of journalism at Kent State School of
Journalism and Mass Communication, former reporter at the Akron Beacon
Journal and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, recipient of the John S. Knight
Award for Community Service from the Buckeye Chapter of the Society of
Professional Journalists.
Philip Meyer, former Knight Ridder director of news and circulation
research, current Knight Chair in Journalism, University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, and author of "The Vanishing Newspaper."
Fen Montaigne, freelance journalist and former reporter at The
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Paul Moore, Public Editor of the Baltimore Sun and a former Assistant
Managing Editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Arlene Morgan, former Assistant Managing Editor of The Philadelphia
Inquirer and now Associate Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School
of Journalism.
Norman Morrison, formerly Vice President/Technology, Knight-Ridder
Newspapers, and Executive Vice President, Viewtron, KRN subsidiary.
James M. Naughton, retired editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer and retired
president of The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
Brian Richardson, Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communications,
Washington and Lee University, and
former reporter and editor at the Tallahassee Democrat,
Miami Herald and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Gene Roberts, retired executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and
retired managing editor of The New York Times, now professor of journalism
at the University of Maryland.
Doug Robinson, retired editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
John Russial, Associate Professor, University of Oregon School of
Journalism and Communication, and former Sunday copy chief of The
Philadelphia Inquirer.
Stephen Seplow, former news editor of Knight Ridder's Washington Bureau
and former metropolitan editor of the The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Neal Shine, retired copy boy, reporter, Managing Editor, columnist and
Publisher, Detroit Free Press.
Timothy D. Smith, former Managing Editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, now
Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kent State
University
William Vance, Knight Ridder Washington Bureau, retired.
Debbie Van Tassel, KRI shareholder and Assistant Managing
Editor/Administration, The Plain Dealer.
Lois Sutherland Wark, Knight Ridder stockholder and retired editor at the
Detroit Free Press and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Thomas E. Wark, retired journalist.
Pete Weitzel, former Managing Editor, Miami Herald, and now Coordinator,
Coalition of Journalists for Open Government.
Mike Wendland, technology columnist for the Detroit Free Press and
Internet correspondent for NBC-TV Newschannel affiliates.
Ray White, public information director of Heifer International and a
former assistant news editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Abe Zaidan, retired senior editor of the Akron Beacon Journal.
David Zucchino, correspondent, the Los Angeles Times and former foreign
correspondent of The Philadelphia Inquirer and recipient of a Pulitzer
Prize.
