Knight Ridder Spokesman Says 'Alumni' Effort is Fine, But 'Not Practical'

By: Joe Strupp Knight Ridder spokesman Polk Laffoon tells E&P that a large group of company "alumni" who, concerned about journalistic quality, announced today that they may run a slate of candidates for the board of directors, has no chance of gaining control.

"This is a fine gesture and a well-intentioned gesture by good and honorable people," said Laffoon. "Unfortunately, the reality is that more than 90% of Knight Ridder shares are institutionally held and more than a third of them are held by three institutions."

Laffoon's comments were in response to the open letter from some 60 Knight Ridder alumni -- first posted online by E&P today -- that criticized the embattled company's recent budget cutbacks, and hinted that it intends to run a slate of candidates for its board of directors. Among the signers were illustrious former editors such as Eugene Roberts and well-known reporter/authors Mark Bowden and Buzz Bissinger.

"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," the letter said, in part. "We are silent no more." The letter went on to state that "we are prepared collectively to nominate candidates for the Knight Ridder board."

But Laffoon dismissed the idea as unrealistic. "The thought that a group of well-meaning alumni could put up their own slate and beat the institutions' is not practical in the world we live in," he said.

Not everyone within Knight Ridder agreed with Laffoon. Henry J. Holcomb, president of the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia and chairman of the Guild's Knight Ridder Council, applauded the effort in a statement released Friday.

"All of us who are still working hard to serve the readers and advertisers of Knight Ridder are profoundly grateful for the support of our former colleagues," the statement read. "We believe there is strong and profitable future for our newspapers if the shareholders elect a board that will invest wisely with a long-term view and insist that management focus on the customers and the critical needs of the communities we serve."

Gene Roberts, the legendary former Inquirer editor and a Knight Ridder shareholder, said the letter is needed to raise awareness. "It is a way of expressing a serious journalistic concern with the current direction of the company and the future direction of the company, putting it up for sale," said Roberts. "There has been a sharp deterioration in journalism and this constant cutting of staff and news hole. If the current direction continues, it amounts to journalistic suicide."

James Naughton, who spent 18 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer and served as president of the Poynter Institute, created the letter earlier this week after engaging in e-mail discussions with a number of fellow alum. The talk followed a string of negative news about the company in recent weeks, which included announced newsroom cutbacks at Knight Ridder papers in San Jose and Philadelphia as well as demands by several large shareholders that the chain be sold, an ongoing situation.

"The genesis was various of us talking about the concern that this is a tipping point in the life of public newspaper companies," Naughton told E&P, referring to the recent financial problems. "We wanted to have some way of, however naively, influencing the outcome. Sitting at my computer at home, I just got the urge to start rounding people up."

After sending e-mails to several other Knight Ridder veterans, Naughton received responses from several, as well as e-mail addresses of additional people. Eventually, he penned the letter and sought revisions from colleagues. The initial version was produced, signed by about 60 people, and sent to media outlets.

"In the midst of all of the excitement over the e-mails, there were stories about [Knight Ridder chairman] Tony Ridder inviting [board] nominations," Naughton recalled. "That would be a way of demonstrating the kind of leadership this group believes Knight Ridder would benefit from."

Naughton added that the alumni group would likely nominate a board slate to run at the next Knight Ridder annual meeting in April. "And it will include journalists," he said. A former shareholder, Naughton said he planned to buy company stock again and believes many of the co-signers of the letter will as well.

Those who signed the letter agreed that the chances of having a slate of candidates elected is minimal. Still, they believed the letter was a positive way of protesting the company's actions.

"Like most who worked at Knight Ridder, I have a fondness for the company," said Mike Blackman, a former Inquirer staffer and current instructor at Sam Houston University in Huntsville, Texas. "It is a good company with a good history and I hate to see it come unraveled. I don't see any great positives coming out of what I've read lately."

Blackman said he would not run for a board seat, but planned to buy stock in the company so he could at least vote. "In today's newspaper business environment, it is always 'can we improve the next quarter?'" Blackman said. "When it comes at the expense of the quality of journalism, it raises great concern."

Gary Farrugia brings both newsroom and business-side views to the protest, having served as vice president of new business development at Philadelphia Newspapers. Now the editor and publisher of The Day in New London, Conn., he says the companywide cutbacks and threats of a sale will only hurt. "It can't improve the quality of the journalism when you've got fewer people covering fewer stories," said Farrugia, who signed the letter and plans to buy Knight Ridder stock. "You lose your edge."

For Lorraine Branham, a former editor at the Tallahassee Democrat and 10-year Inquirer veteran who signed the letter, the view is similar. "I think of it as taking a stand," she said of the protest. "I think it was something that was important to do and important to say about a company I spent a lot of time with and that has not done a good job of managing its business."

Laffoon said that such positive aspirations by the alumni are commendable, but not necessarily enough to change the industry's trend. "I wish the challenges that the industry faces today could be solved -- or even greatly ameliorated -- by creating quality journalism. It would be a better world."