RIDDER: COMPANY HAS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER

By: Tony Ridder Knight Ridder CEO In His Own Words


In all that has been said about Jay Harris' resignation as publisher of the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, some important issues remain outstanding.

First, there is the personal. Jay and I worked closely together for 13 years, and I could not be more disappointed about how his career with Knight Ridder ended. I know it wasn't easy for him, either. But while we may find agreement in that, we disagree on some other significant matters.

One relates to the character of Knight Ridder. In his recent speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Jay said, "I had watched a long train of abuses against the traditions and core values of a great profession and a great company."

For Knight Ridder, which holds sacred both its journalistic mission and its obligations to all stakeholders (including employees, customers, communities, and shareholders), that is a very serious charge. So, over a lunch more than a month after Jay left, when we had our first and only conversation, I asked him: What was that all about?

He replied that, in recent years, publishers' goals at the newspapers were increasingly aligned with overall corporate goals, and not individual to the newspapers as they once had been. He said it was troubling that whereas publishers used to report to both a vice president/operations and a vice president/news, they now report only to the former.

While the evolution is true as he described it, I cannot agree that it adds up to "a long train of abuses against the traditions and core values of a ... great company." In hindsight, I think what was happening at our lunch, and what is happening more frequently as time passes, is that the appeal of Jay's arguments pales under the harsh light of today's economic realities.

Consider what has gone on in the publishing industry since Jay resigned:

o First-quarter results showed advertising skidding steadily, with March far the worst month of the three. April, we now know, deteriorated even further. Help-wanted, almost eerily, is down 30%, 40%, even 50% in some major markets.

o Dow Jones, Knight Ridder, New York Times Co., and Tribune Co. all have announced significant staff reductions.

o Newsprint producers have squeezed out a $25-a-ton price increase despite sagging consumption and massive resistance from their customers.

o Quality journalism has endured. Spring's annual awards to the best in our craft proved once again how wide and deep the talent and how worthwhile the contributions. When the Pulitzers were announced, Knight Ridder had four finalists (among them the Mercury News) and a winner at The Miami Herald.

In that same period, some other things relating specifically to the Mercury News have come to light -- each a revelation of sorts. For example, I think many in the industry were surprised to learn that when Jay resigned, he left behind a newsroom of approximately 415 full-time-equivalent employees. For a newspaper with daily circulation of 283,756 (and Sunday circulation of 317,799), this is generous by any measure. We know that most newspapers of this size are run with many fewer newsroom people.

Jay talked of "significant and lasting harm" to the newspaper if the cost-containment measures under discussion were imposed. Ironically, we had been looking for a plan to cut costs since the previous fall, when business began to soften. Not only was no plan forthcoming, the Merc continued to add staff right through
February. Subsequently, the combined February and March numbers revealed that despite a $9.4-million negative revenue variance (with the trend intensifying), the newspaper had managed to find only 4% of that in reduced costs.

Publishing a newspaper in good times can be exhilarating. Publishing a newspaper in tough times is different. Hard decisions are required. Employees' lives can be disrupted. A publisher has to make choices with an eye to the quality of the newspaper, to the way it serves the community, and to what is best for the organization. Among competing priorities, he/she has to find the optimal balance, and that isn't easy.

In resigning, Jay, in essence, called Knight Ridder derelict in the direction its journalism is going. He is hardly the first to make such a call. The journalism trades (E&P no exception) are brimming with them. So let me take this opportunity to respond: Knight Ridder journalism has changed.

In recent years, we have come to define quality journalism as more than just the investigations and public-service projects that are at our core -- and that remain our highest commitment. At readers' request, we now provide more local news. We work hard to make the newspaper more useful and relevant to their daily activities. We give more emphasis and nuance to coverage of neighborhood and regional events -- we offer more listings, summaries, indexes, and graphics to provide, as we say, "information for life."

The combination has made Knight Ridder newspapers stronger and more relevant than ever before, exactly as Jack Knight, Lee Hills, and Jim Batten would have wished it.

Ridder is Knight Ridder chairman and CEO.



Related stories:
POLL FINDS PROFITS RULE AT NEWSPAPER COMPANIES (04/09/01)
PARENTAL PRESSURE BUILDS AT PUBLIC COMPANIES (04/09/01)
HARRIS: DRIVE FOR PROFITS PULLS NEWSPAPERS DOWN (04/06/01



Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.