Knight Ridder Alumni, in Open Letter, Take Stand for 'Excellent
Journalism,' Say They Will Name Candidates for Board
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 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 blog is proud to list some familiar faces who were among the signers, including Dale Allen, Doug Clifton, David Cooper, Albert Fitzpatrick, Glenn Guzzo, Marvin Katz, Jan Leach, David Meeker, Phillip Meyer, Gene Roberts, Timothy D. Smith, William Vance, Debbie VanTassel and Abe Zaidan.
[Published: November 18, 2005 in E&P on line]
Click on the headline for complete text and list of signers.
Friday, November 18, 2005
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1 comment:
What a shame that Gene Roberts, once the No. 1 shining up-and-coming star in the KR firmament, should be so dismayed by events to line up opposite the Ridder faction.
This is a case where all the KRI stock in KR retirees and employees' hands can be used as a voting bloc and effectively have a voice in this mess.
Those who despise what is happening in our profession should vote their stock 100% for the alumni slate. Is accumulative voting allowed? That would enable us to stack up our votes even taller for a smaller and more selective list of candidates.
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