A few kind words for 'Darth' Ridder

Joseph Menn, staff writer of the Los Angeles Times, had a few kind words for Tony (“Darth”} Ridder in a lengthy article headlined “Moment of Truth for Media Chief.”

Menn writes:

The day after Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Gulf Coast, Tony Ridder headed for Mississippi, where one of his newspapers was confronting the biggest story in its history without power, telephones or running water.

The chairman and chief executive of San Jose-based Knight Ridder Inc. reached the scene before most of the staff of the Biloxi Sun Herald had made it back to the newsroom. He brought in logistics specialists, emergency supplies and the promise to provide whatever the paper needed to tell the tale and take care of its employees and their families.

"It had a fairly electric feeling, to look up and see the chairman of your company," said Sun Herald Executive Editor Stan Tiner. "You would be amazed at the extreme goodwill that has been engendered for the company by this."

Three and a half months later, the 65-year-old Ridder is dealing with a storm of a different sort.

Pressure from unhappy shareholders has forced him to put Knight Ridder on the auction block. Depending on the buyer, the company that traces its roots back to Ridder's great-grandfather could be broken up – or at the very least lose the family-style stewardship displayed by the CEO's emergency trip to Biloxi.

The likely sale of Knight Ridder and its 32 daily papers has sent shock waves through an industry in which subscribers and advertisers are defecting to the Internet and stock prices are languishing. How Tony Ridder and his company fare in the coming weeks may show his peers what the future holds for them.

It also may serve as a referendum on Ridder himself. Perhaps more than that of any other media chieftain, his career has been marked by the tug of war between the cost of producing quality newspapers and Wall Street's demands for profit.

Menn goes on in the Christmas spirit for a bit, but also discusses criticism of Ridder’s methods. Read it all, if you choose, by clicking on the headline above.