Reflections on Blue Monday

Here are reflections on the sale of Knight Ridder and the still uncertain fate of 12 newspapers dropped out of the sale. The thoughts were expressed in e-mails we have received. I hope no one will object to their display on the blog for others to see. If you have reflections of your own, please add a comment to this post or send e-mail to hliggett@ald.net

Here they are:

From Douglas Balz in Washington, DC:
Wondered the same thing that you put so well, when I heard the news. How can they do that to John Knight's paper? How can they do that to the paper I learned so much from? It was a Blue Monday in Akron, and it was a blue day here, too. I felt like a piece of me had died. I have such fond memories of my time in Akron.
I'm glad Pat [Englehart] wasn't alive to hear the news.

From Bob Batz at Dayton Daily News:
So sad. Such a neat place from 1966 to 1970. So many fond memories.

From Charles Buffum in New York City:
Thanks for covering the story. Give Paul Tople a New York Kudo for us. Painful photos to experience, but they sure tell the story. The irony is that Jack Knight went public to protect his heirs and they pretty much preceded him in death. How much money does a body need, anyway? On the other hand, newspapers are fighting a desperate battle to stay relevant and I'm not sure they can win it. I'm glad we were there when we thought what we were doing was important to our community and society. Damn

From Tim Farkas of Berkshire (MA) Eagle:

I was only a sports part-timer at the Beacon (1979-84), but I too felt like a piece of me died on Monday. My hometown paper -- the one I grew up reading, the one my mother always proudly referred to as "a Knight-Ridder" -- was an orphan with an uncertain future. And on the day of the bad news, the Beacon still carried itself with dignity on A1. "Turning the page" said it all.

From Marilyn Geewax of Cox Washington Bureau:
Thanks so much for keeping us ex-BJ folks up to date. My heart is
just broken about this terrible situation. Paul's photos literally made me
cry. Your efforts to hold the community together during this tough time are really appreciated. mg

From Dennis Haas in St. Petersburg, FL:
It's really sad and really a shame that the Knights ever got paired up with the Ridders.

From Gloria Irwin of BJ staff:
I think the days ahead are the most uncertain of all for us here at the BJ. For what it's worth, what little we know is that we won't lose the pension credits we've accumulated so far (guaranteed by the PBGC at the very least) so that makes me believe your checks are safe, too. I certainly hope so.
Hope you're all enjoying your retirements -- I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to join you some day.

From retired printer Bob Sisley:
Funny they tell about shareholders, etc. What about medical and pensions, plus pensions for the wives if the employee took a less amount of pension so you wife would be taken care of. These are the important points that no one has talked about for the retirees. I feel that the pensions will be protected by he federal government, but I would not bet on it. Thanks for the info, I read the paper and will have to wait and see

From Cathy Strong in New Zealand:
I agree that Paul Tople tells it best, and fancy him doing it for the ABJ for all these years. Kind regards to current staffers, I'm glad I'm not in your shoes at the moment.

From Ted Walls, retired BJ photographer:
Reading BJ the last several days, has left me with a heavy heart and at times with a few tears. I guess we new that some day this would happen, yet always hoping it would never come. Yet I find this hard to believe, if we lose the BJ altogether, does this mean that the Canton Rep. would be #1 in this area? That is worse than death. Hey let’s see what the next six months tells us.