Gary Pruitt makes front page of Wall St. Journal

McClatchy Newspapers CEO Gary Pruitt rated more than 50 graphs beginning on page A1 today in the Wall Street Journal. Included is the traditional WSJ-style mug shot. The headlines on the story by Steve Stecklow say:

Despite Woes, McClatchy Banks on Newspapers
Family-Controlled Chain Faces Internet Challenge;
Mr. Pruitt Keeps Faith

Here’s Stecklow’s lead:

SACRAMENTO -- In the beleaguered newspaper industry, one chief executive has long stood out as the golden boy: Gary Pruitt. He skillfully managed the McClatchy Co. chain and last year engineered the $4.6 billion takeover of Knight Ridder Inc., one of the largest in the history of the business.

But since the beginning of 2006, Mr. Pruitt's company has lost $1.46 billion and seen its stock price plunge 78%, exceeding the carnage at most newspaper companies. Still, when members of the board and the controlling family privately discussed Mr. Pruitt's future last month, they unanimously supported the man who brought McClatchy to this juncture.

"We have the best person in place to get us through some of these turbulent times," says Kevin McClatchy, a descendant of the company's founder. Board member Larry Jinks says the entire board expects Mr. Pruitt "to be the CEO into the future."
[Gary Pruitt]

"I plan on sticking around," says the 50-year-old Mr. Pruitt, a one-time First Amendment lawyer who has led McClatchy for nearly a dozen years. "I hope to and expect to."

Mr. Pruitt is one of the last true believers in the financial power of the press. He says he expects McClatchy to recover from its slump, with the help of a new deal with Yahoo Inc. aimed at driving visitors and ads to his newspapers' Web sites. He plans to sell off some nonnewspaper operations and to continue a cost-control strategy that has so far spared reporters' jobs, a McClatchy hallmark.

With McClatchy now the nation's third-largest newspaper publisher -- and one of the last of the large, family-controlled chains -- his success or failure at making the transition into the Internet age will be a crucial indicator of the future of local print journalism in the U.S.

Click on the headline to read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.