A 'National Debate' Surrounding Sale of Knight Ridder

[SOURCE: Society of Professional Journalists press release]
The Society of Professional Journalists is calling for an national conversation about how to preserve public-service journalism in light of the likely sale of the Knight Ridder newspaper company. Knight Ridder, the nation’s second-largest newspaper chain, put itself out to bid last November. To satisfy the demands of a few major shareholders seeking larger short-term profits, the company may be swallowed whole by another conglomerate or broken up by speculators in early 2006. To finance the multibillion-dollar deal, new owners would be under heavy pressure to slash investment in newsgathering and reporting. SPJ believes that both journalists and the public need to discuss openly the societal implications of these kinds of business decisions, as several groups have done in recent weeks. A national conversation about how Knight Ridder newspapers can maintain their journalistic integrity under escalating profit pressures should send a message to investors not to ignore the social value of their investments -- either now or in future battles over media ownership. Such a dialogue would also help journalists fulfill their ethical responsibility to be accountable to their readership. And it would help that readership participate, as we believe the Constitution envisioned, in preserving a free, vibrant and competitive press.
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