Apr 1, 1998

Members of The Newspaper Guild-CWA are determined to “restore excellence” at Knight Ridder by forcing the company to become more accountable to communities in which it publishes and to meet standards of quality and fairness in its dealings with readers, employees and others.

TNG-CWA President Linda Foley and union members will be out in force at Knight-Ridder’s annual shareholder meeting this month in Miami, where stockholders will vote on the “Monterey Principles,” a five-point program developed in the wake of community and employee concerns about KR operations in such cities as Detroit and Monterey, Calif.

When KR took over the Monterey Herald last September, all newspaper workers were fired and forced to reapply for their jobs. Since then, community and religious leaders, along with TNG-CWA members, have joined together to press KR and the Herald publisher to restore fairness at the paper and accountability to the community.

The “Monterey Principles” were included in the KR proxy over the objections of the publishing company. The principles call on KR to be accountable to the community; be fair, responsible and law-abiding in dealings with employees, advertisers and others; dedicate adequate resources to news coverage to ensure a quality product; avoid corporate censorship of news; and reflect the diversity of the communities it serves. Under the proposal, compensation for KR top officers would be tied to how effectively they implement these principles.

The Knight Ridder Council, with TNG-CWA officers from locals representing workers nationwide at KR publications, met in Baltimore last month to discuss plans to expand mobilization among KR employees, develop readers’ committees and broaden community support for the “restore excellence” campaign. The council represents newspaper workers at these KR publications: Akron, Ohio Beacon; Duluth, Minn. News-Tribune; Lexington, Ky. Herald-Leader; San Jose, Calif. Mercury-News; Philadelphia Inquirer; St. Paul, Minn. Pioneer Press; Detroit Free Press and Seattle Times (49 percent owned by KR.) Two other KR publications were recently sold: the Gary, Ind. Times and the Long Beach, Calif. Press-Telegram.

In a number of cities, most notably Detroit, newspaper workers have won the support of elected and community leaders in their fight for fairness and accountability by such chains as KR and Gannett.

TNG-CWA also has joined with other organizations, including the Committee of Concerned Journalists, in pressing for newspaper accountability and responsiblity.