EXHIBIT 10 (e)

                                  KNIGHT RIDDER

                            LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN

                     (As amended effective January 1, 2000)

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

The Knight Ridder Long-term Incentive Plan (the "Plan") is intended to motivate
and reward senior executives for creating shareholder value that is equal to or
greater than that created by other leading newspaper companies. Specific Plan
objectives include:

         o      Focus participants on total shareholder return ("TSR"),
                defined as stock appreciation plus dividends (assuming that
                dividends are reinvested in Knight Ridder stock)

         o      Link rewards to the level of TSR achieved as well as to Knight
                Ridder's TSR relative to that of other companies that comprise
                the S&P Publishing/Newspaper Index

         o      Provide participants the opportunity to earn compensation
                commensurate with performance, including superior rewards for
                superior performance

The Plan covers a single three-year period, from 2000 through 2002. Early in the
period, participants will receive grants of restricted shares of Knight Ridder
stock. Vesting of these shares will depend on the TSR for Knight Ridder stock
from December 1999 through December 2002 compared to the TSR for the stock of
the other companies in the S&P Publishing/Newspaper Index during the same
period. Depending on the TSR for Knight Ridder relative to that of the
comparison companies, anywhere between 0 and 100% of the restricted shares will
vest.

If and when vesting occurs, participants will have the right to sell the shares.
Upon vesting, participants will also receive a payment (in either cash or stock)
equal to the dividends that were paid on the vested shares between January 1,
2000 and December 31, 2002, as well as any additional value that would have
accrued if each of those dividends had been invested in Knight Ridder stock on
the last business day of the quarter in which it was paid. Unvested shares will
be forfeited, and no dividend-related payments will be made on them.

PLAN ADMINISTRATION

The Plan will be administered by the Compensation Committee of the Knight Ridder
Board of Directors (the "Committee"). The Committee has the authority to
interpret the provisions of the Plan and to make any rules and regulations
necessary to administer the Plan. The Committee's decision is final in all
matters of judgment pertaining to the Plan, and the Committee may, without
notice, amend, suspend or revoke the Plan.

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PARTICIPATION

Participants will include selected officers whose participation is approved by
the Committee based on the Committee's assessment of their ability to have
significant impact on Knight Ridder's TSR.

Participants can be added up until December 31, 2001 (i.e., as long as there is
at least one year of the performance measurement period remaining) in the event
of promotions or new hires who meet the participation criteria.

GRANT SIZE

The value of the shares granted to each initial participant will equal 75% of
the individual's salary as of January 1, 2000 for each year of the Plan. The
number of shares granted will equal this value divided by the average daily
closing price of Knight Ridder's stock during December 1999.

If a participant is added to the Plan after the initial grant is made, the value
of the shares at grant will be reduced from three times 75% of salary on a pro
rata basis to reflect the number of full calendar months in the period of
participation. The salary to be used for this purpose shall be the annual rate
of salary in effect for the participant as of the first day of the month in
which the award is made. The stock price for computing the number of shares
shall be the average daily closing price of KR stock during the last completed
calendar month prior to the making of the award.

VESTING

As long as Knight Ridder's TSR is positive, the percentage of restricted shares
that vest will be determined based on the relationship between Knight Ridder's
TSR and the TSR of the five companies (other than Knight Ridder) in the S&P
Publishing/Newspaper Index. If Knight Ridder's TSR is not positive, then no
shares will vest, regardless of relative positioning.

The five other companies in the S&P Publishing/Newspaper Index are Dow Jones &
Company, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., The New York Times Company, The Times Mirror
Company, and Tribune Company. The median will equal the middle-ranked TSR of the
five companies. The 100th percentile will equal the top performing company. The
75th percentile will equal the second top performing company. If any of the five
Companies in the S&P Publishing Newspaper Index changes substantially or is no
longer part of the Index at the end of the performance period, then the median
comparison shall be with the five Companies that then make up the S&P Publishing
Index.

If one or more of these companies changes substantially or no longer exists by
the end of the performance measurement period, the Committee will decide on the
companies that will be used for the relative TSR comparison.

TSR for each company will equal compound annual price appreciation plus
dividends, assuming the dividends were reinvested in the company's stock at the
end of each quarter in which a dividend is paid. The beginning stock price for

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each company will equal the average daily closing price for December 1999, and
the ending stock price will equal the average daily closing price for December
2002. The attached document entitled "Calculation of Total Shareholder Return"
describes the procedure for calculating compound annual TSR and illustrates the
approach with examples.

If Knight Ridder's TSR is positive, then the relationship between vesting and
TSR relative to the peer TSR will be as follows:

         o      No shares vest if TSR is below the peer median

         o      15% of the shares vest if TSR is equal to the peer median.

         o      100% of the shares vest if TSR is at the 90th percentile of the
                peer TSR or higher. The 90th percentile performance is
                three-fifths of the way between the 75th and 100th percentiles.

         o      Linear interpolation will be used to determine the number of
                shares that vest for TSR between median and the 90th percentile.

All TSR calculations for purposes of the Plan will be rounded to one decimal
point.

Once shares have vested, participants are free to either continue to hold them
or to sell them. Participants may not assign their awards under the Plan before
the awards have vested.

OTHER PLAN FEATURES

         TERMINATION

Plan participation will end and vesting rights will be forfeited if a
participant dies, becomes disabled, or retires on or before the end of the first
year of the performance measurement period (i.e., December 31, 2000). If death,
disability or retirement occurs on or after January 1, 2001, then vesting will
occur on the same date as for participants who continue to be employed through
the end of the performance measurement period, but on a pro rata basis to
reflect the percentage of the three-year period that was worked. Participants
will receive a form to complete designating a beneficiary in the event of death
on or after January 1, 2001.

Termination for reasons other than death, disability, or retirement will result
in immediate forfeiture of vesting rights and termination of participation in
the Plan.

         DIVIDEND-RELATED PAYMENTS

In January 2003, the vesting percentage for the shares will be calculated. If
shares have vested, the payments due to participants associated with the
dividends will be paid. The amount of these payments will be determined by
calculating the number of shares that would result from the reinvestment of
dividends on one share of KR stock (as described in the attached document under

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the heading "Calculating the Impact of the Reinvestment of Dividends") and
multiplying this amount by the number of shares which have vested. The
Committee, in its discretion, shall determine whether the amount so calculated
will be paid in cash or shares of KR stock. If payment is to be made in stock,
Knight Ridder will deliver to the participant the number of shares of KR stock
resulting from the above calculation, plus cash in lieu of any fractional share.
If payment is to be made in cash, or to determine the cash equivalent of a
fractional share, the KR shares will be valued using the average daily closing
price of the KR stock during December 2002. Required tax amounts will be
withheld.

         EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

The Plan does not constitute a contract of employment, nor does participation in
this Plan guarantee participation in any other plan.

         ANTI-DILUTION PROVISION

In the event of a reorganization, recapitalization, stock split, stock dividend,
combination of shares, rights offer, merger, consolidation, spin-off, sale of
assets, payment of an extraordinary dividend, or any other change in or
affecting the corporate structure or capitalization of Knight Ridder, each
restricted share then subject to an award under the Plan shall be converted
into, exchanged for, or credited with the number and kind of securities or
property into which each outstanding share of Knight Ridder common stock shall
be deemed to be converted or exchanged or which shall be deliverable with
respect to each outstanding share of Knight Ridder common stock as a result of
such event, and the provisions of this Plan shall continue to apply to such
substituted securities or property.