EXHIBIT 10 (c)


                       KNIGHT RIDDER ANNUAL INCENTIVE PLAN


INTRODUCTION

The Knight Ridder Annual Incentive Plan (the "Plan") is intended to motivate and
reward corporate executives and top management at individual operating units who
contribute significantly to Knight Ridder's success. Specific Plan objectives
include:

         o        Focus participants on achieving key annual objectives

         o        Link rewards to results relative to financial and
                  non-financial goals at the corporate and business unit levels

         o        Provide participants the opportunity to earn competitive
                  compensation commensurate with performance

The Plan provides participants the opportunity to earn cash awards each year
based on the performance of the corporation and/or the business unit in which
they work. Awards are earned on a calendar year basis (the "Plan Year") and are
paid in cash following the end of the Plan Year.

The first year in which the Plan described in this document will be in effect
will be 1998. This plan replaces the Knight Ridder Annual Incentive Plan, which
was introduced in 1994.

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.

ELIGIBILITY

Employees in the following categories are eligible to participate in the Plan:
corporate officers and certain director-level corporate employees; newspaper
publishers and other business unit operating heads who report directly to top
officers; top editors, general managers and all division directors; and selected
other positions that can have significant impact on results.

Operating unit heads should present proposed changes in eligible positions to
the appropriate Vice President Operations and then to the Knight Ridder senior
Human Resources officer.

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PLAN OVERVIEW

         BONUS AMOUNTS PAYABLE FOR MEETING GOALS

Each plan participant will have a potential bonus award that is payable for
meeting goals. The size of this potential award varies by salary range. The
bonus potential for each salary range is stated as a percentage of the salary
earned during the year. Therefore, the dollar amount of an individual's
opportunity is computed by multiplying the applicable percentage by the salary.
The potential bonus payable for meeting goals for each salary range is as
follows:

           Salary Range                       Potential Award
           ------------                       ---------------

           $250,000 and above                       50.0%

           $150,000 to $249,999                     45.0%

           $100,000 to $149,999                     40.0%

           $50,000 to $99,999                       32.5%

           Up to $49,999                            25.0%

         TYPES OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND THEIR WEIGHTINGS

Each participant's bonus will be determined based on measures of how well the
corporation or the business unit in which the individual works performed
relative to two type of goals: Financial Performance and Non-financial
Performance.

The potential award for meeting goals will be divided between the two types of
measures in the following way: 65% of each participant's potential award for
meeting goals will be based on Financial Performance, and 35% will be based on
Non-financial Performance, as shown in the following table:

                                                 Potential Award
                                     ------------------------------------------
           Salary Range              Total       Financial        Non-financial
           ------------              -----       ---------        -------------

           $250,000 and above        50.0%       32.5%            17.5%

           $150,000 to $249,999      45.0%       29.25%           15.75%

           $100,000 to $149,999      40.0%       26.0%            14.0%

           $50,000 to $99,999        32.5%       21.125%          11.375%

           Up to $49,999             25.0%       16.25%           8.75%


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As a general rule, the measurement will be based on the organizational level at
which the individual is employed: corporate performance for those at the
corporate level and business unit performance for those in a newspaper or other
business unit. However, the Knight Ridder CEO may determine that the measures
for selected individuals will consist of a specified mix of two or more bases,
or that those in a business unit will have awards based on corporate
performance.

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

         FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE

Financial performance will be evaluated relative to budgeted goals set at the
beginning of the Plan Year, subject to approved adjustments during the year.
Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, the financial measure will be
Economic Value Added, or "EVA". Definitions include:

         EVA = Net operating profit after tax minus a capital charge

         Capital charge = Average capital employed during the Plan Year times
         the cost of that capital

         Average capital employed = Average assets on the balance sheet minus
         the average of any amounts owed that do not incur an interest charge
         (called non-interest-bearing liabilities, or NIBLs), with the average
         computed on a monthly basis

         Cost of capital = Percentage approved annually by the Committee; 12%
         for 1998

The financial performance measure and the goals for the year will be
communicated to participants by the early part of each year.

         NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES

At the beginning of each Plan Year, Knight Ridder and each of the business units
will establish Non-financial goals that represent major elements of their
strategies. Quantifiable measures are preferred, and measures that are redundant
with the financial goal should be avoided. There should be no more than eight
measures. Corporate measures and goals will be approved by the Knight Ridder
CEO, and business unit measures and goals will be approved by the appropriate
Knight Ridder Vice President.

All participants at corporate and in each of the business units will have the
Non-financial component of their awards based on the measures selected for their
unit. However, the weightings of these measures may vary among participants to
reflect each individual's impact on the achievement of the goals. The weightings
assigned to all measures must total 100 points for each of the participants.

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The achievement of a goal will result in target awards being paid for that goal.
Awards for performance on the Non-financial measures cannot exceed 100% of
target, but standards for partial achievement of goals (and therefore payouts
below 100%) as well as threshold standards for achieving any award should be
established.

DETERMINING AND PAYING AWARDS

         OVERVIEW

Each participant's award will be determined by adding together the award earned
based on Financial Performance and the award earned based on Non-financial
Performance. An award may be paid for one type of measure even if no award was
earned for the other type of measure. The only constraint is that a corporate
performance threshold must be achieved for any award to be payable. Normally
this threshold requirement will be that corporate operating income, as reported
in the annual report, must equal at least 80% of prior year operating income,
although the Committee reserves the right to adjust the threshold.

         DETERMINING FINANCIAL AWARDS

Target awards will be paid to all participants in a unit (either corporate or
one of the business units) if that unit's EVA equals budgeted EVA. If EVA is
above (or below) budget, then the aggregate of financial awards paid to
participants at that unit will equal the aggregate of their target financial
awards plus (or minus) a percentage of the amount by which actual EVA exceeds
(or falls below) budgeted EVA. This percentage is referred to as a "sharing
percentage". The "standard" percentages of EVA above and below budget that will
be shared with participants are expected to be 15% for the newspapers and 5% for
corporate. However, these sharing percentages are at the discretion of the
Committee, which may change them from year to year or have different percentages
for different newspapers within a given year.

The process of determining the aggregate financial award paid to participants in
a unit will start with the calculation of the sum of the target financial awards
for all approved participants in the unit as of the end of the Plan Year. This
aggregate target will equal the sum of all participants' target awards, with
each participant's target equaling his or her salary for the year (or period of
participation, if less than a year) times 65% of the target award percentage for
the range in which the salary falls. The target awards are calculated before
taxes.

If EVA equals budget, then the "bonus pool" (i.e., total payments that will be
made for the financial component of the award for participants in that unit)
will equal the sum of all participants' financial target awards.


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If EVA is above budget, steps to calculate the financial bonus pool will
include:

         o        Determine the amount by which EVA (including the target bonus
                  accrual only) exceeds budget

         o        Multiply this amount by the approved sharing percentage. (For
                  example, if the sharing percentage is 15%, multiply 15% times
                  the amount by which EVA exceeds budget). This equals the
                  after-tax amount that will be added to the target bonus pool.
                  (It is after-tax because EVA is an after-tax number)

         o        Calculate the pre-tax amount that will be added to the target
                  bonus pool as a result of EVA being above budget. (It is
                  necessary to calculate the pre-tax amount before doing the
                  addition, since the target bonus pool is pre-tax). To
                  calculate the pre-tax amount, divide the after-tax amount by
                  1.00 minus the tax rate that was used in developing the EVA
                  budget for the year. (For example, with a tax rate of 42%, the
                  after-tax amount would be divided by 1.00 minus .42, or .58.
                  If the after-tax amount were $100, then the pre-tax amount
                  would be $100 divided by .58, or $172.4)

         o        Add the resulting pre-tax amount to the aggregate target award
                  to determine the size of the financial bonus pool. This
                  becomes the final bonus pool, subject to two conditions:

                  -        To be eligible for awards above 200% on the financial
                           component, a company's net operating profit after tax
                           (NOPAT) must be at least 12% above the prior year's
                           NOPAT, and EVA must be positive and improved over the
                           prior year. If these conditions are not met, then the
                           maximum pool will equal 200% of target

                  -        The pool is subject to a maximum equal to 300% of
                           target; if the calculated pool is above the maximum,
                           then the pool will equal 300% of target

If EVA is below budget, steps to calculate the financial bonus pool will
include:

         o        Determine the amount by which EVA (including the target bonus
                  accrual) is below budget

         o        Determine the after-tax amount that will be subtracted from
                  the target bonus pool by multiplying the amount by which EVA
                  is below budget times the approved sharing percentage

         o        Calculate the pre-tax amount that will be subtracted from the
                  target bonus pool as a result of EVA being below budget, using
                  the methodology described above (i.e., divide the after-tax
                  amount by 1.00 minus the tax rate)


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         o        Subtract the resulting pre-tax amount from the aggregate
                  target award to determine the size of the financial bonus
                  pool. The minimum pool size will be zero

Once the financial bonus pool is determined, every participant in a unit will
receive the same financial award as a percentage of his or her target.
Calculation steps will include:

         o        Calculate the aggregate financial bonus pool for the unit as a
                  percentage of the aggregate target financial bonus pool

         o        Apply this percentage to the target financial award for each
                  participant. For example, if the aggregate financial bonus
                  pool were $1,200 and the aggregate target bonus pool were
                  $1,000, then that unit's financial award would be 120% of
                  target. Every participant in the unit would receive 120% of
                  his or her target financial award

The Knight Ridder Controller will calculate the corporate awards. Each business
unit's chief financial officer will calculate the business unit's awards, using
EVA results that have been agreed upon with the Knight Ridder Controller. All
calculations will be based on the approved list of participants and their target
award opportunities.

The attached exhibits illustrate the calculations of the financial bonus pool
for three situations:

         o        Exhibit 1: EVA is above budget, and pool is below 200% of
                  target

         o        Exhibit 2: EVA is above budget, and pool is potentially above
                  200% of target, making it necessary to apply the test of
                  whether the pool can exceed 200%

         o        Exhibit 3:  EVA is below budget

         DETERMINING NON-FINANCIAL AWARDS

A performance score will be determined for each of the Non-financial measures at
corporate and each of the business units. A score will be 100% of the points
assigned if the goal was achieved, zero if threshold performance was not
achieved, and between 0 and 100% if performance was above threshold and the goal
was partially achieved.

An individual's Non-financial award will equal the sum of the scores on each of
the measures times the weighting given to that measure for that individual.
Awards can range from 100% of the Non-financial target if all goals were
achieved, down to zero if performance on all goals was below threshold.


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OTHER PLAN FEATURES

         AWARD PAYMENT

Awards will be paid in cash following the end of the Plan Year and the
computation of results, unless deferral has been elected under the annual
incentive deferral plan. Required tax amounts will be withheld.

         PARTIAL YEAR PARTICIPANTS AND CHANGES IN POSITION

Individuals who are hired or promoted into positions that qualify for Plan
participation will be eligible for a pro rata award based on the amount of
salary earned while a participant and the performance levels achieved.

If a participant's responsibilities change during a year and a different part of
the company's performance is used in computing awards for the two positions,
then ordinarily the award will be determined on a pro rata basis relative to the
time spent in the two positions, although exceptions may be made on a case by
case basis.

         TERMINATION

In the event of death, permanent disability (as defined by Knight Ridder's
disability plan) or retirement prior to the date of payment, a participant (or
the participant's estate) will be entitled to receive a pro rata award based on
the time employed during the year. Pro-rated payments will be made following the
end of the Plan Year and computation of results. Required tax amounts will be
withheld.

In the event of resignation or termination for other reasons at any time during
the Plan Year, no award will be paid.

         EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS

The Plan does not constitute a contract of employment, nor does participation in
one Plan Year guarantee participation in another Plan Year.



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                                                                       Exhibit 1


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                   EXAMPLE OF CALCULATING FINANCIAL BONUS POOL
                               EVA IS ABOVE BUDGET
                          POOL IS BELOW 200% OF TARGET

================================================================================

         TARGET BONUS OPPORTUNITIES AT A NEWSPAPER:

         $500,000 Target bonus
         $325,000 Financial component of target (65%)

         DETERMINING AFTER-TAX AMOUNT TO BE ADDED TO TARGET BONUS POOL:

         $750,000 EVA above budget
              15% Sharing percentage
         $112,500 15% of amount by which EVA is above budget

         DETERMINING PRE-TAX AMOUNT TO BE ADDED TO TARGET BONUS POOL:

              42% Tax rate
         $193,966 $112,500 divided by .58 (1.00-.42)

         DETERMINING FINANCIAL BONUS POOL (PRE-TAX):

         $325,000 Target
      +  $193,966 Amount above EVA budget shared with management
         $518,966 Financial bonus pool

             160% Pool as a percentage of target

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                                                                       Exhibit 2


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                   EXAMPLE OF CALCULATING FINANCIAL BONUS POOL
                               EVA IS ABOVE BUDGET
                    POOL IS POTENTIALLY ABOVE 200% OF TARGET

================================================================================

         TARGET BONUS OPPORTUNITIES AT A NEWSPAPER:

         $  500,000  Target bonus
         $  325,000  Financial component of target (65%)

         DETERMINING AFTER-TAX AMOUNT TO BE ADDED TO TARGET BONUS POOL:

         $1,500,000  EVA above budget
                15%  Sharing percentage
         $  225,000  15% of amount by which EVA is above budget

         DETERMINING PRE-TAX AMOUNT TO BE ADDED TO TARGET BONUS POOL:

                42%  Tax rate
         $  387,931  $225,000 divided by .58 (1.00-.42)

         DETERMINING POTENTIAL FINANCIAL BONUS POOL (PRE-TAX):

         $  325,000  Target
      +  $  387,931  Amount above EVA budget shared with management
         ----------
         $  712,931  Potential financial bonus pool

               219%  Potential pool as a percentage of target

         DETERMINING ACTUAL FINANCIAL BONUS POOL (PRE-TAX):

         Is NOPAT at least 12% above prior year's, and is EVA positive and
         improved?

         If yes:     Pool = $712,931
         If no:      Pool = $650,000 (200% of target)

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                                                                       Exhibit 3


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                   EXAMPLE OF CALCULATING FINANCIAL BONUS POOL
                               EVA IS BELOW BUDGET

================================================================================

         TARGET BONUS OPPORTUNITIES AT A NEWSPAPER:

         $500,000      Target bonus
         $325,000      Financial component of target (65%)

         DETERMINING AFTER-TAX AMOUNT TO BE SUBTRACTED FROM TARGET BONUS POOL:

       - $750,000      Amount of EVA below budget
              15%      Sharing percentage
       - $112,500      15% of amount by which EVA is below budget

         DETERMINING PRE-TAX AMOUNT TO BE SUBTRACTED FROM TARGET BONUS POOL:

              42%      Tax rate
       - $193,966      $112,500 divided by .58 (1.00-.42)

         DETERMINING FINANCIAL BONUS POOL (PRE-TAX):

         $325,000      Target
      +  $193,966      Amount below EVA budget subtracted from management pool
         $131,034      Financial bonus pool

              40%      Pool as a percentage of target