Knight Ridder will offer early retirement packages in an effort to avoid layoffs. This is a difficult time in so many ways, but in no way greater than having to disrupt the lives and trust of Knight Ridder people with whom we have worked so closely. The cuts, mostly affecting jobs outside the newsroom, have been made in the past few weeks. After enjoying several years of increasing profits since Ridder became CEO in 1995, Knight Ridder expects earnings to decline because of an advertising slump and a sharp increase in newsprint. At the same time, Knight Ridder's newsprint expenses are up by 20 percent from the same time last year.
Newsprint typically represents a newspaper's second-largest expense after labor.
I never have seen a fall-off as sudden or as steep as this one. Terms of use. All rights reserved. Fox News Network, LLC 2001. All rights reserved.