According to a report posted this afternoon (Jan. 26) by Pete Carey of the Mercury News, Knight Ridder execs have ended three weeks of meetings with potential buyers of the newspaper chain, and they’ve talked to everybody except Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper publisher. Gannett is probably the one company in the best position to buy KR, with enough cash on hand that it could literally write a check for the $4.3 billion company. Carey doesn’t say why KR hasn’t made a presentation to Gannett, or whether that will occur next week. CNBC reported that Gannett made an offer for KR on Jan. 6 and then withdrew it minutes later — a report that both KR and Gannett have denied.