Whether or not Knight Ridder is sold to another company, changes are coming to KR’s Mercury News, says Executive Editor Susan Goldberg (pictured) in a story today. “For awhile, people felt that they wanted all this to go away,” Goldberg is quoted as saying in the story by staffers Chris O’Brien and Pete Carey. “But I think people understand now there’s no going back to before, no matter what happens. And that has left people with a lot of questions about the future.” With bids due today from possible buyers of Knight Ridder, the company’s newspapers are considering $150 million in cuts to make the chain more attractive to investors, including: lowering wages, more outsourcing, eliminating arts criticism, reducing stock listings, cutting home delivery discounts, curtailing the Newspapers in Education program, replacing the company’s defined benefit pensions with 401(k)s, trimming health and dental benefits, and combining human resources departments at nearby papers. [LA Times: Some KR employees favor McClatchy] [Philadelphia Inquirer: Collecting bids is just the beginning] [MarketWatch: KR won’t talk about bids until at least Sunday, maybe later]
Merc editor warns of change, sale or no sale
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