Skip to main content

Old Media Shudder at Knight Ridder's Demise

Associated Press writer Michael Liedtke reports that it should have been an idyllic setting when a clique of media and technology tycoons convened for an annual retreat amid the summer splendor of Idaho's mountains.

But the facade of tranquility did little to conceal the friction bristling beneath the surface of the five-day summit. The host, investment banker Herb Allen, had compiled a guest list that consists mostly of executives trying to protect their own turf while they invade new markets to reach increasingly fragmented and fickle audiences.

This high-stakes battle pits long-entrenched media like newspapers, broadcasters, movie studios and recording labels against high-tech trailblazers using the Internet to redirect the flow of information, entertainment and, ultimately, money.

Even losing early rounds in the fight can be fatal, as the recent demise of Knight Ridder Inc. demonstrated. The nation's second-largest newspaper publisher was sold to McClatchy Co. after the company's biggest shareholders expressed doubts about Knight Ridder's ability to compete as more advertising shifts to the Web. "I wish we had invented Google," a despondent CEO Tony Ridder said the day before Knight Ridder faded into obsolescence.

Popular posts from this blog

Bold Broadband Policy: Yes We Can, America

Try to imagine this scenario, that General Motors and Ford were given exclusive franchises to build America's interstate highway system, and also all the highways that connect local communities. Now imagine that, based upon a financial crisis, these troubled companies decided to convert all "their" local arteries into toll-roads -- they then use incremental toll fees to severely limit all travel to and from small businesses. Why? This handicapping process reduced the need to invest in building better new roads, or repairing the dilapidated ones. But, wouldn't that short-sighted decision have a detrimental impact on the overall national economy? It's a moot point -- pure fantasy -- you say. The U.S. political leadership would never knowingly risk the nation's social and economic future on the financial viability of a restrictive duopoly. Or, would they? The 21st century Global Networked Economy travels across essential broadband infrastructure. The forced intro...