Knight Ridder Cutting Jobs at Most Papers

Knight Ridder Inc. will eliminate jobs at most of its 32 daily newspapers across the country in the face of plunging advertising revenue and rising newsprint prices, the company said. The nation’s second-largest newspaper company did not specify how many jobs will be lost in the reorganization. San Jose-based Knight Ridder, whose newspapers include the San Jose Mercury News, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Miami Herald, employs about 22,000 people. Chief Executive Tony Ridder said the number of jobs lost will vary from paper to paper, based on local market conditions. Knight Ridder will offer early-retirement packages in an effort to avoid layoffs, he said. “I never have seen a falloff as sudden or as steep as this one,” Ridder said. “I don’t know anyone who is confident of a near-term or a dramatic uptick.” Knight Ridder shares rose 36 cents to close at $54.51 on the NYSE.