June 21–28, 2001

pretzel logic

Riddered

by Howard Altman

If nothing else, Tony Ridder — chairman and CEO of the once-prestigious Knight Ridder newspaper chain, which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News— is a very aptly named man.

As in, let’s get ridder this one and let’s get ridder that one, and let’s get ridder a couple thousand more while we’re at it, all in the name of saving the bottom line. A bottom line, that, at about 19-percent profit, is lower than what Knight Ridder stockholders would like to see.

To remedy that, the company, in an ode to corporate oinkery, has announced it will chop about 1,700 jobs, or about 10 percent of its workforce. One method of riddering has been an offer to buy out veteran employees, enticing them to leave with sweet inducements, including salary and health benefits.

One of the latest to announce he is accepting a riddering is my father-in-law Donald Drake, one of the greatest journalists ever to pick up a pen.

Drake, the groundbreaking science-writer-cum-editor whose 35th anniversary at the Inquirer was last week, says he is accepting the riddering not because things have gone to hell at the Ivory Tower of Profit (née Truth), but because it made him the proverbial offer he could not refuse.

"I am 66 years old," says Drake, one of the first reporters in the world to recognize the significance of AIDS and HIV. "If the offer wasn’t made, I would have probably retired in the next three or four years, if not earlier. To pass up this big an offer for a couple of years seems almost extravagant."

That said, Drake’s departure is symbolic of how much damage Tony Ridder has inflicted on the newspaper business in general and the once-vaunted Inky specifically.

A paper that was, it should be noted, little more than toilet paper with ink until the likes of Drake began arriving, turning the daily dreck into one of the best papers in the nation, lining the pockets of Messrs. Knight and Ridder and all their shareholders along the way.

Sadly, 19-percent profit, good enough for nearly any business (and most investors) on this planet, is not enough for Tony Ridder, not when visions of 25-percent sugar plums were dancing around inside his head.

Alas, those visions were dashed when the softening economy led to a nearly 9-percent drop in advertising revenue, making it impossible to squeeze 25-percent profit out of the foundering newspaper chain.

Don Drake admits that what Ridder has done is highly demoralizing.

"I think that you have two camps here, dancing to different drummers," says Drake. "There are journalists who want to do good journalism and feel it would be nice if we also make a nice profit doing it. The other camp, the Ridder camp, wants a good bottom line, and it would be nice if we could do good journalism too. If we can’t, it is the bottom line that is going to be honored."

Drake is quick to point out that the Inky is still a great newspaper and that Editor Robert Rosenthal has done a yeoman’s job of maintaining high quality in the face of so much financial adversity. He points to stories like the recent series on dangerous police van rides as proof of that commitment.

But the fear — driven home by Ridder’s statements that these cuts will be permanent, even when the economy rebounds — is that quality may soon become Job 12.

"I think that Ridder wants obscenely high profit margins of 25 percent, and very few industries come anywhere near a profit margin of that scope," Drake says. "As far as journalists here are concerned, they are wondering how long they can keep doing good journalism if Ridder keeps tightening the vise."

The decision to leave, says Drake, was far from easy. "I have mixed feelings," says Drake. "I am very romantic and sentimental about the newspaper business, and it is very sad to lose that identity as a newspaperman."

Drake says he agonized over his decision while covering the retirement of Jeffrey Gribler, a principal dancer for the Pennsylvania Ballet.

"I was very much aware of that while I was reporting the story, that this was his last dance and this was my last story," says Drake. "I found a lot of wisdom in his decision. Gribler said to me, ‘I am not who I am because I am a dancer, I am a dancer because of who I am.’ That stuck with me. Then my friend Jon Franklin said, ‘You do not need the man’s press card to call yourself a writer. You are a writer.’"

And a terrific teacher, too.

Over the years, we have spent many hours in passionate discussions about journalism and those who practice our noble profession. I have learned so much from Drake, one of the most avid proponents of narrative writing, which uses the elements of fiction to tell compelling news stories.

Beginning July 20, Don Drake will be riddered, free to focus on his other great passion, playwriting.

We in the newspaper racket say, Damn you, Tony Ridder.

And the folks in the theater world?

They say thanks.