Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Former Editor Details 'Creeping Corporatism' When I get a copy of Buzz Merritt's new book, Knightfall, I'll probably put it on the "disheartening newspaper histories" shelf. The first detailed review I've read is "How Profit Became King," by Rick Edmonds at Poynter.org, which provides a chapter excerpt. (The publisher's website provides another selection, about earlier days at Knight, and a table showing the decline of Pulitzer-winning journalism at Knight-Ridder.) There's not a lot of optimism in those online chapters, which are all I've read so far. But Edmonds' review suggests that, like several other recent books by newspaper veterans, Merritt's volume sees some hope in new electronic media as the future of journalism. A pioneer in the "public journalism" movement, Merritt was executive editor of the Wichita Eagle under the merged Knight-Ridder chain. His book is an insider history of what he calls "creeping corporatism" and investor-driven demands for 20 percent profit margins. The book's subtitle sets the tone: "Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism Is Putting Democracy at Risk." 8:02:51 PM

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