Statement by TNG-CWA President Linda Foley on Possible Knight Ridder Sale

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Following is a statement by Linda Foley, president of TNG-CWA, on Knight Ridder and today's announcement that the company is reviewing its strategic options. The TNG-CWA Knight Ridder Council represents 3,000 workers at Knight Ridder newspapers.

The Newspaper Guild-CWA is concerned that the sale of Knight Ridder could severely damage its newspapers' abilities to provide effective community service and could greatly harm employees and their families.

We believe the best approach to addressing the crisis at Knight Ridder and in the newspaper industry is for employees, the industry and our communities to work together to promote newspapers and their essential role in a free society.

Whether it's the article explaining the importance of getting an annual flu shot or the advertisement for the local theater troupe or the feature about your next door neighbor, the high school state track and field champion, good newspapers connect customers to the community mainstream and to resources for economic and cultural growth.

Therefore, we are committed to a newspaper growth strategy that yields increased service and utility to readers and advertisers, higher circulation and a higher level of reader engagement.

We will work with local newspapers and teachers to bolster programs that increase the pool of future newspaper subscribers.

We will speak to community groups and urge residents to view local newspaper classified advertising departments as the "community's advertising agency."

We are committed to organizing KR employees and other community members to make sure our voices are heard during these turbulent times in the newspaper industry.

Because we understand the importance of maintaining a stable workforce with the experience to best serve the community, we want to protect the contracts of Guild members and support employment rights of all Knight Ridder workers.

Our vision for growth runs counter to those who believe that newspaper owners can cut their way to prosperity by eliminating jobs, slashing journalistic resources and dismantling circulation and marketing infrastructure.