Jo’s Cafe

Well - at least that’s the rumor rumbling around. The New Standard reports that Knight Ridder has halted union talks “to Ease Company Sale.”

As the owners of the nation’s second-largest newspaper chain seek to sell, staffers at many of the news outlet’s 32 daily newspapers may face unresolved labor issues while Knight Ridder attempts to make itself more attractive to potential buyers.

Now why does this even peak my interest to you say? Because I’ve been around Knight Ridder products since I moved to Georgia.

I first came in contact with their newspaper in Macon, Georgia - The Macon Telegraph. I read it every day, and mostly because I knew a lot of the people that many of the stories were written about and knew all about the crime section. See, I worked for the Macon PD at that time (not in uniform, in support), so reading the newspaper was important. I really enjoyed reading the Telegraph, and it didn’t hurt that I knew a few of the people doing the writing for it. My now sister–in-law wrote for the paper and that’s how her and I met and eventually I met my wonderful husband.

Then after getting married, I moved to Columbus, Georgia and came upon another Knight Ridder paper - The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. In a word - YUCK! Even though I was working at a place where I could keep a finger partially on the pulse of what went on in town, the paper just stunk. I had gotten so spoiled with the Macon Telegraph, getting use to the way this paper did their news just was hard - but I kept trying; for 2 years.

We were moved by the Army and for 6 years I wasn’t around a Knight Ridder product. Then we came back and I tried again with the Ledger and this time it slapped me in the face — the liberalism and unfairness in the stories was so blatant I either missed it the first time, or it was very well hidden. I cancelled my subscription and don’t even bother. Oh they put out a small local edition for this part of Alabama, but it doesn’t have hard-hitting news of the world, just local fair. I can stomach that part.

The hardest part of all this was watching my sister-in-law go from a rational person for the most part (hey, she’s a reporter) into a Bush hating, Move On.org supporting wimp. I say wimp because she use to be a strong women.

But I digress — Knight Ridder is up for sale. My sister-in-law left Macon, went to another paper, then went back to a Knight Ridder paper. In the last year, the paper she was at was sold from Knight Ridder. She was going to leave and go to another KR paper, but she found she liked the new group, and the new people brought in. I think the cloud over her head is leaving - her liberal rhetoric has calmed and she seems her old self again for the most part.

Does the sale of this organization mean we may end up with fair and balanced news? Probably not, but with what I’ve seen happening at the paper where my SIL is, there is hope.