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Article: Knight-Ridder purchase mixed blessing for staff of Belleville News-Democrat.
- Article from:
- St. Louis Journalism Review
- Article date:
- May 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 SJR St. Louis Journalism Review. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The offices of the Belleville News-Democrat and the Kansas City Star buzzed with excitement when the Wait Disney Co. confirmed it would sell the newspapers to Knight-Ridder, Inc.
"We no longer work for Mickey Mouse," one journalist cheerfully exclaimed.
Actually, the deal simply means that the newspapers are going from one giant media conglomerate to another, as the companies position themselves in a market that cares less about journalism and more about the bottom line as time goes by.
Knight-Ridder trails only Gannett in the ranks of the country's largest newspaper companies, but it's the more decorated of the two. It has won more Pulitzer Prizes ...