Here's a link to the University of Akron site with video clips
I had the pleasure of watching the premier of the documentary by Paul Jacoway and Kathleen Endress in main auditorium of the Akron-Summit County Public Library. There is more than a trace of irony in the location. It is located in the heart of the town Knight helped build. I have no doubt it would be a far different place if it weren't for the full support of the Knight brothers over the year, both directly and now from the Foundation which manages their legacy. The viewing came on what would have been Jack Knight's 105th birthday.
The Library sits across the street from the Akron Art Museum -- made possible largely because of Knight Foundation support -- and the John S. Knight Convention Center. Among the panelists discussing the Knight legacy was the University of Akron president, no doubt aided by the partnership with the Foundation in redeveloping the neighborhood called University Park.
There are few things for good in Akron which don't bear the Knight stamp. Maybe that's why watching this documentary left me wondering why the media institutions that Jack and Jim Knight built are considered dinosaurs today.
My hometown paper, the Akron Beacon Journal, is today a shadow of the glorious newspaper that housed Jack Knight's office (photo at left from Stanford University); it was a place where presidents came to curry favor. It was a keystone in the empire that included other newspapers that helped set a standard of excellence here and in Philadelphia, Miami, Detroit, Charlotte and dozens of other cities. It was a Pulitzer factory.
At one time the biggest newspaper group in the country, Knight Newspapers and later Knight-Ridder had its life sucked dry by the very money men who put up the capital to build a news aristocracy, only to demand the heads of the royalty they created when it was time to cash out.
Going public provided the push to grow into greatness. Being public led to the demise. The strongest clip of Knight is when he tells an interviewer newspapers are not a growth industry. He doesn't say the media business is dead.
The flagship papers, such as the Beacon Journal, didn't even make the cut when McClatchy Newspapers sliced and diced what used to be Knight-Ridder into digestible chunks.
Those left behind wage a mighty struggle to live up to tradition, but under ownership who seems more skilled at reading numbers than words. Seemingly lost in the mix are the steps the Knight brothers learned at the feet of their father, expanding coverage and depth at precisely the time when the competition was cutting. Being positioned for growth when bad times turned better seems to be a common thread among great companies with a vision to be greater. Many point to and old-line corporate giant such as Ford as an example in today's auto industry, looking for an American phoenix to rise above the ruins of the car crash. Tech favorites such as Microsoft, Apple and Google are part of every newsroom. Even the ultimate service-based business of McDonald's seem to embody the sense of understanding the core mission and how to serve their customers, even those who aren't customers. Yet.
There are innovators in journalism, and realists who see the business had to evolve and adapt. The contrast is striking between those mired in what was and those moving to what will be. On one hand we want to restore the control of media and the security that brings, while employing the magic of the genie we let out of the bottle by making the web free. Living in the past allows more whining than winning.
Rich Boehne, president and CEO of E.W. Scripps, told a recent gathering arranged by the Ohio State Bar Association that we in the media are seeing the end of our salad days. The era of jaw-dropping profits is over. It was a great ride -- a fun ride -- but it is time to move on to the next thing. What remains is what we do, our core. Reporting. Storytelling. Giving voice to our communities.
All while figuring out how to do it at less expense. New technology and hardware. New methods and mindsets. Fresh approaches looking forward instead of the backwards pining for days gone by. Among broadcasters, groups such as Fisher Broadcasting in the Seattle area, Hearst with properties across the nation, and those with strong Ohio roots such as Scripps, Cox (based in Atlanta but let's not forget the foundation in Dayton) and the print and broadcast operations of Columbus-based Dispatch stand out even in times of tumult.
My friend Steve Safran of the media consulting firm Audience Research and Development notes "...wishing is NOT a business model." We spend an inordinate amount of time pining for the champagne times where we controlled not only the products of journalism and media but also the delivery. When innovation knocks there will be those who refuse to answer because they think the warmth and safety will be protected by not opening the door.
We need to be honest with our partners in the community; our readers, listeners, viewers and website visitors. We should be open with our talent in explaining why jobs don't pay what they used to; we must be transparent with our backers by reinforcing their support buys a business but not our editorial value. Jack Knight's handling when his company went public, telling analysts their money would be better spent elsewhere if they didn't like what he was doing, was real leadership. That wisdom is reflected today by media companies taking their companies back and, in some cases, ownership reclaiming their properties at a fraction of the cash flow formula from the same people so eager to buy over the past decade.
The lesson and legacy left by the Knight brothers profiled in "Final Edition" speaks to service, staying true to the mission and the value of independence both editorial and financial. Mourning the era of such masters of the universe wastes time finding solutions to what we need to figure out: making a living the same time we make a difference.
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