Knight-Ridder Picks New Chief for Newspapers

Knight-Ridder Newspapers on Monday announced a restructuring of its newspaper management and named P. Anthony Ridder, publisher of the San Jose Mercury News, as president of a newly organized newspaper division.

The restructuring centralizes operations of the Miami-based firm’s 28 daily newspapers under one executive. Ridder also was named chairman of the operating committee and member of the executive committee.

“As part of our current five-year planning process, we have concluded that the divisional concept that we use in broadcasting and business information will provide a more efficient management structure for our company’s newspaper operations,” said Knight-Ridder Chairman Alvah H. Chapman Jr.

“Tony Ridder, who has done an outstanding job as publisher in San Jose, will be the first president of this new division,” Chapman said.

In other management changes announced in a news release, Knight-Ridder senior vice president-news, Larry Jinks, was named senior vice president-news and operations. William Ott, senior vice president-operations, was named publisher of the Mercury News, replacing Ridder.

All appointments are effective Feb. 1, 1986.

Ridder, 45, has been publisher in San Jose since 1977. He began working at the Mercury News in 1964 and has served as its general manager and business manager.

Jinks, 56, became the company’s senior vice president-news in 1983. He was named vice president-news in 1981 after four years as editor of the San Jose Mercury News.

Ott, 58, has been in his present post since 1982. From 1977 until 1981, he was group vice president-operations, responsible for Knight-Ridder’s Metro Group newspapers. From 1975 to 1977, Ott was president and publisher of the Akron Beacon-Journal following four years as general manager at Akron. Before that, he was editor of the Telegraph in Macon, Ga.