James Knight; Helped Build Family’s Newspaper Chain

James L. Knight, who with his older brother created one of the country’s most prominent newspaper publishing empires, has died in Santa Monica. He was 81.

Knight died Tuesday night of a respiratory ailment at St. John’s Hospital, where he had been a patient for several months.

Also a noted philanthropist, Knight had worked with his brother, John, to expand their father’s single paper, the Akron Beacon Journal, into a respected chain including the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Detroit Free Press.

In 1974, the Knight papers merged with the Ridder chain to form Knight-Ridder Inc., which now has 29 daily newspapers and cable television interests. In California, the chain includes the San Jose Mercury-News and the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

“As a combination, I think we were most unusual, and this has been partly responsible for our success,” James Knight once said of his brother, who was 15 years older and died in 1981. “My interest was nuts and bolts, and his was the product.”

John Knight, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his column, “Editor’s Notebook,” supervised editorial development. James handled the business end.

James had angered their father, C. L. Knight, when he dropped out of Brown University in 1931, and the elder Knight put him to work under the Beacon Journal’s business manager. At one point, young James’ job was dispensing pencils and paper clips to the staff.

But the business training and James’ acuity aided the brothers just two years later, when their father died.

In 1937, they bought the Miami Herald, and James moved to Miami to manage it. During World War II, he won praise by deciding to cut advertising rather than news when government rationing of newsprint forced sharp reductions in the size of the paper.

Chairman of the Knight Foundation and still a member of the corporation board at his death, he had served the corporation as president, chairman and chief executive officer.

Knight, who had personal stock holdings in the chain worth more than $225 million, gave tens of millions of dollars to hospitals, universities and charities in South Florida, including more than $25 million to the University of Miami.

Survivors include his second wife, Barbara; four daughters, 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.