James McClatchy, 85; Former Head of Newspaper Chain
James Briggs McClatchy, a fourth-generation owner and former chairman of the McClatchy Co. newspaper chain, died Friday at his home in Carmichael, Calif., of complications from recent surgery. He was 85.
McClatchy was a director of the Sacramento-based company more than 40 years and served as chairman twice, from 1980 to 1987 and 1989 to 1995. During the break, his more forceful brother C.K., then chief executive, became chairman as well and steered the company through an initial public stock offering.
The McClatchy family had unanimously agreed to sell a 10% stake to the public, a move designed to keep control of the firm. McClatchy Co., which founded the Sacramento and Fresno Bee newspapers, at present owns 12 daily and 16 non-daily publications.
There were so many descendants of the firm’s founder, a Gold Rush journalist also named James McClatchy, that an acquisitive media company could have snapped up shares from enough relatives to win majority control.
Instead, the family created a new class of stock with the power to elect 70% of the board and with 10 times the voting rights of the public shares. If the family shares are sold to outsiders, they convert to ordinary stock.
Like most members of his clan, James McClatchy was mild-mannered and unimposing, wearing an old cowboy belt and asking if he could join reporters for lunch.
“I’d really rather be known as a former reporter than a former chairman,” he told the staff at the Minneapolis Star Tribune after his company acquired the paper in 1997.
Having worked in journalism longer than most of his relatives, McClatchy resumed his chairmanship after the sudden death of C.K. at age 62. It was also then that the company named its first non-family member as chief executive.
McClatchy was still chairman in 1995 when the firm decided to acquire the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer, which current company Vice President Howard Weaver said paved the way for buying the Star Tribune. That purchase in turn made possible this year’s announced acquisition of Knight Ridder Inc., another traditional newspaper chain with a reputation for quality.
Knight Ridder’s founding families lost control of their company after taking it public, and constant pressure from Wall Street led to cutbacks and the firm’s eventual auction.
When the acquisition closes, McClatchy Co. will become the country’s second-largest newspaper firm by circulation, behind Gannett Co.
For all his humble demeanor, James McClatchy was passionate about the watchdog role of the company and of journalism in general, Weaver said.
“I felt I was part of an organization that was working for the betterment of everyone in the [San Joaquin] Valley,” McClatchy told the Fresno Bee last week. “That’s a responsibility a newspaper has, and a personal responsibility for those who work at a paper. Failure to live up to that responsibility can wreak great damage.”
On May 20, Cal State Fresno awarded McClatchy an honorary doctorate, citing his charitable donations to the school and to programs educating the children of immigrants, as well as his advocacy for the press.
Born in Sacramento, McClatchy recalled earning his first paycheck at 12 for working in the composing room at the Fresno Bee, a newspaper founded by his father.
McClatchy earned a bachelor’s degree at Stanford University and a master’s in journalism at Columbia University.
He is survived by his wife, Susan; two sons, Carlos and William; a brother, William Ellery McClatchy; and numerous nieces and nephews and other family members.