Knight, John S.

Knight, John S.

▪ American journalist and publisher
in full  John Shively Knight 
born October 26, 1894, Bluefield, West Virginia, U.S.
died June 16, 1981, Akron, Ohio

      widely respected American journalist and publisher who developed Knight Newspapers, one of the major newspaper chains in the United States.

      Knight's father moved to Akron, Ohio, to become advertising manager of the Akron Beacon Journal, a daily newspaper that he came to control some 15 years later. The younger Knight worked at the paper in summers as a youth. He was educated in Akron and at a private school in Maryland. His college education at Cornell University was interrupted by World War I. After front-line army service in France, he was reluctant to enter journalism, but in 1920 he acceded to his father's wish and started as a sports reporter for the Beacon Journal, adopting a pseudonym because he was embarrassed at the poor quality of his work. In time he improved it beyond question; even when he was an eminent publisher later in life, the quality of his occasional reporting was admired. Knight became the managing editor of the paper in 1925.

      When his father died in 1933, Knight took over as publisher and built on his father's foundation. He became a prizewinning editorial writer and an acquisitive publisher. Among the papers that he bought were The Miami Herald (Miami Herald, The) (1937), the Detroit Free Press (1940), the Chicago Daily News (1944), and The Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer (1954). Knight sold the Daily News to Marshall Field (Field, Marshall) in 1959, but even without it Knight Newspapers had a combined circulation of more than one million in 1960. The Ridder newspaper chain and Knight Newspapers merged in 1974 to form the Knight-Ridder Newspapers group (later renamed Knight-Ridder, Inc.). Other papers owned by the group include The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Inquirer, The), The Kansas City Star (Kansas City Star), the San Jose Mercury News, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. By the early 21st century, Knight Ridder newspapers had won more than 80 Pulitzer Prizes.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • KNIGHT, John George (c. 1820-1892) — architect and administrator was the son of John Knight, a well known London engineer, and was born probably about the year 1820. He became an engineer and for a time was superintendent of works for his father. He arrived in Australia in 1852, and …   Dictionary of Australian Biography

  • KNIGHT, John James (1863-1927) — journalist was born at Hartley, Staffordshire, England, on 7 June 1863. At the age of 11 he went to New Zealand, and worked as a boy in the mechanical department of the Bruce Herald. Six years later he returned to England and with partners… …   Dictionary of Australian Biography

  • John George Knight — (c. 1820 ndash; 10 January 1892), was an architect and administrator of the Northern Territory. John George Knight was the son of John Knight, a well known London engineer, and was born probably about the year 1820. He became an engineer and for… …   Wikipedia

  • John Cowper Powys — Born 1872 (1872) Derbyshire Died 1963 (1964) …   Wikipedia

  • John Knight (baseball player) — John Wesley Knight [Schoolboy] (October 6, 1885 December 19, 1965) was an infielder in Major League Baseball, playing mainly as a shortstop for five different teams between the 1905 and 1913 seasons. Listed at 6 2.5 , 180 lb., Knight batted and… …   Wikipedia

  • John Traphagan — John W. Traphagan is a professor of Religious Studies, Japanese Studies, and Anthropology and former Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to becoming a professor at the University of Texas,… …   Wikipedia

  • John William Fletcher — (September 12, 1729 August 14, 1785), English divine, was born at Nyon in Switzerland, his original name being de la Flechère. Fletcher was a contemporary of John Wesley (the founder of Methodism), a key interpreter of Wesleyan theology in the… …   Wikipedia

  • John Hopkins (actor) — John Hopkins (born 1974) is a British actor who is best known for playing Sgt. Dan Scott on Midsomer Murders.John, or Hoppers as he is known on set, joined the cast of Midsomer Murders in series 7 after Daniel Casey s DS Troy gained promotion and …   Wikipedia

  • John Andrew Graefer — John Andrew (Johann Andreas) Graefer (getauft 1. Januar 1746 in Helmstedt; † 7. August 1802 in Bronte) war ein deutscher Gärtner und Botaniker. Er war Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts leitender Gärtner des Königs von Neapel und Verfasser mehrerer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John S. and James L. Knight Foundation — The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is an American private, non profit foundation dedicated to promoting journalism and supporting the vitality of 26 communities where the Knight Brothers owned newspapers.It began as the Knight Memorial… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”