Walking on Principle
Jay T. Harris quits his job as publisher of the San Jose Mercury News.
By
Kathryn S. Wenner
Lori Robertson
Kathryn S. Wenner, a former AJR associate editor, is a copy editor at the Washington Post.
Lori Robertson (robertson.lori@gmail.com), a former AJR managing editor, is a senior contributing writer for the magazine.
Jay T. Harris stuns the industry by quitting his job as publisher of the San Jose Mercury News , saying in a March 19 memo to employees that parent Knight Ridder's financial goals threaten to cause the paper "significant and lasting harm." Harris' resignation came two weeks after he alerted Merc staffers that layoffs would be needed to meet budget demands in a time of economic decline. Knight Ridder executives, including CEO Tony Ridder , said in a memo to staffers that "we asked him to reconsider, but he would not." Harris could not be reached, and a Knight Ridder spokeswoman declined to comment. But the day after Harris stepped down, Executive Editor David Yarnold announced there would be no newsroom layoffs and that the company had agreed to lower profit targets. Harris, 52, former executive editor of the Philadelphia Daily News and vice president of Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., became assistant to Tony Ridder, then-president of Knight Ridder's Newspaper Division, in 1988. He joined the Merc in 1993, and he has been seen as Ridder's possible successor. Another publisher in the chain who is facing similar cutbacks expressed sorrow at Harris' departure. "I don't know what the circumstances were specifically that drove him to his decision," says Akron Beacon Journal Publisher John L. Dotson Jr. But, "I respect him and respect the decision."
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