Knight Ridder Names New Publishers in Charlotte and Columbia

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Knight Ridder today announced the appointment of new publishers for two of its newspapers.

Ann Caulkins, president and publisher of The (Columbia, S.C.) State, will become publisher of The Charlotte Observer, replacing Peter Ridder, who has announced that he will retire at the end of the year. Lou Heldman, president and publisher of The Wichita Eagle, will become publisher of The State. The appointments are effective Jan. 1, 2006.

Making the announcement for Charlotte, Knight Ridder Senior Vice President Art Brisbane said, "Ann Caulkins has been an extraordinarily good publisher in Columbia, and I have no doubt that she will be the same in Charlotte. In just three years at The State, she has substantially increased the newspaper's revenue and grown its market share. Such innovations as the micro-sites and blogs now associated with the newspaper's Web site, along with "Jolie," a monthly targeted publication focused on fashion, have been notably successful. Moreover, Ann has greatly increased the diversity of the newspaper's work force and officer group. Under her leadership, both she and the newspaper have become deeply involved in a wide variety of community activities."

Prior to coming to Columbia, Caulkins, 43, had spent four years in Lexington, Ky., at the Herald-Leader, first as advertising director, then as senior vice president of sales and marketing. Her newspaper career started at the Fort Worth Telegram in 1984, where she was promoted to retail advertising director in 1992. She is a 1984 graduate of Baylor University with a bachelor's degree in oral communications. She attended the Simmons Executive Graduate School Program in 1993.

Caulkins participates in well over a dozen boards in Columbia and in South Carolina, including the United Way, the Urban League, the Governor's Council on Competitiveness and the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. She and her husband, Kelley Anderson, have two sons.

Making the announcements for Columbia and Wichita, Knight Ridder Vice President/Operations Paula Ellis said, "Lou Heldman is one of our most seasoned journalists and publishers. He is a high-energy person who has gotten first-rate business results in two markets as publisher and first-rate editorial results in four additional markets where he was an editor. Lou's enthusiasm for innovation has resulted in the launch of any number of new print products at his newspapers -- and it's one reason Knight Ridder chose him to head its important 25/43 project in the late '80s. Lou's can-do attitude and humor are well known; people like working with and learning from him. As a developer of talent, he has been excellent; two other Knight Ridder publishers cut their teeth under Lou. I look forward greatly to seeing what he will do in Columbia."

Heldman, 56, joined the Detroit Free Press as a reporter in 1975. He has been publisher in Wichita for four years, and was publisher for six years in State College. Prior, he was executive editor in Tallahassee, and before that he worked for Knight Ridder newspapers in Detroit, Fort Wayne and Miami. He is deeply involved in a variety of Wichita's civic activities, including the Wichita Community Foundation, Wichita Chamber of Commerce and Wichita Art Museum. He is a graduate of the Ohio State University School of Journalism and the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development. He and his wife, Terry, have a son and a daughter.

Knight Ridder is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 32 daily newspapers in 29 U.S. markets, with a readership of 8.5 million daily and 11.0 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint companies. The company's Internet operation, Knight Ridder Digital, develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities (http://www.realcities.com/), the largest national network of city and regional Web sites in more than 110 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are headquartered in San Jose, Calif. (NR)