Miami Herald publisher Venezuela RPCV Alberto Ibargüen resigns to lead Knight Foundation



Miami Herald publisher Venezuela RPCV Alberto Ibargüen resigns to lead Knight Foundation

Miami Herald publisher resigns to lead Knight Foundation

By JOHN PAIN
AP Business Writer
Posted January 28 2005, 5:27 PM EST

MIAMI -- Alberto Ibarguen, publisher of The Miami Herald, said Friday that he would resign in July to become president and chief executive of John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

No replacement has been named for Ibarguen, who became the Herald's first Hispanic publisher in 1998. The Miami Herald won three Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure, but also laid off workers as parent company Knight Ridder Inc. faced financial pressures during the recession.

The foundation was established in 1950 and is named for two brothers who owned the Herald and helped form Knight Ridder. It is dedicated to promoting ideals of community service, higher standards of journalism and the defense of a free press. Ibarguen will succeed Hodding Carter III.

``For the longest time I've had the idea that I wanted to be a newspaper publisher and I wanted later in my life to be the president of a foundation,'' Ibarguen, 60, told The Associated Press.

Officials at Knight Ridder, based in San Jose, Calif., did not return calls seeking comment.

Ibarguen said he was proud of the newspapers' achievements, such as discovering voter fraud in a Miami mayor's race that led to a Pulitzer in 1999. Before taking over at the Herald, he was publisher of the Spanish-language sister paper El Nuevo Herald since 1995.

While he acknowledged the difficulties of making profits in the newspaper industry, he dismissed criticism that the publicly traded Knight Ridder focused more on pleasing shareholders than on quality journalism. Knight Ridder, the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, announced a cut of 10 percent of jobs at The Miami Herald Publishing Co. in 2001.

``You can criticize all you want but the proof is in the pudding,'' Ibarguen said. ``There are other newspaper companies that demand higher margins of their newspapers.'' He said one focus at the foundation will be to examine how the newspaper industry can better meet competing demands of profits and quality, and increased competition from cable news outlets.

``What we can't do is to think that we can continue doing it with a business model and in the same way that we've always done it,'' he said.

``Alberto Ibarguen is a recognized leader with interests that are a perfect match with those of the foundation,'' said W. Gerald Austen, chairman of the foundation's board. Before joining the Knight Ridder papers, Ibarguen was executive vice president for operations of Newsday and New York Newsday. He was senior vice president for finance and administration of The Hartford (Conn.) Courant before that.

The Puerto Rico native grew up in the New York area.

Ibarguen also is chairman of the Public Broadcasting Service.

When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

January 22, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Spread Freedom — but not at gunpoint 22 Jan Dodd has ring side seat at Inauguration 21 Jan Peace Corps works in Georgia 21 Jan Trey Aven monitored Ukraine elections 21 Jan RPCV group makes quiet indie-pop 21 Jan Anthony Shriver considers race for Florida Governor 20 Jan Thomas Tighe says internet brought funds to DRI 20 Jan Stacy Jupiter researches Australia ecosystems 20 Jan Libby Garvey is education activist 20 Jan David McIntyre captures medals on land and in water 19 Jan Carol Bellamy new president of World Learning 18 Jan Reed Hastings crossed "Latino Caucus'' 18 Jan RPCVs sponsor Freeze for Food to aid Colombia farmers 18 Jan RPCVs urge Bush to aid Democracy in Ukraine 17 Jan Tom Petri proposes changes in student loan program 17 Jan Golden Globe Win for Jamie Foxx in RPCV's "Ray" 17 Jan Stephen Smith is new consul-general in Australia 17 Jan

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