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The State, Columbia, S.C., C. Grant Jackson Column: Publisher of Florida Paper to Take Reins at The State

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 May 2006, 06:02 CDT

By C. Grant Jackson, The State, Columbia, S.C.

May 9--Henry Haitz, a veteran Knight Ridder executive, will take over as publisher of The State newspaper May 22.

Haitz, 42, is president and publisher of The (Bradenton, Fla.) Herald. His first visit to South Carolina was Monday, for the announcement of his new job in Columbia.

Ann Caulkins, publisher of The State for the past three years, will become publisher of The Charlotte Observer.

Caulkins' move was announced last year but put on hold after Knight Ridder put itself up for sale. Earlier this year, The McClatchy Co. announced it would buy Knight Ridder. The sale is expected to be completed this summer.

All three papers -- The State, The Observer and The Herald -- are owned by Knight Ridder and will become part of McClatchy.

Lou Heldman, president and publisher of The Wichita Eagle, originally was named to succeed Caulkins and had begun a transition to Columbia. However, he decided to remain in Wichita.

"My decision to remain in Wichita is purely personal," Heldman explained in a statement. "In these intervening months, my wife and I concluded we did not wish to take our two teenagers out of a school and community where they are doing well. And I found myself ever more reluctant to leave my wonderful staff at The Eagle."

Caulkins will succeed Peter Ridder, who is retiring. Ridder is the brother of Knight Ridder chairman and chief executive Tony Ridder.

Haitz, a Pennsylvania native, said he began having discussions about the possibility of moving to Columbia a few weeks ago.

Haitz was publisher of the Centre Daily Times in State College, Pa., for two years, before moving to Bradenton.

As publisher in State College, home of Penn State University, Haitz helped launch a program to bring younger readers into the newspaper. About 40 percent of the adult population in State College is made up of Penn State students or young adults, Haitz said.

"Blue" is a tabloid section that wraps around the Centre Daily Times and targets student readers. The publication was made available on campus and in other areas frequented by students, he said.

Haitz said he hopes to bring some of that experience to The State.

"You would think with all the young people here, there would be some things worth trying" from his Penn State experience, Haitz said. "Reaching young readers is important to our industry. ...

"Many people in our business think the newspaper business is dying. I'm not one of them."

Haitz said newspapers are moving quickly to expand the news, information and advertising they provide to the Internet. While some newspapers have lost some circulation, "it has also been shown that we have extended our reach with the Internet," Haitz said.

Haitz lauded The State's reputation, within both Knight Ridder and the newspaper industry, "as a really strong performer: good at journalism and growing revenue and innovative."

Haitz has been active in community affairs in his past posts. He is a member of the boards of the United Way in Manatee County, Fla., and the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, as well as working with a number of other organizations.

Robert Bartz, president of the Manatee chamber, said Haitz has been an active member of the community.

"He seems to jump in whenever there is a cause, participate and put the paper's resources behind whatever it might be," Bartz said.

Haitz's involvement in the community was almost immediate after he arrived in Bradenton, Bartz said.

"It didn't take him very long at all to be totally ingrained in the community. It wasn't like he sat back and took a year to get the lay of the land."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

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Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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