San Jose, CA February 6, 2002-Steve Rossi, Knight Ridder President/Newspaper Division, will give the opening address at Editor and Publisher's 13th Annual Interactive Newspapers Conference and Trade Show at the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA, on February 7 at 9:00a.m PT.

Speaking on the future of online newspapers, Rossi will speak about the shift in self-perception that newspaper professionals must embrace in order to meet the needs of multimedia-minded consumers. "We need to think of ourselves as media people, not newspaper people," he said. "We need to engage our newsrooms and leverage our tremendous newsgathering and packaging capabilities to embrace multi-media content creation and dissemination as our primary mission."

Rossi says that success in the media industry depends on four elements: brand, reach, content and a business model responsive to market needs. By focusing on the newspapers' local franchises and creating a locally branded experience not provided by the large, national sites, newspaper sites will prevail in their local and regional markets.

Before assuming his present position in 2001, Rossi served as Knight Ridder's senior vice president/operations since 1998. From 1992 to 1998, he was executive vice president and general manager of Philadelphia Newspapers. As President of the Newspaper Division, his responsibilities include Knight Ridder Digital, the online subsidiary of Knight Ridder.

Editor's Note: Mr. Rossi will speak from 9 -10am at the San Jose Convention Center, corner of Almaden Boulevard and San Carlos Street, downtown San Jose.

About Knight Ridder, Inc. and Knight Ridder Digital
Knight Ridder is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 32 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 8.5 million daily and 12.6 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, creates and maintains a variety of innovative online services, including Real Cities, the premier national network of city and regional destination sites in 58 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are located in San Jose, Calif. For more company information, visit www.knightridder.com or www.knightridderdigital.com.