Chairman and CEO Tony Ridder said, "We expect ad revenue to grow in the second half at about the same rate that it grew in the first," noting that overall ad revenue was up 4.7% for the first quarter, up 5.8% in April, and that in May "overall ad revenue will be even stronger."

Ridder added that an exceptionally robust performance by general advertising is due in part to sustained dot-com advertising, "but also to some truly outstanding performances in a few markets: San Jose, Contra Costa, Kansas City, Charlotte and St. Paul." Noting that classified is "surging in San Jose and Contra Costa," he said, "We now expect (overall) classified for the year to come in stronger than what we projected at the DLJ conference in December."

Ross Jones, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said that the company has repurchased 5.4 million shares of its own stock during 2000, and that "We expect to continue repurchasing shares throughout the year." He said the current authorization is for an additional 6.1 million shares. Jones added that he foresees operating cash flow for 2000 at about $890 million and net free cash at roughly $400 million.

Dan Finnigan, president of KnightRidder.com, estimated that current-year revenue for the company¼s Internet division would be in excess of $50 million, and that expenses will be between $90 million and $100 million. He said that KnightRidder.com will undertake a $30 million marketing campaign this year, and that he expects KnightRidder.com to break even in 2002 if certain criteria are met. These include: doubling current reach, doubling usage and not reinvesting in other lines of business.

Speaking on the impact of the Internet on Knight Ridder newspapers, Steve Rossi, senior vice president/operations, said, "The Web to date is a net plus for us. What we¼ve gained in general and classified has more than offset anything lost in high-tech and/or high-end executive recruitment. How much has been lost varies by market and is, in the best of circumstances, hard to sort out."

Pointing to the San Jose market as a case study for operating in an Internet environment, Rossi drew four conclusions: 1) Macro business trends are more likely than the Web to be responsible for what¼s happening. 2) The Internet has created so many new companies and jobs - which in turn have hyped the demand for employment advertising - that its very existence is positive for Silicon Valley, and by extension, for the Mercury News. 3) Online clutter, including national responses for local needs, is increasingly burdensome. 4) The Internet has been a wake-up call, and moving to San Jose has only made the company more aggressive and more creative, generating new products and new revenue at a number of papers.

At the conference, Tony Ridder addressed several issues that he said he believed to be on investors¼ minds. Concerning consolidation within the industry, he reiterated that Knight Ridder has no interest in being acquired. "We like our print and electronic businesses, and we believe our strategy for building shareholder value is the right one," he said.

With regard to the possibility of large newspaper acquisitions, he said, "We may look, but the public market prices are very steep. Doing a deal that is highly dilutive with no offsetting business advantage is not a part of our strategy."

Ridder said that the company has granted stock options to all employees of KnightRidder.com, its Internet subsidiary, "... thus making an implicit promise that we will ultimately take it public. My best guess is that that will happen, but given market conditions, not this year."

Dan Finnigan followed with a lengthy presentation on many aspects of KnightRidder.com - its bid to be the leader in the "local space" on the Web, its progress to date, its business model, its burgeoning aggregation of both Knight Ridder and non-Knight Ridder markets into the Real Cities network, and proposed steps for future growth. "We want to be THE åGo Local¼ button on the Internet," he said.

Knight Ridder (NYSE: KRI) is the nation¼s second-largest newspaper publisher, with products in print and online. The company publishes 31 daily newspapers in 28 U.S. markets, with a readership of 8.7 million daily and 12.9 million Sunday. Knight Ridder also has investments in a variety of Internet and technology companies and two newsprint companies. The company¼s Internet operation, KnightRidder.com, creates and maintains a variety of online services, including RealCities.com, a national network of regional hubs in 36 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and KnightRidder.com are located in San Jose, Calif.

Press contacts: For more information, call Vice President/Corporate Relations Polk Laffoon at 408-938-7838 (e-mail: plaffoon@knightridder.com), or Director/Corporate Communications Lee Ann Schlatter at 408-938-7839 (e-mail: lschlatter@knightridder.com), or Director of Public Relations for KnightRidder.com Cynthia Funnell at 408-938-6076 (e-mail: cfunnell@knightridder.com), or visit Knight Ridder¼s Web site at www.kri.com.