THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507020050
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Cole C. Campbell, Editor
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A week ago Saturday, Suffolk native James K. Batten died of brain cancer at the age of 59.
His death leaves a painful rent in the lives of his colleagues, friends and family. His mother, Jo Batten, still resides in the Holland section of Suffolk.
His death also hurts many newspaper people across the country.
Jim Batten was not related to the Battens who lead Landmark Communications and The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star. But like them, he was the leader of a major media enterprise, Knight-Ridder Inc.
Knight-Ridder owns 29 daily newspapers and other media-related companies, bringing in $2.65 billion in revenues in 1994. During Batten's tenure, Knight-Ridder papers won many prestigious journalism awards, including Pulitzer Prizes.
Three of the top editors at The Pilot are Knight-Ridder alumni. Deputy Managing Editor Ed Power worked at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Deputy Managing Editor Joyce Ingram worked at the Philadelphia Daily News. And Deputy Managing Editor Rosemary Goudreau worked at The Miami Herald and the Knight-Ridder Washington bureau.
I never worked for Jim Batten. In fact, I never met him.
But he had a profound impact on my life as a journalist.
For much of the past decade, he spoke with a strong voice to the issues confronting newspapers.
He was not afraid to use his post as chairman and chief executive officer of Knight-Ridder and as vice chairman of The Associated Press to speak out for better newspapering. And even when he was talking only to Knight-Ridder newsrooms, editors elsewhere listened.
He talked about credibility. He urged newspapers to work harder to preserve their believability by adhering to stringent standards of fairness and thoroughness.
He talked about knowing customers in order to better satisfy their news, information and advertising needs.
He talked about diversity, within the newsroom staff and within civic leadership, as vital to reflecting the communities both groups aim to serve.
He talked about the future - and how newspapers must search continuously for new tools and methods to serve readers and communities.
He talked about community:
``Loving our communities, warts and all, is not something most of us were taught growing up in the newspaper business. But getting close to your community and your readers is an essential part of the job.''
``I deeply believe that newspapers, well edited, well published, are wonderfully situated to be instruments of helping America find its way, solve its problems, seize its opportunities. And that's an ennobling way to spend one's life.''
Jim Batten began his newspaper career straight out of Davidson College in North Carolina, starting as a cub reporter at The Charlotte Observer before he knew how to type. As he took on responsibilities far beyond the newsroom, he never lost the soul of a journalist.
Louis D. Boccardi, the president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press, offered a sweeping summary.
``Jim Batten was just about everything: a reporter whose curiosity couldn't be satisfied; a leader who won respect not because of his titles but because of the kind of man he was; a visionary who led Knight-Ridder to new heights; and, most of all, he was a man who cared so deeply for good journalism and good people.''
I read that eulogy in a surprising place - on the front page of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, which is engaged in a bloody battle with The Miami Herald in Broward County, just north of Knight-Ridder's corporate headquarters in downtown Miami.
Even his enemies paid Jim Batten the highest tribute.
His death was not a surprise; he had a malignant tumor removed July 1, 1994, and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment. After suffering a serious seizure three weeks ago, he had been admitted to the intensive care unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
He had time to contemplate his own epitaph. He chose: ``He took care of his family. He took care of his company.''
To that I would add this comment from David Hall, editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
``He stood for things.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
James K. Batten by CNB