Knight Ridder Names Gary Wortel Publisher of The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News

Knight Ridder Names Gary Wortel Publisher of The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Knight Ridder (NYSE:KRI) today announced that Gary Wortel, vice president/advertising and marketing for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, has been named president and publisher of The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News, effective Feb. 14. He succeeds Paula Ellis, who is now vice president/operations for Knight Ridder. Ellis said, "Gary has delivered outstanding results as the top advertising executive at the Pioneer Press and at The Tennessean in Nashville. His deep experience in advertising and his passion for the unique mission of a community newspaper make him ideally suited to lead The Sun News. "Throughout his career, he's been active in his community. He is highly collaborative and quick to invent new solutions to customer needs. Gary focused his early career on marketing and advertising, but he still has copies of his first bylined stories in the San Jose State University Spartan Daily. "I can safely add that he will be the first publisher of The Sun News who speaks Dutch." Wortel, 48, joined the Pioneer Press in 2001 as vice president/advertising sales. Prior to that, he worked for The (Nashville) Tennessean as advertising director from 1999 to 2001 and as display advertising manager from 1993 to 1998. He worked for Knight Ridder's San Jose Mercury News as outside classified manager from 1991 to 1993, as retail zone manager from 1990 to 1991 and as retail sales manager from 1986 to 1990. He earned a bachelor of arts in public relations from San Jose State University in 1978. Wortel has served on the board of the St. Paul Riverfront Development Corporation. Past associations include Rotary and Chamber of Commerce in various California communities. He and his wife, Patti, have four children. Knight Ridder is the nation's 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 9.0 million daily and 12.7 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, develops and manages the company's online properties. It is the founder and operator of Real Cities (www.RealCities.com), the largest national network of city and regional Web sites in more than 105 U.S. markets. Knight Ridder and Knight Ridder Digital are headquartered in San Jose, Calif. Source: Knight Ridder CONTACT: Polk Laffoon, Vice President of Corporate Relations, +1-408-938-7838, or plaffoon@knightridder.com; or Lee Ann Schlatter, Director of Corporate Communications, +1-408-938-7839, or lschlatter@knightridder.com, both of Knight Ridder Web site: http://www.knightridder.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment