Carl Hiaasen on Knight Ridder

Carl Hiaasen is in town today to read from his new kids' book Flush. He's best known for his witty, acerbic novels, but Hiaasen continues to write a regular column for the Knight Ridder-owned Miami Herald. From that perch he's been a persistent and pugnacious critic of the newspaper chain, which locally owns the Pioneer Press and the Duluth News Tribune. It's worth revisiting this interview with Miami New Times from last year. Here's Hiaasen's take on the demise of his newspaper:

I don't blame the Herald. I blame Knight Ridder. There's plenty of good talent there, plenty of good editors, all the ingredients. But when you're not in charge of the money, when you're getting memos that say 'cut here, cut there,' you're screwed. Short of quitting, what do you do? It's amazing what they still do given how the budget has shrunk, the staff has shrunk, the news hole has shrunk. But it's really silly pretending it's the same paper it used to be."