William F. Knowland - After Politics

After Politics

William F. Knowland's brother Russ died on October 6, 1961. William Knowland became the sole successor to his father and to control of the Oakland Tribune.

The 1964 Republican National Convention, again in San Francisco's Cow Palace, nominated Barry Goldwater for President. Knowland backed the Goldwater-Miller ticket and spoke for the Arizona Senator all over the nation.

Knowland was the titular head of the California Republican Party from 1959 to 1967, when he passed the party leadership to the new governor, Ronald Reagan.

Knowland became President, Editor, and Publisher of the Oakland Tribune in 1966, after the death of his father. He kept the Tribune a solidly Republican paper. Known by the Tribune staff as The Senator. His son, Joseph W. Knowland, was Assistant Publisher with the position of Assistant General Manager.

However, Oakland and the East Bay Area were changing, with the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley, the Black Panthers, and "white flight" to the suburbs.

In a cost-cutting move that hurt the Oakland Tribune, the Southern Alameda County and Contra Costa County editions were trimmed. This opened the areas to Floyd Sparks - (1900–1988), owner of the Hayward Daily Review and Dean Lesher - (1902–1993), owner since 1947 of the Contra Costa Times. In early 1968, Oakland Tribune circulation rose because the major San Francisco newspapers were on strike. When the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner returned, Tribune sales fell in home delivery and on-the-street sales.

As editor and publisher, Knowland took an interest in local affairs along with this job; no more would his mind have to be on national and foreign policy. He offered a $100,000 reward for the conviction of those responsible for the 1973 murder of Marcus Foster. The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) claimed responsibility. The SLA subsequently kidnapped Patricia Hearst and Atlanta Constitution editor J. Reginald Murphy. These acts made Knowland fearful for his own safety.

The Tribune turned 100 years old on February 21, 1974. Knowland spoke on the occasion: "For 100 years this newspaper has participated in the growth of Alameda and Contra Costa counties... Now as we look into the future it becomes ever more important that newspapers here and in other cities keep the public adequately informed." He went to all departments on that Thursday. At the banquet at Goodman's Hall, Governor Ronald Reagan praised the Tribune and the Knowland Family.

The Oakland Tribune was sold in 1977 by the Knowland family. After three ownership changes, today the newspaper is only a masthead of various editions of the Alameda Newspaper Group.