The Ridder family entered the Twin Cities newspaper market in 1927 with the purchase of the St. Paul Dispatch and Pioneer Press. A Minneapolis Daily Star report (below) doesn’t mention the price, or make clear who exactly was selling the paper. But it was clear who the buyers were: a New York newspaper family by the name of Ridder. It was the start of a long and profitable association — and, for St. Paul readers and the Ridder family, an enduring source of civic and journalistic pride.

Eighty years later, Par Ridder, one of Bernard H. Ridder Sr.’s great-grandchildren, left his post as publisher of the Pioneer Press to take the top job at the rival Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where things did not go well for him. As we used to say in the newspaper business: -30-

ST. PAUL DAILIES
CHANGE HANDS

New Yorkers Buy Pio-
neer Press and
Dispatch

New owners of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch today were preparing to take possession of the property on Oct. 1. Bernard H. Ridder, Joseph E. Ridder, Victor F. Ridder and Leo E. Owens of New York city have purchased the two newspapers, it was announced by C.K. Blandin, publisher, who remains as chairman of the board of directors.

The new owners are at the present time proprietors of the New York Journal of Commerce, the New York Staats Zeitung and the Jamaica (L.I.) Press.

Mr. Owens, who will become publisher of the Pioneer Press and Dispatch, was born in Eau Claire, Wis., was graduated form the University of Minnesota college of engineering, and received his early newspaper training on the Minneapolis Tribune. He is a nephew of the late W. J. Murphy, publisher of the Tribune for many years. Joseph E and Bernard H. Ridder are graduates of Columbia university, N.Y., and have devoted their career with Victor F. Ridder to management of newspapers since 1906. Victor F. Ridder has taken an active interest in the American Newspaper Publishers association and the Publishers association of New York.

Mr. Blandin will devote his time principally to his paper mill at Grand Rapids, which was not sold to the new publishers.

Bernard H. Ridder Sr. at his desk in 1950. (mnhs.org photo)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 7:04 am and is filed under Main, People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.