Richard Diamond, newspaper publisher
Louisiana Lou
Industry leader, newsprint expert put readers first
Friday February 13, 2004
Newhouse News Service
NEW YORK -- Richard E. Diamond, publisher of the Staten Island Advance, a
leader in Advance Publications Inc. newspaper management and a nationally
known newsprint expert, died Thursday at home of cancer. He was 71.
Diamond was trained to become publisher by his uncle, Samuel I. Newhouse
Sr., founder of Advance Publications, the largest privately owned newspaper
and magazine publishing company in the country. Advance owns The
Times-Picayune.
Diamond began his 51-year career at the Staten Island Advance in 1953 after
graduating from Cornell University, where he remained an active alumnus. He
served as associate publisher for 24 years and became publisher after
Newhouse died in 1979.
Though his heart was in Staten Island, where he lived most of his life and
knew every employee of the Advance by name, he was well-known in national
newspaper industry circles. He was a longtime director of the Newspaper
Advertising Bureau, which merged into the Newspaper Association of America,
where he also served on the board. He was the longtime chairman of the NAA
Newsprint Committee.
"Dick was the senior member of the management team that oversees our
newspaper group," said Donald Newhouse, president of Advance Publications
Inc. "His guidance and counsel was of immense importance to me and to the
publishers he worked with. Dick was the family archivist and historian. With
his beautiful wife, Alice, he wonderfully organized the annual get-together
of our publisher family at the NAA convention and the two annual
get-togethers of the family itself. He spoke at these occasions and set the
tone of the importance he -- and we -- attach to the ties of respect,
friendship and love that bind us together."
'Unique . . . irreplaceable'
Samuel I. Newhouse Jr., chairman of Advance Publications, said, "All of us
regard Dick with the greatest affection and admiration in business affairs
and in personal relationships. He was a unique adviser and, in a way,
irreplaceable." The two Newhouses are Diamond's first cousins.
J. Stewart Bryan III, chairman and CEO of Media General Inc., said Diamond's
national reputation "was based on his view of being publisher of the Staten
Island Advance: He was an old-fashioned newspaperman in the best sense of
the phrase.
"He tended carefully to his newspaper and the community that it served, and
he considered that a high calling. That example will serve as an inspiration
to the rest of us. He was never much taken with the klieg lights or the
personal honor and glory. He did it extremely well, and as a result of that
he was in demand for a lot of national work that he didn't get paid for."
Bryan said of Diamond's role as chairman of the Newsprint Committee:
It's "a very important committee that tried to maintain a sense of mutual
trust between the newspaper industry and the newsprint industry. As you can
imagine, there are times they are at each others' necks. Neither one could
exist without the other one. Dick was a very good voice of reason in these
debates over the years."
John Sturm, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, said:
"Dick Diamond was a major force in NAA, particularly as chairman of the
Newsprint Committee. It is unusual for a publisher to be so directly
involved in newsprint issues, but his presence elevated the importance of
newsprint production and acquisition.
"Dick's contributions to the association and the industry live on every day
at newspapers across the country when ink is applied to newsprint."
Diamond bought all the newsprint used at Advance Publications' 26 daily
newspapers and numerous weeklies. He dealt often with Arnold Nemirow,
chairman and CEO of Bowater Inc. of Greenville, S.C., a large newsprint
supplier. Advance Publications has an equity partnership with Bowater.
"I always admired Dick for his integrity, his honesty and his intellect,"
Nemirow said. "That formed the basis of our friendship. I have nothing but
the highest respect for him personally and as a businessman.
"Personally, he was such a strong family man and a terrific father. I had
the opportunity of seeing Dick with his children in both personal and
business settings."
'Touchable and personal'
Diamond often traveled to Michigan and worked with publishers of the Booth
Newspapers, bought by Advance Publications in 1977.
Dan Gaydou, publisher of the Grand Rapids Press, worked with Diamond at
several newspapers.
"Dick was always a kind and patient man in his manner, always civil and
treated you with a lot of respect," Gaydou said. "He had a great insight and
a wealth of knowledge in the newspaper business and thoroughly understood
the dynamics of advertising, circulation and production. He was a great
mentor for me.
"The most remarkable thing that people always loved about Dick was his
personal warmth. He never hesitated to share a personal moment about his
wife and children and grandchildren and always asked about your family. He
knew our spouses and children by name.
"He was a very real, touchable and personal manager who could also be your
friend. He was not too good for anybody. He garnered the admiration of
everybody that he worked with. He will be sadly missed by all his co-workers
in Michigan."
But Diamond always thought his most important roles were as publisher of the
Staten Island Advance and a father figure to his employees. He relished it.
A man of slim build with a deep voice that exuded authority and expertise,
he often rested his reading glasses on his forehead. He was at his desk each
morning by 6:30 and met with the editor and checked Page 1 before the 8 a.m.
press run.
"Dick Diamond was the ultimate newspaperman," Advance Editor Brian Laline
said. "He was a model of integrity who exercised his influence over
editorial policy with one simple philosophy: Do the right thing.
"It's a message he conveyed countless times in countless situations. It is
that, his love of Staten Island and his love of newspapering that I will
remember always," Laline said.
'A hell of a newspaperman'
Retired New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Sr. had a long friendship
with Diamond. He said: "He was such a sweet, lovely guy and a hell of a
newspaperman. It is the publisher, in the last resort, who is responsible
for the newspaper, and he bore that responsibility gracefully."
Diamond often traveled through the newspaper's departments to chat with
managers and routinely worked long hours. The publisher made it a point of
knowing by name every one of his 400 employees. He would greet staffers,
whether a press operator or a photographer, individually and often engage
them in conversations about a new restaurant or a favorite dish. He offered
comfort and encouragement to employees who suffered a loss or a personal
problem. He was accessible, his door always open.
He enjoyed recognizing employee birthdays. His birthday greetings to an
editor or a reporter would boom across the newsroom, often causing the
recipient to blush.
His automobile license plates, which read "SIA," proclaimed his devotion to
the Staten Island Advance. They generally adorned his favorite type of car:
a red convertible.
On Staten Island, Diamond was a steady and generous benefactor of programs
that benefited the arts and education, helped the homeless and improved life
in the borough.
Through his efforts and financing from the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation,
the Newhouse Gallery was established at Staten Island's Snug Harbor Cultural
Center.
Nearly every Staten Island service organization honored Diamond with
citations and awards for his contributions to the community.
Steward of progress
Diamond oversaw dozens of milestones at the Advance, including the
construction of its building on Fingerboard Road, the launch of the Sunday
edition of the Advance and the use of color in its pages. He guided the
Advance through sweeping changes in production technology.
The most significant technological milestone he spearheaded was the
construction of a 33,000-square-foot press hall and installation of
state-of-the-art electronic printing presses.
With his daughter, Advance General Manager Caroline Diamond Harrison,
Diamond oversaw every detail of the $35 million project, from the press hall
groundbreaking in 2001 to the first full run on the new press 18 months
later.
To encourage and reward community activism, Mr. Diamond launched Staten
Island's Women of Achievement program, which has honored 263 Staten Island
women in ceremonies featuring such keynote speakers as Sens. Elizabeth Dole,
R-N.C., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
Diamond led a celebration of the Advance's 100th birthday in 1986, which
included a 240-page centennial edition that was the largest weekday paper
ever published in New York.
Lover of New Orleans
Diamond was a frequent visitor to New Orleans and had a particular fondness
for Galatoire's. Sometimes he would visit the restaurant on consecutive days
to enjoy his favorite dish: stuffed eggplant.
He had several family ties to the city. His wife, Alice Wilzin Blach, is a
descendant of Isidore Newman, and two of his children, Richard Diamond Jr.
and Harrison, both trained in the newspaper business at The Times-Picayune.
Richard Diamond is assistant to the publisher of The Times of Trenton, N.J.
Survivors also include another daughter, Alison Levasseur, and a sister,
Elaine Berman of Connecticut.
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1076657292205550.xml