US newspaper mogul Alvah Chapman dies at 87: Report

MIAMI: Alvah H Chapman Jr, the longtime chief of the media company Knight Ridder which owned a series of newspapers including the Miami Herald, has died of pneumonia, the paper said. He was 87.

Chapman was also stricken with Parkinson's disease and in recent years suffered a series of strokes. He died at his home in Miami, media reports said.

A noted philanthropist and community advocate, Chapman was a third-generation newspaperman who became president of The Miami Herald in 1969. Five years later, he organized the merger of Knight Newspapers and Ridder Publications.

The New York Times described the merger as "the biggest transaction of its kind at the time."

Chapman went on to serve as chief executive of Knight Ridder in 1976 and became chairman in 1982. During his time at the helm, revenues tripled and the company's newspapers won 33 Pulitzer Prizes, the Times said.

The Miami Herald described him as "one of South Florida's most influential corporate and civic leaders, whose business acumen and quiet passion helped mold not just The Herald, but modern Miami."