As a reporter, editor, and executive with both the Scripps and Knight-Ridder organizations, Lee Hills worked to bring about the transition from the personal newspaper chains of the pre- and post--World War II periods to modern media companies. Along with other journalist-managers Hills helped to shape the old-fashioned newspapers of the past into those that define newspaper ownership today: chain ownership, local monopolies, joint-operating agreements, cross-media ownership of newspaper and television stations in the same city, and media conglomerates.

Hills was one of the most important of the post-World War II editors who brought about fundamental and often radical changes in newspapers, accommodating daily journalism to the increased tempo of modern living. He emphasized writing that was terse, colloquial, and designed to explain complex issues in terms that could be grasped quickly by readers with heavy demands on their time. He redesigned newspapers to give them greater eye...