Charles Kenny McClatchy, better known as C. K. McClatchy (November 1, 1858 – April 27, 1936), was the editor of The Sacramento Bee and a founder of McClatchy Newspapers, the family-owned company that was forerunner to The McClatchy Company.
McClatchy attended Santa Clara University, where he earned a Masters of Arts in 1901.[1] He took over the Sacramento paper upon the death of his father, James McClatchy, in 1883 and led it into the 20th century, continuing the newspaper's battles for labor rights; against the abuses of big mining, the railroads, and corrupt government; and fiercely defending a publication's right to editorial freedom. He was instrumental in the founding of The Fresno Bee in 1922 and the establishment of The Modesto Bee with its purchase in 1924.[2] McClatchy also owned KFBK (AM), an AM radio station in Sacramento.
His son, Carlos, who had been groomed to take over the business, died in 1933; McClatchy then turned to his daughter, Eleanor, who after his death became president of the McClatchy Company and led it for the next forty years.[3] Carlos's son, known as C. K. McClatchy (like his grandfather) served as president of McClatchy Newspapers between 1979 and 1989.
C.K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento, which opened in 1937 about a year after his death, was named in honor of McClatchy.
^University of Santa Clara (corporate authorship) (1912). University of Santa Clara: A History, From the Founding of Santa Clara Mission in 1777 to the beginning of the University in 1912. Santa Clara: University Press
^John William Leonard; Albert Nelson Marquis (1908). Who's who in America. Marquis Who's Who. pp. 1187–.
