Bakers comment on benefits, challenges of family ownership.

Byline: The Register-Guard

What are the ups and downs of being part of a newspaper family?

Here are the answers provided by a small sample of the 16 Bakers who comprise the generation now operating the The Register-Guard - Tony Baker, editor and publisher; Fletcher Little, general manager; Susan Diamond, Newspaper in Education coordinator; Bridget Baker, corporate and public relations coordinator for Guard Publishing Co.; and Ann Mack, director, development communications, University of Oregon foundation.

What are the benefits of being part of a family-run business?

Bridget Baker: `Having a product you can be proud of that is new every day, and the respect of the community for your part in producing it. Being given the opportunity to work here when younger, so that I was able to develop an excitement and even affection for the business."

Ann Mack: `Job and career opportunities. A chance to help the community through philanthropy. It brings the family closer together. It gives us something to pass on to our children."

Fletcher Little: `The decisions we make are ours and ours alone. We have only to look to ourselves for success or failure as a company and as a family."

Tony Baker: `As a privately held, independent property, we don't have far-flung public shareholders demanding ever-increasing returns each quarter or each year, the local economy be damned."

What are the challenges of operating a family-held business?

Susan Diamond: `Family-owned businesses have unique challenges built in, such as who can work at the business, how to work alongside family members, how to be business partners and yet take time to play together, how to disagree and remain friends, and how to run a business economically and still make a profit."

Fletcher Little: `The biggest challenge is to work with our relatives. Working at a family business where we're all owners adds to the stress of running what is already a difficult business. It's often difficult to separate family decisions from business decisions."

Ann Mack: `When working there" - Mack is a former reporter - "being regarded as an outsider, not 'one of the guys.' Being criticized for and having to defend family actions that you may or may not agree with. Being regarded as wealthy and greedy when you're not. Feeling that you have to constantly prove that you're worthy of working there."

Tony Baker: `Balancing the needs and interests of the family with the needs and requirements necessary to ensure the business is successful. There are only so many chairs in the upper echelon of a family business our size."

Bridget Baker: `Reporting to a family member is very difficult, especially when it comes to performance evaluation. It is difficult to give and receive honest feedback when your emotions get in the way. We Bakers all tend to err on the side of saying nothing, because we are trying to preserve relationships and not offend."