Thursday, April 05, 2007

Conrad Black trial not getting much attention in Chicago


A friend of the blog sat in the visitor's gallery at the trial of fallen media tycoon Conrad Black in downtown Chicago yesterday afternoon. Black controlled the Hollinger empire that once included such jewels as London's Telegraph newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, and Canada's National Post.

Black is accused of misappropriating Hollinger funds for personal use.

Currently Hollinger, now called the Sun-Times Media Group, is nothing more than the Chicago Sun-Times and a string of suburban Chicago newspapers, including the Morton Grove Champion.

The Black trial is a huge story up in Canada, very big in Great Britain, but it's getting just a fraction of the coverage from the Chicago media that the trial of ex-Illinois Governor received in 2005 and 2006.

My blog-friend spotted two familiar faces among the media throng. Columnist Mark Steyn and author Dominick Dunne. Steyn has a blog about the trial.

In Chicago the media story most people are talking about is Sam Zell's purchase of the Tribune Company and the upcoming sale of one of the now-private company's most visible assets: the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

Still, Black is on the Chicago radar, even if he is a blur on the edge of the screen. The Chicago "free registration required" Tribune has a section on its web site devoted to the Black trial.

Thanks for the links:
BlogJunkies
Illinoize

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