Conrad Black and George F. Will, peas in a pod

I'm taking bets on whether George F. Will plans anytime soon to quote his beloved (and months-long undisclosed) benefactor, Conrad Black, now that Black has turned himself into the latest poster child for corporate greediness.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/19/business/media/19CONR.html>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hollinger International's $200 million lawsuit against ex-chief executive Conrad Black paints the media baron as a scoundrel who used shareholder money to bankroll a lavish lifestyle and displayed ``contempt'' for shareholders and board members.

... The lawsuit cites an e-mail purportedly written by Black, a history buff and member of the UK's House of Lords, to an associate that referred to corporate jet travel.

``There has not been an occasion for many months when I got on our plane without wondering whether it was really affordable,'' the e-mail said, according to the lawsuit. ``But I'm not prepared to reenact the French Revolutionary renunciation of the rights of nobility. We have to find a balance between an unfair taxation on the company and a reasonable treatment of the founder-builders-managers.''

In another e-mail, Black purportedly called his shareholder critics a bunch of ``self-righteous hypocrites and ingrates, who give us no credit for what has been a skillful job'' in running the company



and a little background on the Black/Will connection --

<http://www.fair.org/activism/will-disclosure.html>

George F. Will, columnist for the Washington Post Writers Group, devoted his column on March 4, 2003 to the thoughts of press baron Conrad Black. After spending two paragraphs describing complaints about George W. Bush's preparations for the invasion of Iraq, Will wrote: "Into this welter of foolishness has waded Conrad Black, a British citizen and member of the House of Lords who is a proprietor of many newspapers, including the Telegraph of London and the Sun-Times of Chicago." Almost the entire remainder of the column is devoted to relating Black's views on U.S. foreign policy.

In the column, Will failed to mention that he has been a paid employee of Conrad Black, who named Will, along with several other mostly conservative luminaries, to the international advisory board of Black's Hollinger International. Each time he attended the board's annual meetings, the New York Times revealed (12/22/03), Will received compensation of $25,000. Queried by the Times, Will could not recall how many meetings he had attended, but fellow board member William F. Buckley estimated his own take at "perhaps $200,000 or more."

Asked whether he should have revealed that the mogul whose views he was promoting had paid him substantial sums of money, Will told the Times, "My business is my business," adding, "Got it?"

he is very much connected to malevolent corporate players?

Lord Black has been a greedy little cuss forever.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040118.wblack0119/BNStory/Business/

"Ousted as chairman and hit with a
$200-million (U.S.) lawsuit,
Conrad Black announced Sunday
that he is selling his stake in
Toronto-based Hollinger Inc."

It strikes me that Will's failure to disclose his financial interest in the subject of his musings oughta be a fire-able offence too.

Of course, he wasn't writing about Conrad's "business" ... the political positions of a media magnate (and the public's appreciation of those positions, which Will was attempting to enhance) aren't at all relevant to the financial fortunes of the media outlets he owns, in which Will has an interest ... nooo ...

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