Conrad was not just fighting the government, however. The mainstream media, brainwashed by the libelous Special Committee Report penned by the disgraced Richard Breeden, was unflinchingly critical of Black. The anti-Black sentiment was especially virulent in Chicago, where Conrad is falsely blamed for the downfall of the Sun-Times, despite his lack of involvement in the paper’s operations.
For those of you who are confused about Conrad Black’s level of involvement in the Sun-Times, I will share a note submitted to American News Post by Conrad. I believe he could enlighten you on the matter better than me.
(In Conrad Black’s own words)
“I had absolutely nothing to do with the operation of the Chicago Sun-Times, and no more than Radler had with the operation of the London Daily Telegraph. I visited it twice and warned him he had to stop asinine gestures like shutting off the escalators, and had to strengthen the product. I approved the acquisition of new presses and a new printing location to liberate the paper from Gutenberg-era presses and get it functioning properly. In a technical sense, and I approved the engagement of new editors from elsewhere in our group, which helped to strengthen the product.
“The Sun-Times was certainly not profitable when we bought it; it was chronically unprofitable and on the inexorable road to bankruptcy. It became profitable under our ownership, and I approved the acquisition of many of the community newspapers in the Chicago area that helped to make it a profitable group before the bloodsuckers who succeeded us lifted $300 million for themselves and managed the property into bankruptcy.
“It is clear from the evidence in the long proceedings that have ensued that Radler cheated all of us, especially me, and then to cut his downside, perjured himself repeatedly to try to incriminate us and reduce the penalty for his own crimes. All charges against me were either not proceeded with, abandoned, rejected by the jurors, or vacated by the Supreme Court. What we have now are two counts retrieved, by the most obtuse treatment of repressed, confected, or distorted evidence, by the appellate panel chairman excoriated by a unanimous Supreme Court and then instructed to assess the gravity of his own errors.
