Media Roundup: Lines Between The Dots

The media reports, webbed overnight and the morning, on the Conrad Black trial have concentrated on Paul Healy's testimony under direct examination:

1. From FT.com, as webbed by MSNBC.com, a report that begins with: "Conrad Black intended to buy his luxurious Hollinger corporate apartment in New York but was unable to do so until he received a 'non-competition' fee as part of a sale of company assets, his former head of investor relations testified on Monday." It also relates that Mr. Healy testified that he was sure that Mr. Black "was able to pay $3m for his corporate apartment only because he received those payments." He testified further that a "fictitious" assessment for the apartment was drawn up, and that he had lied to back it up. The report concludes: "His testimony provides an important element of the prosecution case, particularly regarding Lord Black's spending habits and his allegedly fraudulent statements to disgruntled shareholders."

2. The Sydney Morning Herald has webbed a Reuters report on Mr. Healy's testimony.

3. Paul Waldie's latest report, webbed by the Globe and Mail, relates that Mr. Healy had used the phrase "'an intentional mistake,'" which the reports on his testimony have translated into "lie." It also identifies Edward Siskel as the direct examiner of him. Details of Mr. Healy's testimony in the report include: Conrad Black agreed to pick up the tab after the renovations were complete; the maintenance costs, which Hollinger Int'l picked up, ran as high as $131,000 per year; that both Mr. Black and Jack Boultbee told him that the apartment would be transferred to Mr. Black at cost; and, that Mr. Healy "knew the apartment was worth more than $3-million, but he did what he was told. Mr. Siskel noted that Lord Black increased the value of his apartment by 70 per cent, while no added value was assigned to the Hollinger unit."

4. A CP report, webbed by CBC News, says that there is more testimony from Mr. Healy under direct examination today - specifically, records from the annual meetings held in 2002 and '03.

5. Bloomberg's report, written by Andrew Harris and Bob Van Voris, recounts Mr. Healy's testimony along with a wrap-up of Jonathan Rosenberg's at its end.

6. The Vancouver Province has webbed a report by Mary Vallis, which relates that the annual maintenance cost for the apartment "ranged from $68,000 to more than $131,000 a year." It also says: "Throughout Healy's testimony, Edward Genson, one of Black's defence lawyers, raised objections about the line of questions, saying they were 'terribly' and 'unfairly' prejudicial to Black. 'It's like death by 1,000 cuts,' Genson told Judge Amy St. Eve."

A more complete version of the same report, webbed by the Montreal Gazette, further discloses on page 2 of it that Judge St. Eve "would not be swayed and Siskel continued his line of questioning when the jury returned to the room." Mr. Healy also testified that a memo he wrote about the transaction "stipulated Hollinger would pay for the care and maintenance of both apartments."

7. From Janet Whitman of the New York Post, a report that notes, like the others, that Mr. Healy was anxious to get the apartment off Hollinger Int'l's books. It also notes that "Black's justification for the lack of premium has been that he spent $2 million renovating the apartment. But Healy noted that Hollinger got no credit in the swap for its expensive makeover of the ground-floor apartment."

8. Also from Ms. Whitman and webbed by the Post, a report entitled "He Calls Fed's Case Bull****." The contents, a collection of trial-related snippets from the Guardian interview, are adequately summarized by the title.

9. A report from the Toronto Star also contains the same highlights that the other reports on Mr. Healy's testimony yesterday have, but it ends with this piece of Mr. Healy's testimony: "Healy said he then received a call from Hollinger executive Jack Boultbee, telling him to call New York real estate experts who would justify Black's $3 million purchase price as fair market value.

"Healy said he called real estate experts but never stressed the market value issue. Yet he wrote a December 2000 memo to Boultbee insisting experts agreed.

"'It was hyperbole on my part,' he said, referring to his memo."

10. A brief summary of Mr. Healy's testimony has been webbed by the Evening Times Online.

11. According to another report by Mr. Waldie, also webbed by the Globe, all has not gone badly for the defense yesterday in the Healy matter, despite Mr. Healy's direct testimony seemingly backing up the prosecution's allegation of a scheme. "Lawyers for Lord Black and Mr. Boultbee won a ruling Monday that could give them some extra ammunition to go after Mr. Healy on his testimony about the apartment. Judge Amy St. Eve has ordered a New York law firm to turn over some of the notes it made during interviews with Mr. Healy in July 2003." The firm in question has refused to do so up until now.

12. The Daily Mail has a summary of its own, reporting on Mr. Healy's testimony yesterday.

----------

The newer activities of Mr. Healy's new top boss, Richard Breeden, have made the Kansas City Star. It reveals that Mr. Breeden, in his new capacity as a big institutional investor, is still using the same strong language (both complimentary and critical) that he used in the Special Committee report - only this time, instead of legalities, he's shifted the use of that kind of discourse to more ambiguous business difficulties such as maladroit marketing campaigns: "Richard C. Breeden, a major Applebee’s International Inc. shareholder, last month characterized the company as having 'a capable management team and a strong, high-integrity board.'... He [earlier had] described some of Applebee’s moves as 'an unmitigated disaster.' And in language only a bit softer than the ruthless tone he used to skewer disgraced former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers and fallen publishing magnate Conrad Black, Breeden said Applebee’s marketing was an 'embarrassment' and the finance department 'failed to grasp the most basic concepts of return on capital.'" The same report also mentions that many of those negative comments were "made public in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission" and "were part of Breeden’s bid to win four seats on Applebee’s board."

(A cautionary note: head honchos who use that kind of strong wordings do tend to be sized up as not-quite-all-there by wiser, if more cyncial, denizens of the corporate world - especially in the realm of subordinate selection. It's a sad fact that a man who genuinely believes what he says, one possessing a kind of integrity, is like blood to mosquiters - a woeful tale at least as old as Othello. Breeden-watchers should watch for what tricks he uses to flush out Machiavellians from his home base - tricks that could be characterized as "wearing the Borgia ring" as a spotter for any Nicky-boy in his ranks.)