Media Roundup: Meeting Conflaguration

The media reports, webbed overnight and this morning that cover the Conrad Black trial, focus almost exclusively on the penultimate day of Paul Healy's testimony under direct examination:

1. The Associated Press report, webbed by the International Herald Tribune, focuses on the events of, and associated with, the Hollinger International annual meeting held in 2002. It also mentions an incident where "he and Black met with a group of prospective investors who asked about the payments as well as executive perquisites such as use of the corporate jet." According to Mr. Healy, Mr. Black responded, "'I can have a 747 if I want'... The investors decided against buying shares in Hollinger, Healy testified."

2. Andrew Clark of the Guardian has written a report that not only recounts the annual meeting sparks, but also the 1998 anonymous-posting incident. It quotes an E-mail in which Mr. Black "compared himself to two Shakespearean characters in a single sentence: 'All that I said about this in the past four years will come to pass, and the drama will change from King Lear to Julius Caesar (minus the last act, one dares to hope).' An abridged version of this same report has been webbed by Buzzle.com.

3. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a paragraph on Mr. Healy's testimony in its compendium of business stories. It's item #3, entitled "Jury hears shareholders."

4. A brief summary of yesterday's testimony has been webbed by the Malaysia Sun. The language in it is somewhat exotic.

5. David Litterick of the Telegraph has written a report, entitled "Black’s $3m apartment 'was excessive'", that begins with: "The former head of investor relations at Conrad Black’s media company has testified that he warned the former newspaper proprietor that his shareholders were unlikely to look kindly at his use of a multimillion-dollar corporate apartment on New York’s Park Avenue. "

6. The Chicago Tribune has a report from Ameet Sachdev, entitled "Defendant dismissed concerns from shareholders, jurors told". It describes the tapes as providing "a taste of Black's combative personality and penchant for flowery language."

7. From Theresa Tedesco of the National Post, a report entitled "Black's sharp tongue silences: More he speaks, more likely his co-accused will not." It concludes that Mr. Black's statements about the trial outside of the courtroom have not only ruined his chances at testifying in his own defense, but also have permanently crimped the chances of the other three co-defendants testifying on their own behalf.

8. A briefing from the Canadian Press, webbed by CBC News, forecasts that the cross-examination of Mr. Healy will begin today.

9. The Globe and Mail has webbed Paul Waldie's latest report, which contains the phrase "Lord Black's disdain for aggressive shareholder activism" to describe his controversial statements at the annual meeting and his E-mails surrounding it. At its end, it notes that the suggested response, which Mr. Healy had shied away from, "blamed short sellers for the low share price" as the time of its posting (1998.)

10. A report from Janet Whitman of the New York Post, entitled "Conrad Black's Plane Chutzpah," adds an additional detail about that anonymous posted response from 1998: it claimed "anonymously that the 70 percent rise in Hollinger's stock over the last year was set to resume, the jury heard." (This would count as a "forward-looking statement," to use the relevant term from Ontario's securities law. I don't know the relevant part of American securities law, but it seems like a statement that only an analyst would be permitted to issue.)

11. Michael Sneed's latest column in the Chicago Sun-Times contains this note on the trial coverage: "The Canadian and Brit press are still going gaga over coverage of newspaper baron Conrad Black's federal fraud trial here, which is this/close to a Zzzzzz to Chicago readers."

12. The Sun-Times also has a report by Mary Wisniewski, which begins with: "Hollinger International CEO Conrad Black got angry at an underling when he tried to warn former Gov. Jim Thompson about trouble at a shareholder meeting, according to testimony in Black's federal fraud trial Tuesday." The rest of the article indicates the prosecution's attempt to tie the case together with Mr. Healy's testimony.

13. The Edmonton Sun has webbed the latest CP report on Mr. Healy's testimony yesterday.

14. From the Toronto Star, the report on Mr. Healy's testimony describes the statements by Mr. Black entered into the trial record yesterday as "colourful remarks." It contains a concession by Mr. Black at the 2002 annual meeting, held in 2003, that "conceded he could not think of another example in the industry where similar payments went to executives rather than the company."

15. Another report by Mr. Waldie, also webbed by the Globe, discusses the possibility that two employees of two institutional investors in Hollinger Int'l will be called to the stand. Counsel for Peter Atkinson has already filed a motion to prevent them from testifying. Patrick Tuite, counselor for Jack Boultbee, also filed a mistrial motion on the basis that many of the shareholders' complaints at the annual meeting held in 2002 were irrelevant to the charges and "could cloud juror's judgment." (This motion was rejected by Judge St. Eve.)

16. The ChronicleHerald's "Canada In Brief" collection mentions the trial in its second item, "Fraud trial hears Black dismissed complaints."

17. The Edmonton Journal has a report by Mary Vallis, entitled "Black disliked cranky shareholders." It mentions that, as a transcript of Mr. Black's words was shown to the jury and the rest of the courtroom's inhabitants, "Black swivelled his seat and closely read his own words to shareholders." (Once a writer...)

18. A brief Canadian Press report, webbed by the Vancouver Province and entitled "Black credits Nixon book with helping him cope," contains this concession from Mr. Black: "The former media baron says he can see that some might find a connection between the ordeal of Nixon, who resigned in disgrace in 1974, and his trial."

19. The Saskatchewan Leader-Post has another brief CP report, re-capping yesterday's testimony.

20. A longer recapping has been webbed by the Guelph Mercury, which contains this excerpt from Mr. Black's words at the 2002 annual meeting held in 2003: "Black defended the company's actions, telling shareholders at the 2003 meeting that steps taken by him and other executives 'were not the antics of greedy, self-serving controlling shareholders' but rather decisions approved by independent directors and properly disclosed.

"'We vehemently deny any impropriety," Black said in the recording..."

21. Mr. Waldie had written a third report, also webbed by the Globe, which itemizes some of the expenses for remodelling the Manhattan apartment. The largest cost listed in it: "$685,000 for architectural woodworking and doors."