Media Roundup: Preparing For Radler

The stories on the Conrad Black trial webbed overnight and today are concentrating upon the impending appearance of one witness, that witness being David Radler, with one notable exception:

1. From LawFuel, an excerpt from a Times article, which contains a quick intro to Mr. Radler's role in the trial.

2. The Toronto Star's Jennifer Wells has a much longer profile on Mr. Radler, focusing upon his days as the Chicago Sun-Times' publisher and his brief, but to be recurrent, role as proprietor of a group of small-town American newspapers. It also includes a brief recap of his and Conrad Black's early days at Sterling.

3. The New York Post's "On The Money" column has a recap of the kick-out of Tom Bower from the courtroom. He, according to the ruling, was "showing disrespect for a U.S. Marshal."

4. From Andrew Stern of Reuters, an article on what Mr. Radler is expected to testify about, with this assessment of what he has to bring to the witness stand: "'Without Radler, they can't prove intent,' said a lawyer involved in the case who requested anonymity." It ends with an analysis of why Mr. Radler has become so crucial to the prosecution's case.

5. A CP report from Canoe Money quotes three experts, who also explain why Mr. Radler's testimony is going to be crucial.

6. From Michael Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times, an anecdote which features a late-night raid, by "hotel security," of Black's hotel room - Alana Black's.

------------

Three columns, two of which mention Conrad Black and the trial only in passing; the third focuses upon the fall of an earlier witness, James Thompson, in the context of business or management stars who went nova:

1. Mary Mitchell mentions that R. Kelly, the R&B singer indicted with 14 counts of child-pornography-related charges, has retained Edward Genson to defend him. Her column wonders why Mr. Kelly would be invited to the premiere of the movie The Color Purple when under indictment for those charges.

2. Phil Rosenthal's column in the Chicago Tribune discusses the expected fate of the Chicago Sun-Times under its new ownership. He claims that the proprietorship of Conrad Black and David Radler was less memorable that that of their predecessor, Rupert Murdoch, who's already gotten some reporters with the Wall Street Journal running scared.

3. Another Tribune columnist, David Griesing, after describing how Mr. Thompson's star is faring, has a round-of of other star directors, or CEOs, whose reputations went nova after scandals erupted on their watch: Clark Clifford, ex- of Band of Credit and Commerce International; Robert Jaedicke, cindered by Enron's implosion; Harry Stonecipher, who was done in by an office affair; and, of course, Paul Wolfowitz, who hasn't gone to cinder as of yet. His column, after supplying context to the phenomenon, returns to the image created by Mr. Thompson's recent testimony. It ends with a mention of the root cause, supplied by former Enron lead prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, of so many directors getting caught short these days: "overboarding," or sitting on too many boards, resulting in too little time devoted to each responsibility.