Media Roundup: Profiles

The media reports, webbed overnight and today, on the Conrad Black trial are still on weekend standby mode, but the ones webbed are more in-depth:

1. From the Chicago Tribune's Susan Chandler, a lengthy profile of Mark Kipnis, "the little fish in the courtroom." The picture that emerges is of a man with a surprisingly high level of integrity, a man who (amongst the four defendants and prosecution star witness) was the most trusted, and even liked, by Sun-Times employees. According to Ted Rilea, head of labour relations for the Sun-Times: "'For the most part, he was the person running the company... Anyone who had issues with advertising or circulation problems would go to him for assistance and help. He was very smart. He asked very good, insightful questions. He didn't know much about labor law and history, but he was eager to learn. He wanted to be as much help as he could be.'" It notes, near its closing, that all four of Mr. Kipnis' kids are jocks.

2. The Guardian/Observer has the latest from Tom Bower, author of Conrad & Lady Black - Dancing On The Edge, who recounts his week in the courtroom. After discussing the recent large crimp in Conrad Black's social calendar as a result of the trial, he offers the judgement that the most attractive woman in the room is not Barbara, but Amy St. Eve. The second-last paragraph, after a recount of a weekend jaunt in Las Vegas, is the opinion, which he takes back in the final paragraph, that Las Vegas' promised discretion implies, "[p]erhaps he should have set up his business here rather than Chicago."

3. The latest from Stephen Foley of The Independent starts off with this bit of conditional reasoning: "If laughter is one way to gauge a jury's sympathies, then the scales are tipping against Conrad Black, as he is named on the charge sheet here at his trial for fraud and racketeering." It also notes that, as the ratio of sympathizers to total audience in the courtroom's spectator box diminishes, Mr. Black gets more and more tense, and more tight-knit with his family.

4. The Edmonton Sun has webbed a profile, by Peter Worthington, of David Radler, which shows that Mr. Bower isn't the only debunker in the room. He notes that Mr. Radler's credibility comes from something as simple as "someone announcing that they cheat on expense accounts, steal lunch money and kick their dog. After such an admission, what can one say? One assumes they are telling the truth [subsequently]." Mr. Worthington also notes that the paper trail such as it is, is replete with David Radler's name; nary a Black is to be found. It is therefore not much of a surprise that Mr. Radler became the man who rolled.

5. The New York Post's "On The Money" compendium recounts, in item #2, some tid-bits about Barbara Black's surprise birthday party.

6. From the Sunday Express, a report that says the trial's stakes are now at their highest.

7. CBC News has webbed a description, by Susan Berger, of David Radler's testimony over the entire previous week.

8. The Canadian Press has a report, webbed by the Vancouver Sun, on what to expect this coming week; part of it contains the forecast that the cross-examination of David Radler for the other defendants won't last that long. It contains the assessment that Eddie Greenspan's cross-examination may have both gone too far, in terms of tedium, and not far enough, in terms of impeaching Mr. Radler's credibility. It mentions that Steve Skurka devoted an entire entry in his blog, "The Crime Sheet," to the split in the defense team.

----------

Now-convicted Paris Hilton has gotten a profile in The Independent, whose theme is that the tide of favourship for celebrity defendants is slowly but inexorably receding in the U.S.A., contains this observation from a PR expert from the U.K., Mark Clifford: "'It very much depends on what you've done, but prison can be a huge plus for your career... If someone's been caught molesting children, then of course it's a different matter, but if you're evading the taxman, no one cares. Once you are inside, it's a matter of looking at how the crime will be perceived by other inmates....'"