The Tycoon

Here’s a passionate tirade about the damage done to journalism by media tycoon Conrad Black and other greedy, marauding owners. Black went to prison for criminal fraud in looting his properties, but, typically, is unrepentant and finding even that stint simply another chapter of a charmed life.

Black, a member of the British House of Lords who on Tuesday checked a year off his 6-1/2 year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice, said he’s made his time in prison not only bearable, but intellectually stimulating by teaching other inmates, writing books and articles, reading and learning to play the piano.

In an e-mail interview with the Toronto-based National Post newspaper, Black said from the federal prison in Coleman, Fla. that there was no violence and “everyone tries to make conditions for everyone as decent as possible.”

“It is not difficult to find interesting people to talk to and I have time to read and write,” he said.

This blogger, who worked for Black, speaks of his  “…burning rage at newspaper mismanagement that then calls itself a “revenue decline” or blames “changing tastes of readers”…Who needs the Internet to kill journalism when you have clowns like this walking away virtually unscathed?