What the heck is with Canada's obsession over Conrad Black & his trial?

[Flyback]

Renouncing his citizenship paired with his political interests and the fact that he is extremely wealthy seems to have elicited a huge obsession with him. I can't go a day with Canadian news media, whether web, print or television without hearing about him and his trial.

People really want to see him get hung out to dry it seems. Anyone else sick and tired of his coverage?

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Ummm... Background? Context? Link?

Who is Conrad Black and why do I care?

 

[sandorski]

Conrad Black is a Canadian(was/whatever) who built a huge Newspaper empire that spans the globe, then got pissed off with Canada, moved to Britain, was Knighted by the Queen, then the US brought corruption charges against him. He is currently waiting for a Jury to return from deliberations(sp/word) in Chicago to determine his fate.

Though all the charges have been laid in the US, his trial has completely flew under the US Media radar. He had numerous major US Papers amongst his holdings, Chicago Tribune(IIRC) was one of them.

He is big news in Canada due to a few factors:

1) He was/is(IIRC he renounced his Canadian Citizenship when he became British) a Canadian boy who made it big
2) He has always been very outspoken and not afraid to speak his mind about anything Media related or Political
3) He is just a dramatic character
4) His buying spree of Canadian Newspapers started the issue of Media Concentration in Canada. Something that many here are dead set against.

He is simply a very large Historical figure in Canada, so expect more coverage, movies, mini-series, magazine articles, history book entries, songs, yadda yadda ya. You ain't seen nothing yet!

 

[babylon5]

We got Paris Hilton already, no thanks

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: sandorski
Conrad Black is a Canadian(was/whatever) who built a huge Newspaper empire that spans the globe, then got pissed off with Canada, moved to Britain, was Knighted by the Queen, then the US brought corruption charges against him. He is currently waiting for a Jury to return from deliberations(sp/word) in Chicago to determine his fate.

Though all the charges have been laid in the US, his trial has completely flew under the US Media radar. He had numerous major US Papers amongst his holdings, Chicago Tribune(IIRC) was one of them.

He is big news in Canada due to a few factors:

1) He was/is(IIRC he renounced his Canadian Citizenship when he became British) a Canadian boy who made it big
2) He has always been very outspoken and not afraid to speak his mind about anything Media related or Political
3) He is just a dramatic character
4) His buying spree of Canadian Newspapers started the issue of Media Concentration in Canada. Something that many here are dead set against.

He is simply a very large Historical figure in Canada, so expect more coverage, movies, mini-series, magazine articles, history book entries, songs, yadda yadda ya. You ain't seen nothing yet!

And if it's all on CBC I won't see any of it in the future either.

 

[sandorski]

hehe, true.