J-Source

Black was overdone by media, suggests poll

As a reader, my eyes started glazing over every time there was another headline about Conrad Black, and I turned off the radio or TV when the news turned to him. I’d had about enough, oh, six years ago. Seems that my interest level about the former media tycoon and former Canadian is shared by…

As a reader, my eyes started glazing over every time there was another headline about Conrad Black, and I turned off the radio or TV when the news turned to him. I’d had about enough, oh, six years ago.

Seems that my interest level about the former media tycoon and former Canadian is shared by most Canadians. Among other findings, a poll, conducted for The Canadian Press by Decima Research suggests” that the near-incessant media coverage of Mr. Black’s trial was not nearly proportional to the public’s interest.”

“Although the story consumed newscasts, and publications such as Maclean’s magazine devoted entire issues to the trial, only 39 per cent of respondents said they followed the trial very or fairly closely,” said a story in the Globe and Mail. The Globe quoted Decima CEO Bruce Anderson: “It did not really capture the attention of ordinary Canadians.”

The CP story headline on the Canoe site said, “Hang-’em-high … Canadians have little sympathy for Conrad Black: Decima poll.” Oddly, that story makes no mention of the poll results about overblown media coverage. Is this another case of the media being reluctant to report on itself?


As a reader, my eyes started glazing over every time there was another headline about Conrad Black, and I turned off the radio or TV when the news turned to him. I’d had about enough, oh, six years ago.

Seems that my interest level about the former media tycoon and former Canadian is shared by most Canadians. Among other findings, a poll, conducted for The Canadian Press by Decima Research suggests” that the near-incessant media coverage of Mr. Black’s trial was not nearly proportional to the public’s interest.”

“Although the story consumed newscasts, and publications such as Maclean’s magazine devoted entire issues to the trial, only 39 per cent of respondents said they followed the trial very or fairly closely,” said a story in the Globe and Mail. The Globe quoted Decima CEO Bruce Anderson: “It did not really capture the attention of ordinary Canadians.”

The CP story headline on the Canoe site said, “Hang-’em-high … Canadians have little sympathy for Conrad Black: Decima poll.” Oddly, that story makes no mention of the poll results about overblown media coverage. Is this another case of the media being reluctant to report on itself?

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