Black slates Wolff’s ‘grating’ Murdoch biog

Imprisonment has not stopped former Daily Telegraph proprietor Conrad
Black castigating Michael Wolff's biography of Rupert Murdoch, The Man
Who Owns The News. "Wolff wades through a confusing and cliched account of Murdoch's life, replete with factual errors, serious omissions, mind-reading suppositions, extreme psychological liberties...", writes Lord Black, taking time out from his Florida prison duties to review the book for Tina Brown's new website, The Daily Beast.

After examining a raft of what he declares to be factual inaccuracies, Black (pictured in his prison yard) continues: "In style and organisation, this is an irritating book. While I have no objection to coarse language, over-frequent and unnecessary use of it is self-indulgent and grating."

Nor does Black miss the opportunity to have a dig at Murdoch - unsurprising given the two media magnates have been rivals since the days of the price war between Black's Telegraph and Murdoch's Times.

"It is true that Murdoch uses his media to further his political and business objectives to attack his enemies," writes Black. "There is nothing wrong with that, but losses of $1m a week each at the New York Post and Times for decades is a high price to lay off on a public company for what he described to me as 'psychic income'."

Which is pretty rich coming from a man who embezzled $60m from shareholders in his company, Hollinger. Still, it's been a difficult week for Conrad: while he faces another five years at least in jail before he becomes eligible for parole under US federal rules, his long-standing business partner David Radler - who pleaded guilty and gave evidence against Black - has already been released from a Canadian prison after serving less than a year of a 29-month sentence for his part in the fraud.