Sun-Times publisher says newspaper will be fair to Black

In a rate letter to the readers, Chicago Sun-Times Publisher John Cruickshank says his newspaper will be fair in its coverage of the federal fraud trial of its former CEO Conrad Black, who is accused of bilking Hollinger International out of millions of dollars, diverting it to his own personal use:

"Despite feelings of resentment that are still quite inflamed in some quarters, our coverage of Mr. Black's trial will be founded on the presumption that he and his colleagues are innocent until they are proven guilty," Cruickshank wrote.

Until 1998, The Carthage Press and Neosho Daily News were owned by Hollinger's U. S. subsidiary, American Publishing.