08/31/98 THE 'BLACK FACTOR' IS DECIDEDLY RIGHT-WING

THE 'BLACK FACTOR' IS DECIDEDLY RIGHT-WING

There is no ''Black factor,'' as Canadian media mogul Conrad M. Black said to BUSINESS WEEK (''The Murdoch of the North,'' People, Aug. 3). Unfortunately, Black's assurances don't hold up to scrutiny. Even a cursory examination of the Chicago Sun-Times, Black's flagship U.S. newspaper since his company purchased it in March, 1994, tells a different story.
Over the past 4 1/2 years, Black's Sun-Times has shrunk its news-related staff, increased the paper's ad-to-news ratio, and shifted its editorial and opinion pages dramatically rightward. That's no small feat, considering that 10 years earlier, the Sun-Times was the property of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The evidence suggests that Black's political prejudices play a considerable role in the way his media properties construct their versions of the world.
David Peterson
Evergreen Park, Ill.