Conrad Black hints that he may be getting back into the newspaper biz

In an interview with Rachel Mendleson that ran on Huffington Post Canada yesterday, Conrad Black remarked that he sees investment potential in the country’s near-moribund newspaper industry and that he’d consider getting in the game if the “right opportunity” came along. (From Baron Black of Crossharbour: “There is a great premium to be placed on the editorial function and on the goodwill of a famous trademark like a respected newspaper.”) When pressed on how he would reenter the market, however, Black was evasive—he didn’t want to compromise his imaginary plans with “excessive disclosure.” Still, that didn’t stop the Western media from working itself into a frothy tizzy. The Guardian suggested he must have been merely “teasing” and Yahoo Canada pointed out that Black probably wouldn’t be allowed to buy a newspaper even if he wanted to (convicted criminal without Canadian citizenship and all). The Globe and Mail, for its part, compared Black to Warren Buffet (yes, Warren Buffet). [Huffington Post]