Brian Tierney's gamble on Philadelphia news

Wannabe media tycoon Brian P. Tierney could sell ice to Eskimos and make them think they were getting a good deal. But now the owner of Philadelphia's dominant newspapers will need every bit of his considerable power of persuasions to retain the influence he has cultivated for decades in the Philadelphia region.

Tierney is a real-life Horatio Alger. Born to working class parents, he founded and sold two public relations firms (my wife works for one of them but had little day-to-day contact with Tierney; I have never met him). Tierney was an aggressive flack, gaining notoriety for a dust-up with the Philadelphia Inquirer over its coverage of the Philadelphia Catholic archdiocese. Eventually, the reporter involved in the controversy wound up suing his own editor for libel and collected a settlement. Last I heard, he owned a pizza shop.