Peer today, gone tomorrow.

This article compares and contrasts Conrad Black, who resigned as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hollinger International, and Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp. "The deferences and preferments that this culture bestows upon the owners of great newspapers are satisfying." So confided Mr. Black, later ennobled as Lord Black of Crossharbour, to his first editor of the "Daily Telegraph," Max Hastings. The excitement over the fate of Lord Black's British newspapers has little do with their slight commercial importance and everything to do with the assumption that the proprietors of newspapers wield great power. The unrelenting Europhobia of the papers owned by Lord Black, Rupert Murdoch and Lord Rothermere is also one of the main reasons for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's reluctance even to consider holding a referendum on the European Union's new constitution. Just a few days before Lord Black's bombshell, Mr. Murdoch had some fun teasing the government with the possibility that his papers -- the "Sun," the "News of the World," the "Times" and the "Sunday Times" -- might switch their support back to the Conservatives at the next election. The attrition caused by the decade-long price war initiated by Mr. Murdoch has taken its toll, as has Lord Black's unwillingness to appoint editors or espouse policies likely to attract younger readers.