MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

N.Y. Daily News Deal Unravels: A deal to make Canadian publisher Conrad Black the top contender to buy the New York Daily News has fallen apart in the wake of union opposition, a source close to the negotiations said. While Black is Daily News management’s top choice for a buyer, he is unpopular with unions representing drivers and pressmen because he has proposed large cuts in their work force. Daily News management was poised to sign a letter of intent with Black early Wednesday, according to four union sources. Leaders for the pressmen’s union and the Newspaper Guild complained that the agreement was meaningless because it excluded them.