'Scud Stud' gets more $

Photo: The Canadian Press

Former TV journalist Arthur Kent walks outside court in Calgary, Alta.

A former war correspondent has been awarded another $200,000 in costs related to his years-long legal dispute with one of Canada's biggest media companies.

Arthur Kent won a defamation suit two years ago against the company that is now Postmedia and its former columnist Don Martin.

The case stemmed from a 2008 column that painted Kent as an out-of-control egomaniac as he campaigned for a seat in the Alberta legislature.

A judge found the piece would cause right-thinking people to think less of Kent and awarded him damages of $200,000 and costs of $250,000.

Kent had sought more than $1.2 million in costs.

The Alberta Court of Appeal said in a decision Friday that it would bump up the costs awarded to a total of $450,000.

Kent, who got the nickname "Scud Stud" while reporting for NBC during the Persian Gulf war, was a star candidate for the Alberta Progressive Conservatives during the 2008 campaign, but was on record as disagreeing with some party policies.

Martin's column, which used unnamed sources, painted Kent as bad candidate who had alienated party staff.

"Alberta Conservatives have bestowed problem candidate Arthur Kent with a less flattering designation as he noisily blusters his way through their reeling election campaign — the Dud Scud," Martin wrote.

The Tories went on to win a majority in the election, but Kent lost his race.