Most people today, if they have any image at all of newspaper magnate

I am afraid considering every ‘if’ clause as subjunctive and add on the modal verb ‘would’ each time may mislead us. First, this is a simple conditional sentence; this is not a subjunctive sentence, which either speculates or implies impossibility. So normal rules of a conditional sentence will apply. So D is out.

Picturing is something more concrete than imagining. Therefore, C does not carry the same depth of intent as the text does. In addition, ‘imagine him to be like” is unnecessarily wordy.
B is wrong because ‘picturing him to resemble’ is wrong idiom.
E is gone because of the wrong phrase ‘ as being similar as’
I conclude A is the most appropriate