Up to and including the time of the announcement that Fairfax was to acquire the Independent business weekly, there was a perception that the Independent's rival, the National Business Review, was also up for sale, for the right price. I've said so myself. Not so, says the NBR's publisher Barry Colman.
Barry sent me this email to clarify:
Just for your info, the NBR has never been for sale. But I have had four approaches in the last six months, one suitor in particular who came back FOUR TIMES before I managed to convince them the meaning of the word no. They became persistent assuming my "not for sale" attitude was a sophisticated form of negotiation. They got that wrong. So there was never any problem with the amount of loot they wanted to give me, it was just a matter that I don't need the money and I don't want to go and sit on the beach at my tender age. The paper happens to be going really well at present anyway and is a lot of fun, it would be more fun if every bugger wasn't trying to steal my staff.
I agree. The paper is going well. Further on the Fairfax tip, Joanne Black's column in the new Listener is interesting. She notes that when she worked for a Fairfax paper, reporters were forbidden to use the name "Trade Me" in a story:
When we simply couldn't provide a proper news service without mentioning something for sale on Trade Me, the item could be referred to as "for sale on the Internet".
We struck the same thing with Michael Carney's Trade Me Success Secrets, published by Activity Press. The review copy was sent back by a Fairfax paper, on the orders of the general manager, because Trade Me "competes with our Fairfax Propertystuff website." Oh, the irony.
And a little more on the media: Scoop has links to the full drama on the exchange between Stephen Fleming and Mark Richardson that Sky is insisting was all part of a spoof. Well, maybe. You be the judge …
Kete Were is really getting up a head of steam now. Xavier turns the scientific spotlight on recent abortion discussions on a less measured blog.
Mirage Media (hat tip: No Right Turn) listens to talkback radio so you don't have to. Best new blog of the year?
NZBC's latest Mixed Lollies roundup has some really good stuff, including interesting coverage of the Trade Me sale in the Aussie press.
And finally, things have tightened a little at the top of the Public Address Virtual Super 14 Leader Board. Nic Jones is still in the lead (and advanced five places in the overall competition after the weekend) but there were a couple of big movers below him on the board; most notably radio industry pundit Paul "Badseed" Kennedy, whose score of 45 took him to sixth place on our board, and advanced him a whacking 17,436 places nationwide. John Campbell had his best week yet, Michael Keir-Morrissey made a stand for poofs and actors everywhere by scoring top equal on 45, Holly Walker hasn't been the same since she started working for the Greens, and I was just crap. Next week, perhaps …