After almost five years of operation, yesterday afternoon Stephen Mayne and Paula Piccinini signed binding contracts for the $1 million sale of Crikey. The buyers are Eric Beecher and Di Gribble from Private Media Partners (PMP).
Our political correspondent Christian Kerr has been with us since day one, originally under the guise of Hillary Bray, and has done a superb job building our reputation in political circles with an enormous amount of consistently good copy.
All the other paid staff and contributors have also been vital to the success of Crikey and they include, in alphabetical order, Mark Cornwall, Glenn Dyer, Kate Jackson, Hugo Kelly, Charles Richardson, Ben Shearman and Ross Stapleton.
Then you have the various unpaid contributors such as Noel Turnbull's Miscellany column, Dan McNutt in Sydney, Cameron Weston in Japan and our Finnish correspondent Therese Catanzaritia.
There have also been literally hundreds of other unpaid anonymous contributors who have helped us produce the huge body of work which now numbers more than 10 million words. Thalia Meyerhold, JF Smith, Boilermaker Bill, Outside Centre, Delia Delegate and Wendy West are just some of the stage names that spring to mind.
Well, it has certainly been bedlam today since we emailed our 5300 subscribers at 9.30 this morning announcing the sale of Crikey.
Even sworn enemy Neil Mitchell lifted his 5 year ban and had Crikey on for a 5 minute chat just after 10am this morning. Naturally he described Crikey as scurrilous and said "95% of what you've said about me was wrong" but it was actually a pretty friendly and light-hearted exchange compared to past rumbles.
Proud new owner Eric Beecher also chatted about his purchase with ABC Melbourne’s Jon Faine this morning as part of Faine’s regular Wednesday media segment. Mayne sells Crikey for $1m; Crikey, the rumour is Mayne refuses $1m ; Crikey! Mayne sells for $1m ; I think this is big news because, as far as I know, it's the first time anybody has paid real money (rather than shares) Stephen Mayne, crikey.com.au; to acquire an independent online publication in Australia
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Crikey! We all Fear Change Mightily
There is at least one American liberal left who actually possesses some degree of broad-mindedness and capacity for self-reflection:
Maybe you're like me and have opposed the Iraq war since before the shooting started — not to the point of joining any peace protests, but at least letting people know where you stood.
• What if Bush has been right about Iraq all along? [I sometimes feel that it takes a tainted mind to understand - to really understand - the threat of Communism. To really understand Communism is to have touched pitch: one's view of man is forever defiled. To understand Communism means to understand the terrible capacity of man for violence and treachery, an apprehension of which leaves one forever tainted. André Malraux read Chambers's work and wrote to him, "You are one of those who did not return from hell with empty hands." Stepping Out of the Tar Pit; Regardless of its flaws and how it came about, Iraq's first free election in half a century is a historic event. Among other things, it has given quite a boost to a liberation process underway in the greater Middle East, sending tremors through both ruled and rulers. New kind of awe in the Mideast ]
• · Webdiary - Margo Kingston: G'day. The Iraqis, some of them anyway, have voted to elect people to then elect a Prime Minister and draw up a Constitution to put to the people at the end of the year. A few readers have asked me to dash off a comment piece on the election's success Desperate Iraq
• · · Election insides at Boris Johnson
• · · · Mr Carr said he wanted Mr Tripodi to be a warrior for public housing tenants ; Anyone who is lucky to be surrounded by a nice Catholic mother like Joe has cannot be as bad as the editorial suggests Joe Tripodi is not so much accident-prone as wilfully provocative; Joe Tripodi has many reasons to smile ; Desperate Google
• · · · · The daily business of Sydney's courts provided a ready source of human drama and gossip for the colony's newspapers. They could be insulting and contemptuous, but judges put a high value on the freedom of the press in the fledgling days of democracy. The governor was the absolute authority in Sydney - its media and the Supreme Court were the only institutions that threatened his dominance. Power and pain in wild Sydney; [Bob Carr was today sporting a scar above his top lip after a weekend excursion to the beach went wrong. Five people drowned in rough seas along the NSW coast at the weekend. When the NSW Premier arrives at a press conference with a split lip, it's a fair call to expect a bit of speculation about how he got it. So it came as no surprise yesterday that Bob Carr took the bull by the horns to explain his split lip to the gathering of salivating reporters hoping for a salacious yarn. Sadly, Carr's version of events was rather dull compared to what the conspiracy theorists were busy dreaming up. In truth, it happened when he went swimming at the beach at the weekend. "About the scar ... I was hit by an oar trying to get into the waves on a surf ski", he explained. "It was unwise [given the size of the waves] but I don't want anyone to speculate about an angry voter assaulting the premier." Carr among rough sea victims: Bob gets some fat lip]
• · · · · · Iraq election: Police prepare for more violence after shots fired in Sydney