It's big, long and strikes fear into the hearts of many, but will the grapevine ever stop bending with news of Andrew Krukziener's sword? The Biz feels we've heard almost enough about this mythical instrument. Last week, after his rant to a Biz-staffer about how he had not bought the
Xena prop, a source rang the Biz to say a receipt for the sword with Krukziener's signature was sitting in front of her. And Mike King rang to say he had not made any jokes whatsoever about the relationship between Krukziener's assets and his creditors. Will the real sword buyer please stand up?
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A small faux-pas for an Auckland-based non-profit trust last week, the Biz has learned. The trust - offering advice, training, seminars and the like to small business - rang normally convivial National Business Review publisher Barry Colman as part of its routine calls, offering him - out of the goodness of its heart - free small-business training. Aghast at not being recognised as a media magnate, he rather rudely replied that people like them should be "put out to grass."
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Deliberation
1: How many TVNZ-ers, after the well-publicised outpouring of support for their soon-to-depart news and current affairs chief Paul Cutler, will be willing to stump up $25 a piece to attend his going-away dinner?
Deliberation
2: Is Marian Hobbs, Minister of Broadcasting, a more feisty interview for Mike "I could do that job" Hosking when she's been over an hour without a durrie?
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That anorexic, yappy little business weekly the Independent is haemorrhaging sales like there's no tomorrow. Down more than 12 per cent to 8976 copies in the latest ABC circulation figures, journalism's smuggest sermonisers might need to look to themselves for once. Or the paper might just announce with great melodrama its withdrawal from the ABC audits to go with its public rejection of ACNielsen, the last messenger who bore bad news. Still, there's a good chance it might find consolation at the Qantas media awards this Friday night.
