The Spectator

How kind of Roy Greenslade to give The Independent on Sunday relaunch such attention on his blog at 'The Guardian'. When the old dinosaur, on hols in Tuscany, finally got hold of a copy, his eagerly awaited review was somewhat short on compliments. Those helpful types at 'The Guardian' website also managed to forward many of his fans to our own site. Greenslade's blog suggested that what this newspaper needed was "a dodgy proprietor and a game, perhaps bingo, which he knows no one can win, so that he can con people into buying the paper. But what kind of journalist would go along with that sort of thing?" Well, his colleagues remember Roy best, when editing the 'Mirror' (briefly), for presiding over a spot-the ball-competition that was fixed so no one could win.

Good week for... Sir Alan Sugar

'The Apprentice' blew the much-hyped documentary on Princess Diana out of the water on Wednesday night. Some 6.2 million viewers tuned in to see Katie Hopkins' imitation of Diana's doe-eyed lash fluttering on BBC2. Only 3.8 million checked into Channel 4 for the real thing.

Bad week for... Rupert Murdoch

It looked like the media mogul had a clear run at acquiring Dow Jones, owner of 'The Wall Street Journal', after friendly overtures from majority shareholder the Bancroft family. But Philadelphia Media said last week that Murdoch's $5bn offer was not "overpaying"' and indicated it would throw its hat in the ring.

What a tangled web...

Political blogger Iain Dale has been so bold as to suggest that Sunday broadsheet political editors had their arms twisted by Gordon Brown's spin team. Writing on last weekend's story about the future PM's views on terrorism, Dale said on his blog: "They agreed not to carry any quotes from any opposition spokesman" in order to get their "exclusive"' takes. Cue a post on Dale's blog by Patrick Hennessy, political editor of 'The Sunday Telegraph', denying any such order. Forgotten amid the debate on Dale's website is that much of the content came from a speech in Glasgow that day. What annoyed the Tories was that not all papers thought their reaction to the speech worthy of changes to their pages.

Theatre of the absurd

Another row between those crazy beasts, the theatre critics.

Mark Shenton of 'The Stage' has dismissed a suggestion from National Theatre boss Nick Hytner that critics should visit other art forms more, saying this "would only lead to the kind of dumbing down we are already seeing in many outlets, including some national papers whose gossip columnists do double duty as theatre critics",

Surely not an attack on 'The Sunday Telegraph' gossip columnist and theatre critic Tim Walker? "One of the finest theatre critics of recent times, Jack Tinker, was a former diarist," retorts Walker, quick as a flash.

A leg-up for 'Vogue'

A touch of class for YouTube? Condé Nast magazines 'Vogue', 'Glamour' and 'GQ' have all embraced geek world and launched their own channels on the online video service, a first for mainstream magazines. In the two weeks since it started putting its filmed material - interviews at fashion parties, catwalk shows - on YouTube, Vogue has already tipped into the top 100 channels with over 100,000 views of clips of the Myla lingerie show. Unsurprisingly, it does feature a lot of leg.

A labour of love in vain

Father Michael Seed may have had success in converting politicians to the Catholic faith, but as a matchmaker he needs to hone his skills. At a party on Wednesday, he decided Kathryn Blair, daughter of Tony, might need a man on her arm. Spotting 'thelondonpaper' gossip columnist Luke Blackall, he drew him over to the 19-year-old Kathryn. "She was very charming," said Blackall, who is already attached. "But I think Tony would have a few things to say about bringing a gossip columnist into the fold."