When developer Bart Blatstein received an less-than-enthusiastic response to his proposal to buy some or all of Philadelphia Media Network, his group responded Friday that it may just start its own newspaper. “We are announcing our intention, should we not be successful in acquiring the PMN assets, to explore the development of a new and competing digital and print publication,” his group said in a statement.
Reports of Blatsteins’ interest were posted last Tuesday on Philly.com, but quickly pulled down. Some saw the retraction as an act of censorship by a company that favored the Ed Rendell-led purchasing group. “The startling and unprecedented events of the last few days at the Inquirer and Daily News relating to censorship of coverage of our offer has caused distrust and anger among journalists locally and nationwide,” Blatstein said in the statement.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that local billionaires Raymond Perelman and his son, Ronald, complained in a letter to Philadelphia Media Network’s board that they were also not being allowed to bid on the company.
