Rost Replaces Edwards at BrandweekNRX - Can it Be True?

Do you believe in coincidences? How about this one...

Last week, Peter Rost, "the drug industry's most annoying - and effective - online scourge," announced that he was hired to be a journalist for "a real magazine; you know, printed paper and hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Or something in that range." (see "Rost Now an Authority, Renames Blog")

Then, today, Jim Edwards of BrandweekNRX writes:

"This will be my last post on this blog. As I walk off into the sunset to do this, someone new will take over for a while. I won’t spoil the surprise; check back tomorrow."

Coincidence?

I think not!

My inquiry to Jim Edwards regarding this matter via a comment to his post and personal email has gone unanswered as of this writing.

Rost responded to my email request to "confirm or deny" this rumor and asked me to name my "credible source" aka "Deep Throat."

I think if Rost intends to be a journalist, the first thing he needs to learn is that we bloggers have a tradition of protecting our sources! Of course, he was just pulling my chain and refused to confirm or deny the rumor.

One would think that hiring a pharma industry whistleblower as a journalist to cover the pharma beat would bend the notion of unbiased reporting so far as to break it, but there may be some benefit to pharma if Brandweek hires Rost, as my "Deep Throat" points out:

"Now, if I were to put my Machiavellian hat on, I could imagine a cabal of pharma corporate PR types banding together and convincing Brandweek to take him on as a way of 'domesticating' him -- subjecting him to editorial oversight and at least semi-journalistic standards vs. the buccaneer figure he's been cutting up to now... paycheck and prospect of promotion to the 'majors' (i.e., the print version of Brandweek) riding on whether he goes overboard or not."

Hmmm... Rost the pharma beat guy at Brandweek -- not as preposterous as it sounds!