Lighter Note: Standard bearer

WHILE we are on the subject of online business, Fairfax head honcho David Kirk was in town this week to launch his new Perth-based online news offering. The Note was on hand to hear Mr Kirk, flanked by Premier Alan Carpenter and his chairman Ron Walker, explain that Fairfax would not be reproducing the tabloid nature of its Queensland site launched last year. The readers, apparently, want serious news. “That is one of the learnings,” he said. Later in his presentation, Mr Kirk showed where the top stories from each of the Fairfax sites could be viewed at the bottom of his new Perth site, with the most popular headlines clearly revealing the smutty nature of Fairfax’s brisbanetimes.com.au. However, the most watched videos across all the websites gave the appearance that those tabloid-guzzling Queenslanders were having a national affect – in the top five were such salubrious titles as Sexual Injuries and The Vatican’s Take On Aliens. Now that’s lifting standards.