A couple of things here; we don't claim exclusives on things that aren't exclusive... looking back at this forum it seems you just choose not to believe the stories. Our strike rate is pretty good (I'd say about 95%) when it comes to getting info right. You might be referring to The Daily Mail speculating about the AFL player, but we had actual confirmation which is what made it exclusive (and we also pointed out DM had reported it first -- who else does that?)
And we broke the story about Big Brother going to Channel 7... even when other outlets were contacting me and telling me I was wrong.
And finally, no I can promise you we are not puppets of Channel 7. If anything we piss them off no end. They HATE the fact we have broken so many stories about the show, taking away their control. But I also think they've enjoyed the media hype when they get over the initial shock.
Hand on heart I can tell you Ben and I are not on Seven's payroll and are not being drip-fed information. Our stories come the old fashioned way -- really good contacts.
(And one more final final thing... just because another TV blog doesn't pick up the story does not mean the story isn't true... ever thought they might have other motivations????)