@Ted Clayton - I think a bigger concern is that many people are feeling there is a conflict of interests.

I was really pleased for Jeff when WP Tavern was acquired. I'm also a big fan of Matt and Automattic however I did wonder what his intention was in buying two of the most popular WordPress news blogs online.

The question is: Can these websites be impartial when reporting WordPress?

I do not raise this question to criticise Jeff or Matt in anyway. I just do not believe anyone can be impartial about their own product. Take Oli from WP Lift for example. In addition to running on of the best WordPress related blogs online, he also runs a popular WordPress theme store called Theme Furnace. Do you think he would ever criticise Theme Furnace through WP Lift? Of course not. How could he. I know I couldn't be impartial in the same position.

The same could be said of Matt's position. Automattic are a very profitable company and WP Tavern is not monetised in any way. So why buy WP Tavern and WTC? He already has a personal blog to share his thoughts with the community.

I hope Matt can be transparent about this and share his long term goals for these sites.