Bolt states that Gina Rinehart did not win a $25,000 auction to visit the set of his TV show and that he ‘‘informed’’ Butler and The Age of this.

For the record, Ben Butler’s report of the IPA dinner auction was based on an eye witness account - a person who saw Mrs Rinehart bid.

Gina Rinehart was declared a winner of the auction. It has come to our attention, via Fairfax Media reporting, that Mrs Rinehart’s daughter Ginia Rinehart accepted that auction prize.

Prior to publishing, Butler attempted to check the facts of who bought what at the auction with IPA executive director John Roskam.

As was reported, Mr Roskam point blank refused to comment on the auction.

Neither The Age nor Butler have received a single phone call, letter, email or SMS from Bolt to ‘‘inform’’ us of any alleged errors.

We note that a two-line post on Bolt’s blog under the headline ‘‘Fairfax’s Ben Butler reports with a sneer’’, was posted on Monday, April 8.

Whether or not a professional journalist can be ‘‘informed’’ by the content contained within Bolt’s blog is a matter for debate.

Mark Hawthorne is National Business Editor of Fairfax Metro.