The sale of a business is something that is usually done in private, with communications typically beginning when the transaction is ready to be announced. With the advent and advances of Web 2.0, however, there's ample room to experiment with new approaches.

In the most recent episode of my Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer podcast, I talk to Ryan Carson, Director of Carson Systems, who is doing just that. Ryan's company is in the midst of selling DropSend, a Web application that allows individuals and businesses to send large files via e-mail. To communicate that fact, Ryan decided to cover the sale via blog, posting on everything from the sale announcement to financial/operating metrics and negotiations.

Press releases sit at the center of many PR campaigns, and with recent advances in Internet technology the release itself is in the midst of substantial change.

As we're written before, the value of the press release has been made particularly clear this year with the acquisition of a number of important players, including PRWeb, U.S. Newswire and even Warren Buffett's purchase of Business Wire.

The Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer podcast takes on this issue in Episode 13 -- Press Release Mergermania.

The newswire business seems the hot place to be.

PR Newswire has just announced the acquisition of U.S. Newswire, which focuses on press release distribution in the government and public interest sectors. The price: $19 million in cash and up to an additional $4 million based on future performance.

This comes just two months after PRWeb, the online press release distributor, said it was being acquired by PR software producer Vocus for $28 million in cash and stock. And it follows less than a week after PRWeb announced a distribution partnership with Business Wire, perhaps PR Newswire's No. 1 competitor.

The online press release just took a big step forward.

Business Wire and PRWeb, a unit of Vocus, announced today that they have created a partnership to combine Business Wire's broadly distributed press releases with PRWeb's search engine optimized, online release offerings. The partners described the new effort in a release of their own:

Clearly, the acquisition of online press release distributor PRWeb by Vocus, Inc. underscores the importance of the modern press release in today's Web 2.0 world.

I discussed this in my Aug. 7 post when the transaction was announced. Now, my podcast, Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer, digs a bit deeper.

Those of you who read this blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Communications with Farrell Kramer, are aware of the growing importance of the press release.

Highlighting the press release's rise in stature, today PRWeb -- in one of its own press releases, of course -- announced it is being acquired by Vocus, a provider of PR software, for $28 million in cash and Vocus stock.