It may be as you suggest, yet looking at the information available I'd be more inclined to think you're being facetious or looking for a conspiracy.
If you want to facilitate a move then why not leak it to the national press or local journalist if there's an underpinning agenda to increase coverage?
Also, why didn't the club follow the policy with the other two captures if it was an attempt to increase our profile or help secure the move?
Personally, it's more likely that the local press (for the parent club) got wind from their own sources and leaked it than some huge policy.
You mentioned the geographical position of each story and are now content to disregard the fact that it may not suggest what you desire.
And perhaps this will not fit your agenda, but while the Echo is printed in Manchester for logistics reasons it's still produced and edited in Liverpool.
So I'll stand by my original point: as a club it appears we're keeping things close to our chest so no wonder we're short of confirmed information.