Mediagazer: Comcast scoops up rest of NBC Universal from GE (Lance Whitney/CNET)

4:00 PM ET, March 20, 2013

Top News:

Why I left news — I get asked two questions several times a week, and I brush off both with a verbal swat. One — because I'm in my late 20s, I suppose - is when are you getting married? And the other, because it seems like small talk, is why did you leave the newspaper?

Discussion: Poynter, Change of Subject, @jayrosen_nyu, @ckanal, @jeffsonderman and @juliemmoos

Marc Tracy / New Republic:

The Man With the Kind Face — Roger Ailes wanted a friendly biography. Zev Chafets was the man for the job. — asked Roger, 'Why'd you agree to let me do the book?' “ Zev Chafets told me yesterday. We were speeding up Central Park West in a News Corp.-provided town car. ”

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic Wire, New York Magazine, Business Insider, TVNewser, The New York Observer and Chickaboomer

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Roger Ailes Couldn't Care Less What You Think About His Obama Comments — The Fox News chief tells Howard Kurtz he stands by the laziness charge and says Sarah Palin made ‘mistakes’ and that Dick Morris looked like a ‘jerk’ when he predicted a Romney landslide. Plus, read the 16 juiciest bits from the new Ailes biography.

Discussion: Mediaite, Variety, TVNewser and New York Times

Greg Sandoval / The Verge:

Amazon in talks with record labels about subscription music service — Subscription music is all the rage with the big Web music stores — Subscription music services have yet to profit but that hasn't stopped some of the internet's biggest media distributors from jumping into the business.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, WebProNews, Radio & Television …, Music Week, Tech Digest, hypebot, TechCrunch, Business Insider, GeekWire, Pocket-lint and CNET

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

The Glory Days of American Journalism — Ignore the doomsayers: The news-reading public has never had more and better information at their fingertips. — American news media has never been in better shape. That's just common sense. Almost anything you'd want to know about any subject is available at your fingertips.

Discussion: Daily Download, Reflections of a Newsosaur, Common Sense Journalism, The Dish, @tcarmody, @emilybell, @jayrosen_nyu, @chadmumm, @tcarmody, @tcarmody, The Fix, Media Notes and Beyond Search

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

Evening Standard leaks details of George Osborne's budget — Journalist suspended after tweeting picture of embargoed front page before chancellor had even uttered a word — When George Osborne took to his feet in the Commons on Wednesday lunchtime, he might not have expected to be greeted …

Discussion: Guido Fawkes, CNET, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Independent, @joshhalliday, Press Gazette, Telegraph, Spectator, @joshhalliday, Huffington Post, HoldTheFrontPage, Guardian and BBC

Tom Chivers / Telegraph:
Budget 2013: don't scapegoat the Evening Standard's tweeter. It's probably just some poor kid on £23k

Discussion: @fieldproducer

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Washington Post seeks blogger to post ‘at least’ 12 times per day — The Washington Post's arts and living section, Style, is looking for a blogger, an internal announcement reads. Whoever lands this position may want to invest in a serious coffee machine:

Discussion: @lavrusik

David Freedlander / The Daily Beast:

The Al Jazeera Charm Offensive — With nearly limitless funds from the Qatari royals and plans to hire up to 700 staffers, Al Jazeera America will launch in 45 million U.S. homes in July. But it needs a star—and a clean slate, says David Freedlander. — Al Jazeera is coming to America.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Huffington Post, The Corsair and TheBlaze.com

John Herrman / BuzzFeed:

Here's When People Actually “Read Later” — Eighty percent of reads happen in the first 35 days. Outside of read-later apps, that only takes six days. — “Read later” service Pocket ran the numbers on this longform story, published on BuzzFeed in November of last year.

Discussion: @pkafka and Pocket Blog

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

Journalism Professor Sues Columbia, Claiming Misuse of Endowment Funds — A tenured professor at Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism and co-director of that school's business program filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the university of misdirecting $4.5 million in funds over the last decade.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Inside Higher Ed and Talking Biz News

Joe Flint / Los Angeles Times:

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell exiting — FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell to step down — FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is stepping down. (AFP/Getty Images) — Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell, who was seen as a free-market advocate and friend to the media industry …

Discussion: Broadcasting & Cable, Reuters, Washington Post and Hillicon Valley

Tom Gara / Corporate Intelligence:

End of an Era for eMusic, Subscription Music Pioneer … eMusic, the online music service that pioneered the subscription approach before Spotify was a glimmer in Daniel Ek's eye, quietly merged Monday with an e-book distributor, in an unusual bit of digital-media consolidation.

Discussion: Music Week and Engadget

Lance Whitney / CNET:

Comcast scoops up rest of NBC Universal from GE — The cable giant has completed its $16.7 billion deal to acquire the remaining 49 percent of NBCU from former owner General Electric. — Comcast now owns all of NBC Universal. — The cable company shared the news in a filing with the Securities …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Rip Empson / TechCrunch:

Macmillan Buys Late Nite Labs To Help Bring Virtual Science Labs To Higher Ed — Another day, another acquisition in the education technology market. As the old, familiar names in publishing and education move to get in line with the digital revolution, they're finding plenty …

Discussion: PRWeb and EdSurge

Jim Romenesko:

WSJ.com is getting a makeover — Tracy Corrigan, who has been promoted to Wall Street Journal digital editor, “will soon embark on a redesign of the look and feel of WSJ.com,” says a memo from editor Gerard Baker. — He also announces that Stephen Wisnefski has been promoted to Real-Time News Editor and …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:

Amazon launches “Send to Kindle” button for web publishers and WordPress blogs — Amazon is now allowing publishers to add “Send to Kindle” buttons to their websites and WordPress blogs, the company announced on the Kindle blog Tuesday. It can be integrated into WordPress blogs as well.

Discussion: Kindle Post US, Journalism.co.uk, CNET, Forbes, TechCrunch, Wired, BetaNews, VentureBeat, Los Angeles Times, GalleyCat, Engadget, NetNewsCheck Latest and The Verge

Jeff Clabaugh / Washington Business Journal:

Washington Examiner cuts 87 jobs, drops local news — The Washington Examiner is dropping local news coverage, cutting 87 jobs and changing into a weekly magazine and daily website focused on political news. — Denver-based Clarity Media Group Inc., which owns the Examiner …

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter, Washington Examiner, City Desk, Washington City Paper, Washington City Paper and FishbowlDC

Carl Marcucci / Radio & Television Business Report:

Bloomberg, El Financiero to launch HD network — Bloomberg Media Group, a division Bloomberg L.P., and El Financiero, the media branch of Grupo Lauman, announced a long-term agreement to launch a new multi-platform Spanish-language business news service. The companies will create …

Discussion: TVNewser