Mediagazer: Tumblr In Talks With Yahoo; Facebook And Microsoft Also Said To Be Circling (Jeff Bercovici/Forbes)

4:10 PM ET, May 17, 2013

Top News:

Will Yahoo Try to Get Its “Cool Again” by Doing a Deal for Tumblr? — Earlier this week, Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman spoke at JP Morgan's Global Technology conference and underscored the need for the aging Silicon Valley Internet giant to attract more users from the coveted 18-to-24-years-old age bracket.

Jennifer Van Grove / CNET:

Report: Facebook and Microsoft flirting with Tumblr too — It's a love square with three of the industry's biggest players competing for the popular blogging platform. — Yahoo isn't the only tech titan with eyes for blogging sensation Tumblr. The 6-year-old startup that powers nearly 108 million blogs …

Chris Welch / The Verge:

Yahoo to hold Monday press event as Tumblr buyout rumors swirl — CNBC is reporting that Yahoo will hold a “product-related” news event this Monday in New York City. None other than CEO Marissa Mayer will be speaking at the event. Exactly what Yahoo plans to announce hasn't yet been disclosed …

Discussion: CNET, The Next Web, GeekWire, Engadget, @jasonhirschhorn and WebProNews

Mike Shields / Adweek:

Yahoo in Talks to Acquire Tumblr: Deal could reach as high as $1 billion — Is Marissa Mayer about to make a game-changing acquisition? It appears so. — Yahoo is in serious talks with Tumblr to acquire the social blogging site, according to multiple sources familiar with the talks.

Discussion: Valleywag, The Verge, Marketing Land, AllThingsD, Business Insider, ValueWalk, Search Engine Land, FishbowlNY, Pocket-lint, @strobist, @bluechoochoo, @alexgriendling, @bluechoochoo, @dannysullivan, CNET, Electronista and eMedia Vitals

Om Malik / GigaOM:

Yahoo wants to buy Tumblr. Will Facebook swoop in at the last minute? — Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer thinks that what Blogger did for Google, Tumblr could do for her aging Internet company — make it relevant and a major player on the modern web. And for that she is apparently willing …

Discussion: Business Insider, Betabeat, UPROXX, Media News and WebProNews

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
Tumblr In Talks With Yahoo; Facebook And Microsoft Also Said To Be Circling

Discussion: Softpedia News and Business Insider

Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:

‘Bloodbath’ Day at Village Voice: Musto, Sietsema, Feingold Out — Last week, top editors at the Village Voice resigned in protest when they learned that management wanted them to lay off several members of their already-decimated staff. This morning, those layoffs came down. They're not pretty.

Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:

Bloomberg Names Former IBM CEO Palmisano to Advise on Data Privacy — Here's an interesting development in the ongoing data-privacy imbroglio over at Bloomberg LP. The company just named former IBM CEO Sam Palmisano as an independent adviser with the task of reviewing and recommending changes on privacy and data policies.

Discussion: Guardian, Forbes, Talking Biz News, ZDNet, Globe and Mail, @mariaaspan and @edgecliffe

Bloomberg LP:
Bloomberg Appoints Samuel Palmisano as Independent Adviser

Discussion: Politico, @dicktofel, Talking Biz News, @joecoscarelli, @edgecliffe and @talkingbiznews

Adam Geller / The Huffington Post: Bloomberg Scandal Raises Ethics Questions For New Media

Max Fisher / WorldViews:

North Korea condemns media freedom but praises two U.S. reporters — How does North Korea celebrate World Press Freedom Day? First of all, two weeks late, on May 15 rather than May 3, presumably (and tellingly) because that's how long it took to get around to it.

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Politico, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze.com

Jack Shafer:

Why the underwear-bomber leak infuriated the Obama administration — Journalists gasp and growl whenever prosecutors issue lawful subpoenas ordering them to divulge their confidential sources or to turn over potential evidence, such as notes, video outtakes or other records.

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Huffington Post and Washington Post

Douglas MacMillan / Bloomberg:

Twitter Teams With NBA to Stream Basketball Replay Videos — Twitter Inc. has teamed with the National Basketball Association to stream video clips of game highlights as the blogging service expands beyond 140-character status updates ahead of a possible initial public offering.

Discussion: CNET and Marketing Land

Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke / The New York Observer:

Gizmodo Pivots From Gadgets to Design — Because Kinja. — Gizmodo, Gawker media's tech blog, is getting a new editor and a new focus. Geoff Manaugh, a former senior editor at Dwell Magazine and contributing editor at Wired UK, will take over at Gizmodo.

Discussion: Nieman Journalism Lab, @b_fung, @nicknotned, @jbenton, Gawker, @gizmodo, @jank0, @leshorn and @joeljohnson

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

AOL's Patch Gets New CEO, as Just Under Three Percent of Staff Is Laid Off in Consolidation (Memo) — Changes at AOL's local content site, Patch: CEO Jon Brod will step down and is being replaced by COO and President Steve Kalin, according to an internal memo the New York Internet company sent to the division's employees today.

Discussion: Poynter

Reuters:

Pro-Assad hackers attack UK newspaper FT's website, Twitter feed — (Reuters) - The website of British newspaper the Financial Times was hacked on Friday, apparently by the “Syrian Electronic Army”, a group of hackers and on-line activists who say they support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.