Mediagazer: Pitchfork Opts Out of the Pageview Rat Race (Jack Marshall/Digiday)

1:10 PM ET, May 20, 2013

Top News:

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

It's Official: Yahoo Is Buying Tumblr For $1.1B, Vows To Keep It Independent — Yahoo has now officially confirmed that it is buying blogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion mostly in cash, after reports on an impending deal first surfaced last week. It says it will keep it as an independent company …

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:
WordPress' Mullenweg Claims 72,000 Blog Posts Imported From Tumblr in Just One Hour on Sunday

Discussion: Matt Mullenweg, Business Wire, Businessweek, CNET, Fast Company, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Electronista, The Week, ZDNet, Mashable, Gizmodo, Engadget and The Verge

Felix Salmon:
Why Yahoo-Tumblr makes sense

Discussion: Deadline.com and Business Insider

Lauren Indvik / Mashable:
Yahoo May Bring Ads to Tumblr Blogs — With Permission

Discussion: TechCrunch

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:

A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe — When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Justice Dept. Tracked Fox News Reporter James Rosen's Movements, Obtained His Personal Emails — A report in the Washington Post indicates that the Justice Department's admission that they seized two months of telephone records from the Associated Press was not the first time the DoJ invaded …

Discussion: Business Insider

Jeff John Roberts / paidContent:

New York Times CEO calls digital pay model “most successful” decision in years — In a speech to Columbia business school graduates, the CEO of the New York Times described the company's role in media disruption. — In a commencement address to business students at Columbia University …

Josh Halliday / Guardian:

NBC News confirms ITV's Deborah Turness as president — Editor of ITV News will be the first female head of a television network news operation in the United States — Deborah Turness, editor of ITV News, has been appointed president of NBC News in the United States. Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe for the Guardian

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Broadcasting & Cable, Mediaite, TVNewser, The Wrap, Variety, The Huffington Post and @brianstelter

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

Charlie Rose to Host a Show in Prime Time on PBS — Viewers can already wake up with Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning,” and wind down their day with his late-night PBS newsmaker interview program. If that is not enough, Mr. Rose, who has been called “the hardest working man in television …

Discussion: TVNewser, Variety, The Huffington Post, Deadline.com and Digital Spy

Jane Mayer / New Yorker:

How far did PBS go to avoid offending a sponsor? — Last fall, Alex Gibney, a documentary filmmaker who won an Academy Award in 2008 for an exposé of torture at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan, completed a film called “Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream.”

Discussion: Gannett Blog and LA Observed

Tom Harper / London Evening Standard:

The Met gagged Leveson Inquiry over claims that senior police officer sold secrets to the News of the World — The Met “gagged” the Leveson Inquiry from revealing intelligence that a very senior former police officer passed on sensitive information to the News of the World, the Standard reveals today.

Discussion: Press Gazette and The Drum

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BBC told to improve online local news — Review by the BBC Trust says web services have improved, but coverage of regional news is ‘not particularly comprehensive’ — A BBC Trust report has said online services have improved since its last review in 2008, but local coverage needs to be developed.

Jack Marshall / Digiday:

Pitchfork Opts Out of the Pageview Rat Race — Pitchfork was one of few media outlets granted access to dance music duo Daft Punk ahead of its highly anticipated new album Random Access Memories. Determined to make the most of the opportunity, the online music mag ditched …

Discussion: @zee

Todd Spangler / Variety:

TV Upfronts Dive Deep into Digital … This week's upfront presentations in Manhattan weren't purely about TV; broadcast and cable made plenty of digital waves as well. — ABC Adapts to Apps — ABC became the first broadcaster to make itself available on smartphones and tablets via livestream.