Mediagazer: Two local papers have accepted money from City Hall in 2014. Is this a thing now? (Corey Hutchins/Columbia Journalism Review)

12:50 AM ET, March 12, 2014

Top News:

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

CNN ex-president Jon Klein talks about TAPP, the new online network he's starting with Jeff Gaspin — Jon Klein on His New Online Venture: 'We've Created the Company That I Feared Would Come Along' — Former CNN President Jon Klein and former NBC Universal Chairman Jeff Gaspin announced …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

CNN, NBCU Alums Jon Klein, Jeff Gaspin Team Up for Online Video Venture — Sarah Palin reportedly target by firm for channel akin to Glenn Beck's TheBlaze — Two of the biggest names sitting on the sidelines in the media business are teaming up for a new online video venture.

Discussion: TVNewser and The Wrap

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Disney TV Shakeup: Anne Sweeney Leaving to Pursue Directing Career — Disney's longtime TV chief Anne Sweeney will leave her post in January 2015 to pursue a career as a television director. — “The past 18 years at Disney have been the highlight of my executive career.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TVNewser, Forbes, Broadcasting & Cable, @kerrywashington, @peterlauria3, Mediaite, Reuters and TVSpy

Jethro Nededog / The Wrap:
Anne Sweeney Exiting Disney-ABC to Become TV Director

Discussion: Variety

Bloomberg:

Beats Music raises $60M-$100M to fund new music and features in challenge to Spotify — Jimmy Iovine's Beats Music Is Said to Raise Up to $100 Million — Beats Music LLC, the subscription streaming service from rapper Dr. Dre and record producer Jimmy Iovine, raised a second round …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Billboard, VentureBeat, hypebot and Mashable

Michael Sebastian / AdAge:

Gawker's Nick Denton Says BuzzFeed is ‘Pointless.’ Also a ‘Perfect Competitor.’ — Convenes a Company Meeting on Kinja Platform — Gawker Media founder Nick Denton used his company's own commenting platform to field a virtual company meeting on Tuesday, taking questions on the company's competition …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and FishbowlNY

Wall Street Journal:

Amazon hopes to boost MP3 sales with limited music streaming service for Prime members — Amazon Working on Music-Streaming Service — To Spur Song Purchases, Limits Would Be Placed on Listening — Amazon.com Inc. is hoping to offer an on-demand music-streaming service to customers …

Discussion: CNET and The Verge

Lance Whitney / CNET:
iTunes Radio now third most popular streaming music service

Discussion: Fortune, App Advice and AppleInsider

Los Angeles Times:
Apple is asking record labels for exclusive iTunes releases

Discussion: Mercury News, @mellevandijk and The Verge

Peter Kafka / Re/code:

Disney Ponders the Biggest Big Media YouTube Bet Yet: Buying Maker Studios — Disney has been talking to Maker Studios about an acquisition that would value the YouTube network at $500 million or more, according to people familiar with the negotiations. — A deal isn't guaranteed.

Discussion: Tubefilter, Deadline.com, Variety, The Wrap, @insidethemagic and Business Insider

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Obama bypasses traditional media again in interview with Zach Galifianakis, showing how to take advantage of fractured landscape — Obama will sit down with celebrities but not The Washington Post — President Obama's interview with Zach Galifianakis, a plug for Healthcare.gov …

Discussion: Variety, Forbes, The Fix, Latest News & Headlines, Talking Points Memo, TechCrunch, VatorNews, NPR, ABC News and Erik Wemple

Margaret Sullivan / New York Times:

With High Hopes and Deep Pockets, The Times Gambles on NYT Now — It could hardly be more clear that The Times has high hopes for its new NYT Now mobile app. — Jill Abramson, the executive editor, unveiled it publicly with considerable fanfare a few days ago at South By Southwest Interactive …

Discussion: @jbenton and @sulliview

Caroline O'Donovan / Nieman Journalism Lab:

Upworthy partners with ProPublica and advocacy media groups on original content — When Upworthy raised an additional $8 million in September of last year, they wrote a blog post thanking their readers and making them a promise. The new funds, they wrote, will “help us branch out into new editorial areas.

Discussion: Guardian, Upworthy Insider, @lheron, @gabrielarana and @niemanlab

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Amazon's TV streaming box to ship with Netflix and Hulu Plus apps — Amazon's Roku competitor, which could be unveiled any day now, won't just peddle the company's own video streaming service: The device will also have apps for direct competitors including Netflix and Hulu Plus on board, according to multiple sources.

Discussion: GeekWire

Michael Rondon / Folio:

New CEO at Reader's Digest — Bonnie Kintzer is 4th top executive in 3 years. — The Reader's Digest Association named its fourth CEO since 2011 Tuesday as Bob Guth, the company's current top exec, announced his intention to step down in early April. — Bonnie Kintzer will replace Guth as CEO, effective April 7.

John McDermott / Digiday:

Twitter testing ‘click-to-call’ button which allows mobile users to call advertisers directly — Twitter's direct response pitch: a new ‘click-to-call’ button — As part of its continued effort to evolve and broaden its advertising capabilities, Twitter is now touting itself …

Discussion: @digiday, Wall Street Journal, Marketing Pilgrim, Street Fight, SocialTimes and The Verge