Mediagazer: Audits exonerate Australia's ABC from bias claims, but unlikely to satisfy critics (Myriam Robin/Crikey)

5:55 AM ET, March 12, 2014

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ObamaCare Website Traffic Spikes After President's ‘Funny or Die’ Interview — Obama's comic turn on Zach Galifianakis' “Between Two Ferns” becomes big driver to HealthCare.gov site, according to White House aides. — Within hours of President Barack Obama's appearance with comedian Zach Galifianakis …

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 …

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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: @jayrosen_nyu and 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: Capital New York, 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, Broadcasting & Cable, @peterlauria3, Mediaite, @kerrywashington, Reuters, Forbes 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, hypebot, VentureBeat 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

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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: @teddyschleifer, @jbenton, @raju and @sulliview

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

Tim Peterson / AdAge:

News App Circa Looks to Native Ads for First Revenue Stream — Mobile News Reader Plans to Introduce ‘Native’ Sponsored Posts — How Advertising Performs in a Social Media World … It's time for the mobile news-reader apps to become businesses. — One of the category's earliest players …

Myriam Robin / Crikey:

Audits exonerate Australia's ABC from bias claims, but unlikely to satisfy critics — Audits clear ABC of bias, but don't expect critics to listen — The ABC has started conducting regular audits of bias in its news coverage. The first two, released today, posed nothing to worry about.

Discussion: Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC, Sydney Morning Herald, @mykebartlett, The Australian, mUmBRELLA, Sydney Morning Herald and ABC

Jemima Kiss / Guardian:

An online Magna Carta: Berners-Lee calls for bill of rights for web — Exclusive: web's inventor warns neutrality under sustained attack from governments and corporations — The inventor of the world wide web believes an online “Magna Carta” is needed to protect and enshrine the independence …

Discussion: Gigaom, BBC, The Verge, Silicon Republic and The Next Web

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: Engadget and GeekWire

Corey Hutchins / Columbia Journalism Review:

Two local papers have accepted money from City Hall in 2014. Is this a thing now? — Deals raise ethical questions—and in one case, complaints from rival news outlets — CHARLESTON, SC — Last month, a story popped up about local officials in a suburb of Madison, WI …