Mediagazer: Mobile apps eclipse file-sharing services, digital lockers as most widely used source for pirated music (Dawn C. Chmielewski/Re/code)

7:40 AM ET, March 25, 2014

Top News:

Ronald Grover / Reuters:

Exclusive: Disney to buy YouTube network Maker Studios for $500 million — (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co has agreed to buy Maker Studios for $500 million, becoming a major online video distributor through the purchase of one of YouTube's largest networks, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Discussion: The Wrap, Re/code, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, TIME, Mashable, Variety, Gigaom and Engadget

Todd Spangler / Variety:

After Disney's Maker Buy, More Deals In Store for Multichannel Networks — With Disney's blockbuster $500 million-plus deal to buy Maker Studios, look for dealmaking activity in the online multichannel network space to continue apace. — MCNs are “now top-of-mind for all the major studios …

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

Why Disney Is Taking the Huge Risk of Buying Maker Studios — Commentary: MCN model still unproven but there are plenty of ancillary benefits to the purchase — By Disney standards, acquiring Maker Studios for less than $1 billion is chump change considering the eye-popping purchases the conglomerate has made over the years.

Discussion: AdAge

Jim Romenesko:

Ben Richardson quits Bloomberg News over handling of investigative piece — Ben Richardson has resigned from Bloomberg News after 13 years to protest editors' handling of an investigative piece reported from China - a story that the bosses feared would get them expelled from the country.

Discussion: New York Times, @jayrosen_nyu, The Daily Caller, @palewire, @phelimkine, The Wire, Politico, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, @edbott, Talking Biz News, @sanammkhi, @jimsciutto, @eisingerj and @ryanchittum

Ben Thompson / stratechery:

Advertising will no longer sustain journalism, but new business models are possible — Newspapers Are Dead; Long Live Journalism — This is Part 3 in a series on the future of news and newspapers. Previously: — Part 1: FiveThirtyEight and the End of Average link

Discussion: Gigaom, @newswhip, @monkbent, @rfrnk, @mathewi and Kirk LaPointe's …

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Bob Iger: ‘Work Ethic, Intellect and Curiosity’ Helped Ben Sherwood Land Top Disney Job — It was no knee-jerk appointment: Bob Iger's decision to name ABC News chief Ben Sherwood as Anne Sweeney's successor atop Disney/ABC TV Group had been in the works for nine months. as far as Iger was concerned.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, TVNewser, The Wrap, Forbes, Radio & Television …, @variety_cynthia and Mediaite

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:
Ben Sherwood To Succeed Anne Sweeney As Disney/ABC Television Group President, ABC's Paul Lee Closing In On New Contract

Discussion: Business Wire, AdAge, @rosslevinsohn, MediaPost, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Variety, @piersmorgan and Capital New York

Joseph Lichterman / Nieman Journalism Lab:

New program aims to foster diversity in newsrooms with internships for journalism instructors from historically black colleges — Back to the newsroom: A new program lets professors go back to the thick of today's news work — Before joining the faculty of Savannah State University …

Discussion: @raju, @sirajdatoo, @alisaparenti, @mallarytenore, @niemanlab, @carr2n and @louiegilot

Paul Carr / PandoDaily:

First Look publishes new editorial independence statement after Pando reveals Omidyar White House ties — Yesterday I revealed a series of meetings between representatives of Pierre and Pamela Omidyar's Omidyar Network and high ranking White House officials, including the President and First Lady …

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Risen: Obama administration is this generation's ‘greatest enemy of press freedom’ — “It won't take me long to alienate everyone in the room,” Jeffrey Toobin told an audience in New York Friday. “For better or worse, it has been clear there is no journalistic privilege under the First Amendment.”

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, Press Gazette, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

New York Times:

Turkish Journalists' Association files complaint in local court, claims Twitter ban violates freedom of information — Journalists Group and Internet Lawyers Challenge Turkey's Ban on Twitter — ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's leading press organization and two experts in Internet law took legal action Monday …

Discussion: ExtremeTech, WorldViews, Mashable and SlashGear

Angela Haggerty / The Drum:

AOL partners with Channel 4 News, ITN and MyMovies to launch premium AOL On video platform in UK — AOL has partnered with Channel 4 News, ITN and Scripps Networks International among others to launch its AOL On video platform in the UK. — Following launches in the US and Canada …

Discussion: The Next Web, Telegraph, TechRadar.com, Broadband TV News, Advanced Television and TechCrunch

Julia La Roche / Business Insider:

Hedge fund drops legal motion to unmask anonymous blogger at Seeking Alpha — David Einhorn Knows The Name Of The Anonymous Blogger Who Revealed One Of His Investments — Greenlight Capital, the hedge fund run by David Einhorn, has discovered the identity of the anonymous Seeking Alpha blogger …

Discussion: Seeking Alpha, @moorehn, @talkingbiznews, Bloomberg, Talking Biz News, Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Brooks Barnes / New York Times:

Sharon Waxman says The Wrap is on track to reach 10M unique visitors by year's end — In Hollywood News Wars, TheWrap Rebounds — LOS ANGELES — Talk about going from fizzle to sizzle. — A year ago, TheWrap.com was still trundling along as an also-ran in Hollywood's hotly competitive trade news wars.

Discussion: @timamolloy, @therealjethro, @shruburbia, @braxtonpope and @carr2n

Andrew Wallenstein / Variety:

Apple-Comcast TV Pact? Don't Hold Your Breath — A long history of failed dealmaking should cast doubt on this one working out — The mere prospect that Apple and Comcast could be joining forces for a new joint TV service, as the Wall Street Journal first reported Sunday, has revived a fresh round of hyperventilation.