Mediagazer: Pandora competitor Raditaz reemerges as CÜR Media, raises $9.6 million (Janko Roettgers/Gigaom)

3:40 PM ET, March 31, 2014

Top News:

Ben Dooley / Mother Jones:

Who's Behind Newsweek? — TWO DAYS AFTER BARACK OBAMA won reelection, I met a young Chinese woman, whom I will call Anne, in the basement café at the San Francisco Public Library. Anne worked part time and gave a large portion of her earnings to a group she called “the Community,” …

Discussion: @mikeelk, @motherjones, @tedolsen, @bobbymacreports, @bendreyfuss, The Huffington Post, @aburnspolitico, @benjamindooley, @hunterw, @nickbaumann, @jbenton, The Raw Story, @clarajeffery, Mother Jones, @billwasik, @erikmal, @monikabauerlein and The Newspaper Guild

Sydney Ember / New York Times:

Former MSNBC anchor Carlos Watson's media startup Ozy receives investment from Axel Springer — Start-Up Ozy Media Adds Axel Springer as a Backer — Like many news start-ups, Ozy Media is trying to be heard. And investors, at least, are listening. — Though it has yet to attract …

Discussion: @peterlattman, @lsemediapolicy, @nicktheandersen and @carr2n

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

Twitter Buys France's Mesagraph And UK's SecondSync To Ramp Up Social TV Efforts In Europe — Twitter is adding more global firepower to its ambitions to cosy up to broadcasters and TV advertisers: it is buying France's Mesagraph, and it is also acquiring the UK's SecondSync (a key partner of Facebook's).

Discussion: Mesagraph, VentureBeat, Forbes, The Twitter Blog, Mashable, @donal_cahalane, The Next Web and The Next Web

Elizabeth Jensen / New York Times:

‘This American Life’ Considers Self-Distribution on Radio — The announcement two weeks ago that “This American Life” will part ways on July 1 from its distributor, Public Radio International, has set off a scramble among rivals for rights to the program, one of the most popular on public radio.

Discussion: @janeholley48, @lachlanfharris, @fagstein and @nprmonkeysee

Brent Lang / The Wrap:

Paula Froelich Named Editor of Yahoo Travel, Joining New Entertainment Chief Josh Wolk — Former “Page Six” editor Paula Froelich will oversee Yahoo's travel section, the internet platform said Monday, joining Josh Wolk, who was officially named executive editor of Yahoo Entertainment.

Discussion: FishbowlNY and @joepompeo

Jordan Zakarin / The Wrap:

Why Net Neutrality Matters So Much to Indie Filmmakers — Consumer groups and tech advocates have been voicing concern about the growing threats to net neutrality, but Hollywood — especially independent filmmakers and distributors — have plenty of reason to worry about the walls and toll booths …

Discussion: Softpedia News and @jmmandel

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Machinima Hires Cable Exec Chad Gutstein as CEO — Machinima announced that it has hired Chad Gutstein, previously chief operating officer of arts cable network Ovation, as its new CEO. Announcement comes after the YouTube mulitchannel network announced an $18 million investment led by Warner Bros. earlier this month.

Discussion: The Wrap and Re/code

Alex Weprin / Capital New York:

HLN developing late night talk show — HLN is the latest cable channel looking to break into the increasingly crowded late night talk/variety show game. — The channel, which is in the middle of a rebranding, has shot a pilot for a talk show called “Weekly Mashup,” hosted by KIIS D.J. Chuey Martinez …

Discussion: TVNewser and @alexweprin

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

Advance defends bonuses for reporters who post frequently and join comment chains — Advance's quota and bonus system at The Oregonian came in for heavy criticism last week, prompting a rejoinder from the typically close-mouthed private company. — In a note to senior executives shared with Poynter …

Discussion: @poynter

Jay Caspian Kang / New Yorker:

The Campaign to “Cancel” Colbert — On Thursday night, the official Twitter account for “The Colbert Report” committed the comedic sin of delivering a punchline without its setup. The offending tweet, “I am willing to show #Asian community I care by introducing the Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation …

Discussion: @treybarrineau, @atossaaraxia, @swerdlick, @salesses, @zentronix, @jeffchu and @timothypmurphy

Todd Spangler / Variety:

Hulu Names Warner Bros. TV's Craig Erwich Head of Content — Hulu announced that it has hired Craig Erwich, previously with Warner Horizon Television, as senior VP and head of content. — Erwich will officially start at the Internet TV joint venture next Monday, April 7, reporting to Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins.

Discussion: The Wrap and Hulu Blog

Patrick Kingsley / Guardian:

Three al-Jazeera journalists denied bail in Egyptian court once more — The trio are accused of aiding terrorists and include a former BBC journalist, Peter Greste, and a Canadian ex-CNN journalist — Three al-Jazeera journalists who have been jailed in Egypt were again denied bail on Monday …

Discussion: TVNewser, @felicitybarrtv and @patrickkingsley

Frédéric Filloux / Monday Note:

Lessons from a good vertical: Skift.com — For digital media companies, creating good verticals that breed small but valuable audiences has become essential. On that subject, here are my takeaways following a conversation with Rafat Ali, founder and CEO of Skift.com.

Discussion: Forbes, @thestalwart, @sarahmarshall, @jayrosen_nyu, @blathnaidhealy, @filloux, @rafat and @antderosa

Janko Roettgers / Gigaom:

Pandora competitor Raditaz reemerges as CÜR Media, raises $9.6 million — Remember Raditaz, the personalized radio service that tried to compete with Pandora by building stations for each and every neighborhood of your city? The service abruptly went offline in November …

Discussion: hypebot