Mediagazer: AOL Appoints William Pence From WebMD As New CTO; Curtis Brown Steps Down (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

11:20 AM ET, April 7, 2014

Top News:

Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:

Vox.com looks to technology to move beyond constraints of print media — Vox.com Takes Melding of Journalism and Technology to Next Level — WASHINGTON — Ask Ezra Klein what prompted him to leave a high-profile position at The Washington Post to start a new website, and the answer is a little wonkish …

Vox:

Welcome to Vox: a work in progress — Welcome to Vox.com! Again! On March 9, we launched Vox.com, which included our first videos, and we started talking to readers on our Facebook page and on our Twitter feed. Today marks phase two of Vox's launch: the beginning of our effort to build …

Discussion: @timoreilly, New York Magazine, @stevebenen, @bankoff, @buzzfeedben, @blehnert, @justinwolfers, @clockwerks, @carlbialik, @mathewi, @reckless, @drew, @reckless, @backlon, @binarybits, @rafat, @bankoff, @jayrosen_nyu, @jeffjarvis, @jeffjarvis, @ezraklein, @digiphile, @reckless, @ismh, @jeffjarvis and @fionaspruill

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

New York Times Changes Ezra Klein Quote To No Longer Criticize Washington Post — NEW YORK — Ezra Klein, the editor-in-chief of the just-launched Vox.com, appeared to criticize his former employer, The Washington Post, in an article published Sunday night. — The New York Times' Leslie Kaufman reported the following:

Discussion: The New York Observer

Bloomberg:

Microsoft Xbox launching six TV series in June; comedians Seth Green, Sarah Silverman onboard — Microsoft Goes Hollywood in Amazon-Like Programming Push — Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is going Hollywood with a cast including comedians Sarah Silverman and Seth Green, aspiring World Cup players and eerily human robots.

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Barbara Walters to Sign Off ‘The View,’ Retire From TV on May 16 — Barbara Walters has set May 16 as her final appearance on ABC's daytime strip “The View” as she retires from TV journalism. — Walters' 50-plus years in television will be feted that night with a two-hour primetime special on ABC.

Discussion: TVNewser, The Wrap, Capital New York, ABC News, The TV Guy, Newsday, Associated Press and Just Jared

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:

Rutgers AD: If Star-Ledger died, 'That'd be great' — Speaking to a journalism class, Rutgers University Athletic Director Julie Hermann said “That'd be great” about the prospect of The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger dying. “I'm going to do all I can to not to give them a headline to keep …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, @mlcalderone and Muckgers

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:

AOL Appoints William Pence From WebMD As New CTO; Curtis Brown Steps Down — AOL's ongoing push to turn its business around and focus on more ad-tech fuelled media plays continues apace: today the company (which owns TechCrunch) appointed a new CTO, William Pence, who it's hired away from WebMD, where he was also CTO as well as EVP.

Discussion: FishbowlNY, Softpedia News, ZDNet, Wall Street Journal and thedrum.com

Martin Weil / Washington Post:

Charles S. Stone Jr, founder of National Association of Black Journalists, dies at 89 — Charles S. Stone Jr., journalist and professor, dies at 89 — Charles S. (Chuck) Stone Jr., a prominent and pioneering American journalist who touched and shaped many lives as a big-city newspaper columnist …

Discussion: @kpalmer433, Gawker, WNCT-TV, Associated Press, Diverse, ncnn.com and @geoffedgers

David Carr / New York Times:

Questions for Comcast as It Looks to Grow — It is hard to say how rugged the questions will be when Comcast goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to defend its proposed megamerger with Time Warner Cable. — We do know that Comcast is feeling pretty confident about its chances.

Discussion: TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, @davidsirota, @carr2n, @samgustin, Wall Street Journal and @jcstearns

Columbia Journalism Review:

Can The Washington Post's national push help support local news? — When The Washington Post announced in mid-March that it would provide free digital access to subscribers of a half-dozen local papers around the country, the consensus take was clear: After years of hesitation, the Post …

Wall Street Journal:

Yahoo, like Netflix and Amazon, looks to produce full half-hour TV comedies — Yahoo Makes New Push Into Video Content — Internet Company Hunts for Original Web-Series Programming — Yahoo Inc. is raising its ambitions in online video, with plans to acquire the kind of original programming …

Discussion: USA Today, Softpedia News, Gizmodo, SlashGear, The Verge, Pocket-lint and The Huffington Post

Jethro Nededog / The Wrap:

Dick Clark Productions Adapting YouTube's FailArmy for TV — Dick Clark Productions International and Jukin Media have partnered to bring popular YouTube channel FailArmy to television. — In an announcement on Monday at MIPTV, the companies are moving forward on 20 half-hour TV episodes based on the YouTube channel.

Discussion: C21Media