Media Roundup: News Corp Exploring Pay Wall, Globe and NYT Reach Agreement, and More.

(MoneyWatch)  News Corp exploring pay wall -- News Corp. CEO Ruport Murdoch has assembled a global team in charge of figuring out how to repurpose the company's online content behind a pay wall. The group is said to be looking at hardware that would best distribute paid online content. Murdoch has said in recent weeks that he is considering releasing his own e-reader to compete with the Amazon Kindle. The team, which has members in New York, Sydney and London, is also said to be in talks with other content providers. [Source: The Daily Beast]

Globe and NYT reach agreement -- The last of the seven Boston Globe unions has reached an agreement with the New York Times that will postpone the filing of a shutdown notice. The Globe's newsroom guild was holding out over lifetime employment guarantees that were granted to employees who had more than 17 years experience with the paper. The union had already made several concessions including a 3.5 percent pay cut, a cut in benefits and proposed furloughs. The Times had threatened to shut down New England's largest newspaper if an agreement could not be reached. [Source: New York Times]

Disney revenue down -- Disney posted a better-than-expected first quarter report yesterday with net income down 46 percent. The owner of ABC and ESPN beat Wall Street expectations by three cents a share. Much like other media companies, Disney's cable division fared well, posting a five percent gain in revenue. The company's interactive and broadcast division revenue dropped 17 and two percent, respectively. Disney recently inked a deal with Hulu to provide its broadcast content in exchange for a 27 percent stake. [Source: paidContent]

Amazon releases new Kindle -- As expected, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled a newer, larger version of his company's Amazon Kindle e-reader. The new device features a larger screen more suited for newspapers, magazines and university textbooks. The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post are all early partners that have reduced their rates in return for longer subscription periods. New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger spoke at the event. [Source: TechCrunch]

Sun-Times agrees to cuts -- The newspaper guild of the Chicago Sun-Times has agreed on a nine percent pay cut. The guild also agreed to furloughs and deferral of pension contributions. The parent company of the Sun-Times has filed for bankruptcy and a local CEO is said to be planning on making a bid. If the paper is sold the concessions will be nullified. The paper's crosstown rival, the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy late last year. [Source: Editor & Publisher]