CNN has acquired Zite, a company that developed an iPad that has a personalized magazine-like interface. The announcement was made by Jim Walton, the president of CNN Worldwide.

Rumor has is that AOL is in talks to acquire local news aggregation company Outside.in. The talks may fall apart since it is in early stages according to BusinessInsider. Steven Johnson founded Outside.in in 2006. Investors in Outside.in include Union Square Ventures, Marc Andreessen, John Borthwick, Esther Dyson, and CNN. If AOL does end up acquiring Outside.in, it is likely that they will roll the technology into Patch.com.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt is rumored to be pursuing a career in hosting a TV show. Schmidt said that he is planning to step down in April as co-founder Larry Page plans to take over the role. Schmidt has been talking to CNN Parker Spitzer executive producer Liza McGuirk on developing a show for himself. McGuirk and Schmidt connected for the first time on the TV show “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” McGuirk was an executive producer of the Fareed show and Schmidt was a regular guest. “Eric wants to be a talk-show host. He’s been working with Liza to develop a show, but he has not yet been picked up by any network,” stated a New York Post source.

Arkansas school board member Clint McCance has resigned after he ranted about homosexuals on Facebook. “I made some very ignorant comments and did not realize just how ignorant they were,” said McCance in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN. Below is the full comment he made:

CNN’s Rick Sanchez has been fired following controversial comments about Jewish people. “Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well,” said CNN in a statement. Rick Sanchez did not appear on “Rick’s List” this past Friday afternoon.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) has fired Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN/US. Ken Jautz, president of HLN, will be replacing Klein. Jautz is known for finding Glenn Beck on the radio and putting him on TV.

Octavia Nasr used to be the Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs for CNN. She is leaving the company after controversy stuck when she sent out the following tweet: “Sad to hear the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah… One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.” Nasr admitted that she should not have left such a simple comment without any context whatsoever on the CNN blog. Nasr worked at CNN for 20 years. [mediaite.com]

Outside.in is a hyperlocal news aggregation company that has been attracting quite a bit of investment from multiple sources. In the company’s Series B round of funding, Union Square Ventures was the lead investor. Others that participated include TV news network CNN, Betaworks, Village Ventures, New York City Investment Fund, and Milestone Venture Partners.

This means Outside.in has raised over $12 million in total funding since the company launched in 2007. After the jump is the full press release from the company: