Mediagazer: In WikiLeaks Trial, a Theater of State Secrecy (David Carr/New York Times)

12:15 PM ET, March 25, 2013

Top News:

Long Night at Today — And for this he wakes up at 4 a.m.? — T — he knife springs open with a satisfying snap. — Matt Lauer, the co-host of the Today show, turns it over in his hand, marveling at the blade. — “Come to papa!” he says. — Sitting at his glass-topped desk …

Discussion: Poynter, Gawker, TVNewser, FishbowlNY, Inside TV, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, Boing Boing, The Huffington Post, @mlcalderone and Inside Cable News, Thanks:@jaredbkeller

Michael Wolff / USA Today:

Columbia flunks relevancy test — Steve Coll, whose books include Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, and who has just been appointed dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism — aka the …

Discussion: @samgustin, @jackshafer, @dangillmor, @rafat, @michaelwolffnyc, @stevebuttry, @robinjp and @jayrosen_nyu

Amy Chozick / New York Times:

Murdoch's Appetite for Los Angeles Times May Depend on F.C.C. Changes — In weighing a bid for The Los Angeles Times, Rupert Murdoch finds himself in a familiar role: waiting for rule changes from the government. With the resignation last week of Julius Genachowski, the chairman …

Discussion: Radio & Television …, Capital New York, FishbowlNY and Media Decoder

David Carr / New York Times:

In WikiLeaks Trial, a Theater of State Secrecy — Reporters covering the government's prosecution of Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is being court-martialed for conveying secret information to WikiLeaks, have spent a year trying to pierce the veil of secrecy in what is supposed to be a public proceeding.

Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:

We are Manning — I have just one problem with David Carr's good column decrying government opacity in the prosecution and trial of Bradley Manning: He lets us in the press (as well as in the chattering blog class) off easy. — Carr doesn't mention the wrist-slap given The Times by its own public editor …

Rebecca Dana / New Republic:

Slyer Than Fox — To MSNBC president Phil Griffin, news is war. And not one of those fancy modern wars fought by drones and computer hackers, either. “We are in a knife fight for every viewer,” he says often, and: “We are on the battleground.”

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post and @jayrosen_nyu

Kara Swisher / AllThingsD:

Yahoo Acquires Hipster Mobile News Reader Summly for Close to $30 Million — Yahoo has bought Summly, the mobile news reader app founded by a young British entrepreneur. — In a statement, the London-based company said it had bought the small outfit, which will close its app.

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Timothy Noah: Chris Hughes ‘might be a young man with more money than sense’ — Timothy Noah said he “quietly worried” whether New Republic owner and publisher Chris Hughes “might be a young man with more money than sense” — and he says his firing from the magazine on Friday “is an additional data point” for that thought.

Discussion: FishbowlNY and @mlcalderone

Wall Street Journal:

Signals Weak for TV-Ad Market — Lower Broadcast Ratings, Fragile Economy and Web Rivals Mute ‘Upfront’ Outlook — Broadcast-television ratings have dropped sharply this season. And that, combined with the weak economy and competition from other media, augurs badly for the spring ad-sales market, ad buyers and analysts say.

Discussion: Radio & Television …

Mathew Ingram / paidContent:

The “barbell problem” in media: The ends are fine, but the middle is getting squeezed — While in New York this week for a GigaOM event, I had coffee and lunch with a number of media-industry insiders and observers, including Jay Rosen and Clay Shirky - two people I think are among the smartest media analysts in the business.

Discussion: GalleyCat and Street Fight

Ben Sisario / New York Times:

As SpinMedia, Web Firm Aims to Lift Smaller Sites — In the race for Internet advertising, could a few dozen runner-up blogs win in the end? — That is the goal of Buzzmedia, a Los Angeles-based company that owns or sells advertising for more than 40 Web sites that cater to young pop-culture obsessives …

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Digg Hints Its Google Reader Replacement Will Go Beyond RSS Alone To Include Content From Social Media, HN, Reddit & More — Digg today responded to early user feedback about its plans for a Google Reader replacement announced earlier this month, saying that it has narrowed down incoming requests …

Discussion: Digg Blog, The Next Web, Softpedia News and WebProNews

Desiree Everts DeNunzio / CNET:

SF Chronicle erects paywall for ‘premium’ content — The move to offer readers “unrivaled content” separate from the free SFGate.com appears to be an attempt to woo readers back to good old-fashioned print. — Less than a week after The Washington Post announced its paywall plans …

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle, Poynter, Media Week, San Francisco Peninsula …, SF Appeal, SFBay and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Washington Post Defends Killing Critical Iraq Media Article — NEW YORK — Greg Mitchell, author of a recently updated book on media mistakes during the run-up to the Iraq War, So Wrong For So Long, revealed Saturday night on his blog that the Washington Post's Outlook section had killed …

Discussion: Pressing Issues, @gregmitch, Washington Post and Pressing Issues