Mediagazer: The “barbell problem” in media: The ends are fine, but the middle is getting squeezed (Mathew Ingram/paidContent)

6:10 PM ET, March 25, 2013

Top News:

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: UPI, NewsMax.com, LA Observed, Media Decoder, Prof Chris Daly's Blog, Radio & Television …, FishbowlNY, Capital New York, TheBlaze.com and Guardian

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: @lheron, @emilybell, @fieldproducer, @michaelwolffnyc, @dangillmor, @jayrosen_nyu, @rafat, @stevebuttry, @robinjp, @jackshafer and @samgustin

Rebecca Dana / The New Republic:

The Roger Ailes of MSNBC: How Phil Griffin Created the Left's Fox News — To MSNBC president Phil Griffin, news is war. And not one of those fancy modern wars fought by drones and computer hackers, either. Â"We are in a knife fight for every viewer,Â" he says often, and …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TVNewser, @jayrosen_nyu, Mediaite, New York Magazine and TheBlaze.com

Nicholas Carlson / Business Insider:

Spotify Plans To Take On Netflix And HBO With Streaming Video Service — Spotify, the on-demand music service, is planning a major change. — According to two sources briefed on the company's plans, Spotify intends to become an on-demand music and video service - one that would invest …

Discussion: Fast Company, AppleInsider, The Week, FierceOnlineVideo News, NetNewsCheck Latest, VentureBeat, Home Media Magazine, Rolling Stone, Softpedia News, @brianstelter, SocialTimes, The Verge, Pocket-lint, Digital Spy and WebProNews

Paul Sloan / CNET:
Is Spotify gearing up to take on Netflix?

Discussion: Forbes

Mallary Jean Tenore / Poynter:

BBC launches ‘expert women database’ to help its journalists diversify sources — The BBC has launched an “expert women database” and a related YouTube channel to try to get more female sources on air. — BBC Women's Editor Emma Barnett says the database features the names of 60 women …

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.

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 …

Discussion: @jeffjarvis and @niemanlab

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

Discussion: Prof Chris Daly's Blog

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, Street Fight and Kirk LaPointe's …

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

Joe Hagan / New York Magazine:

Matt Lauer and the Decline of NBC's ‘Today’ Show — The 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 on the morning-show set, Lauer …

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

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

Hulu Isn't for Sale — Yet. But Buyers Are Asking ... Two years ago, Hulu's corporate owners put the video site up for sale — and then took it off the block. — New version of a similar story: Hulu's corporate owners still aren't sure what they want to do with the site.

Discussion: Reuters, Variety, The Next Web and @tcarmody

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, VentureBeat, The Next Web, NetNewsCheck Latest, Forbes, BetaNews and CNET

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 …