Mediagazer: Hearst buys The Pioneer Group, a Michigan-based owner of local newspapers and digital sites, for an undisclosed sum (Alexandra Steigrad/WWD)

5:05 AM ET, January 24, 2017

Top News:

Jacob Kastrenakes / The Verge:

President Trump designates net neutrality opponent Ajit Pai as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission — Donald Trump has elevated Ajit Pai to chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, giving control over the agency to a reliable conservative who's been opposed to pretty …

Discussion: @ajitpaifcc, The Next Web, AdExchanger, CNNMoney, Mashable, GeekWire, Engadget and Broadcasting & Cable

Wendy Davis / MediaPost:

News Media Alliance praises Trump's pick for FCC chair, Ajit Pai, as an “avid supporter of the news media industry” — News of Republican Ajit Pai's elevation to chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has alarmed many consumer advocates.

Discussion: TechCrunch, Broadcasting & Cable and ZDNet

Lindsey Ellefson / Mediaite:

Sean Spicer says the White House will designate four “Skype seats” in the briefing room later this week to allow journalists outside DC more access — During the first press briefing in Donald Trump's White House, Press Secretary Sean Spicer mentioned a new initiative called “Skype Seats.”

Discussion: @mlcalderone, Washington Post, TIME, The Huffington Post, GeekWire, The FJP, @nytnickc, @mlcalderone, @arifleischer and @benmullin

Music Business Worldwide:

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Discussion: @mgsiegler, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, Variety, Forbes, TechCrunch and The Verge

Sprint:
Sprint buys 33% of Jay Z's TIDAL streaming music service, “will make TIDAL available” to its 45M customers; Jay Z and the artist-owners will still run TIDAL

Janko Roettgers / Variety:

Verizon laid off 155 employees from its mobile streaming service Go90; sources say Vessel team, acquired in October, will rebuild the service — Team from acquisition Vessel charged with app rebuild — Verizon's mobile streaming service Go90 is about to get a hard reset …

Discussion: @jank0 and @bmccandless

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:

Vocativ reporter Evan Engel and RT America journalist Alex Rubinstein charged with felonies after being arrested while covering unrest during inauguration — Two journalists who were arrested while covering the unrest in Washington DC surrounding Donald Trump's inauguration last Friday …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

John Keefe:

John Keefe leaves WNYC's data news team for a new role building bots and apps in the new Quartz Bot Studio — It's been an amazing run. — For nearly 16 years I've been at radio station WNYC, working with dedicated, talented people to inform New Yorkers every day and to help them navigate elections …

Discussion: @katehinds and @jkeefe

Paul Sandle / Reuters:

Sources: Guardian considering becoming a tabloid and outsourcing printing to rival Rupert Murdoch's News UK to cut costs — Britain's Guardian newspaper is considering becoming a tabloid and outsourcing printing to a rival such as Rupert Murdoch's News UK as one of a series of options to cut costs, sources told Reuters.

Discussion: Press Gazette and City A.M.

Alexandra Steigrad / WWD:

Hearst buys The Pioneer Group, a Michigan-based owner of local newspapers and digital sites, for an undisclosed sum — The acquisition expands Hearst's footprint in Michigan's local newspaper market. — Hearst Tower — Hearst said Monday that it has acquired the business operations …

Discussion: Media Wire Daily

Anita Balakrishnan / CNBC:

Yahoo delays closing Verizon deal until Q2 due to “work required to meet closing conditions”, beats on Q4 earnings with $1.47B in revenue vs. $1.38B expected — Yahoo addresses user engagement after security breach disclosure — Despite better-than-expected financial performance …

Discussion: InvestorPlace, Recode, USA Today, Business Insider, Variety, Mercury News, Associated Press, PCWorld, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and VentureBeat

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg / Wall Street Journal:

Time Inc. to acquire automated ad buying platform Adelphic Inc., to offer marketers the ability to directly buy advertising that targets specific consumers — Move is intended to give advertisers self-service capabilities for data-driven buying — Magazine publisher Time Inc. said it has agreed …

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:

Mark Halperin has left Bloomberg Politics, he notes to friends and associates in email — Veteran journalist Mark Halperin has left Bloomberg Politics. — “I am no longer with Bloomberg Politics,” Halperin wrote in an email to friends and associates on Monday.

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Tess Townsend / Recode:
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Ken Doctor / Politico:
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The Independent:
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Mike Shields / Wall Street Journal:
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Lisa Campbell / The Bookseller:
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Alexandra Steigrad / WWD:
Sources: Condé Nast to begin consolidating its business this week, with publishers replaced by general managers, key execs promoted, and layoffs

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Zeynep Tufekci / technosociology:
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Katie Benner / New York Times:
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Alberto Nardelli / BuzzFeed:
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Ben Smith / New York Times:
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Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Trump wants a flat-out war with media for political purposes, but journalists should reject the bait, responding by doing their jobs fairly and fearlessly

From Techmeme:

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
Trump announces a 90-day tariff pause for some countries and a “lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%”, but raises tariffs on China to 125%

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Google announces Agent2Agent, an open interoperability protocol to enable seamless collaboration between AI agents across diverse frameworks and vendors

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Sources: after Jensen Huang went to Mar-a-Lago last week, the White House reversed course on Nvidia H20 export restrictions to China, in the works for months

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