Some Hollywood writers and actors are struggling to meet salary or work requirements to keep their union's health insurance plans, following the 2023 strikes (Katie Kilkenny/The Hollywood Reporter)

Mediagazer: Some Hollywood writers and actors are struggling to meet salary or work requirements to keep their union's health insurance plans, following the 2023 strikes (Katie Kilkenny/The Hollywood Reporter)

Top News:

The Verge:

Redbox's owner, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, files for bankruptcy protection; Chicken Soup took on $325M in debt when it acquired Redbox in 2022— Redbox's owner, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy protection overnight.
Discussion:

Dade Hayes /
Deadline: Redbox Owner Chicken Soup For The Soul Entertainment Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Lauren Edmonds /
Business Insider: Redbox's parent company stopped paying employees for over a week before finally filing for bankruptcy

Stephanie Kaloi /
The Wrap: Redbox Parent Company Files for Bankruptcy

Zach Wilson /
@televisionaryzw: RIP to Redbox, at least until 10 years from now and the nostalgia that's currently about Blockbuster gets to them. “Remember when you'd go to the 7-11, get a Slurpee & some hot Cheetos & a Marvel movie from the Redbox?” https://www.theverge.com/...

Eriq Gardner /
@eriqgardner: Redbox has filed for bankruptcy. End of an era. [image]

Ranjan /
@ranjanxroy: TIL: the self-help book series from the 90s bought the DVD rental vending machine business for $325mm in debt

G.O. Parsons /
@goparsons: For all the awesome employees wondering why Willy's Wonderland 2 hasn't been made... please see the article below. CSSE is the studio behind WW. Not sure what the future holds for WW — but I'll keep everyone updated when I do!

Erik Gruenwedel /
Media Play News: Redbox Owner Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Jeremy Hill /
Fortune: The owner of Redbox DVD kiosks just filed for bankruptcy, saying results 'failed to meet management's expectations'

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life@mas.to: Redbox is an example of how technology transitions can completely wipe out a company. They lost out in the transition from DVDs to streaming, got bought by the Chicken Soup for the Soul company and have now filed for bankruptcy after missing payroll and debt payments. …

Luke Bouma /
Cord Cutters News: Redbox Reportedly Files For Bankruptcy

Daniel Frankel /
Next TV: End of the Line for Chicken Soup — Redbox Owner Files for Bankruptcy

Janko Roettgers /
@jank0@sfba.social: Redbox is bankrupt https://www.theverge.com/...

Cheyenne MacDonald /
Engadget: The owner of Redbox has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

BuzzMachine:

The two California bills to help fund local journalism would penalize Google and Meta for news' decline and benefit hedge funds that are destroying newspapers— There is still hope that California's perilous, protectionist legislation for news could be reformed, but not without effort.

Discussion:
@jeffjarvis, Los Angeles Times and Matt Pearce

Discussion:
@jeffjarvis: Just posted an update about California's news bills and my testimony in opposition—video included. I'm holding out hope for negotiation with Google's counterproposal. https://medium.com/...

Laurel Rosenhall /
Los Angeles Times: The California State Senate passes SB 1327, a bill aimed at imposing a “data extraction mitigation fee” on Big Tech to help fund local journalism

The Hollywood Reporter:

Some Hollywood writers and actors are struggling to meet salary or work requirements to keep their union's health insurance plans, following the 2023 strikes— After the 2023 work stoppages and amid a larger industry contraction, creatives face difficulties meeting minimums to keep their union plans …

Bloomberg:

BlackRock has agreed to buy Preqin, a UK-based provider of private markets data, for £2.55B in cash— The acquisition deepens BlackRock's ability to oversee risks and analyze data across fast-growing markets for private assets, and also expands its Aladdin technology systems …

Discussion:
Financial Times, The Information and Solondais, more at Techmeme »

Wired:

Quora-owned AI chatbot platform Poe is providing users with downloadable HTML files of paywalled articles from outlets including NYT, Forbes, and The Atlantic— WIRED was able to download stories from publishers like The New York Times and The Atlantic using Poe's Assistant bot.

Discussion:
@carnage4life, @thekenyeung, @l0uryn, @timmarchman and @steve_e

Discussion:

Dare Obasanjo /
@carnage4life: People say chatbots are a solution looking for a problem but it turns out you just didn't realize the problem was getting to read paywalled articles for free. [image]

Louryn Strampe /
@l0uryn: all hail @DefectorMedia https://www.wired.com/... [image]

Tim Marchman /
@timmarchman: New: Quora's chatbot service Poe will generate downloadable versions of paywalled articles on demand; we were able to retrieve stories from our site and others like the NYT, Atlantic, and Defector. https://www.wired.com/...

The Intercept:

A reporter who fought a seven-year legal battle to protect sources says Julian Assange's case sets a dangerous precedent that may severely hurt US press freedom— When Julian Assange abruptly found himself back in Australia and freedom this week after reaching a plea deal with the U.S. government …

Discussion:
@denniscearl, The Guardian, New York Times, @theintercept and South China Morning Post

Discussion:

Dennis Earl /
@denniscearl: “...he is a victim of an abusive prosecution by a government seeking to silence whistleblowers, and his case has set a dangerous precedent that could severely damage press freedom in the United States.” https://theintercept.com/... #FuckBiden #JournalismIsNotACrime #USpoli

Dennis Earl /
@denniscearl: “Many of his supporters have declared this a victory for Assange. But by obtaining a guilty plea, the Justice Department can also claim victory and ominously may use the same tactics to go after other reporters.” https://theintercept.com/... #JulianAssangeIsFree #FuckBiden #USpoli

Kenan Malik /
The Guardian: Julian Assange is free, but his case is a grim reminder of the fragility of press freedom

Mattathias Schwartz /
New York Times: The Digital World Is a Powder Keg. Julian Assange Lit the Fuse. @theintercept: “The most dangerous precedent in the case against Assange is the idea that the U.S. government can decide how to define journalism,” writes @JamesRisen1. https://theintercept.com/...

Variety:

Arnaud Lagardère returns as French publishing group Lagardère SA chair and CEO, after appealing an April 29 management ban by a court over embezzlement charges— Arnaud Lagardere, who had stepped down from his executive roles of chairman and CEO of the listed French media …

Discussion:
Le Monde.fr, The Bookseller and Deadline

Discussion:

Barbara Casassus /
The Bookseller: Arnaud Lagardère returns to executive role at Lagardère

Variety:

Nielsen: the Biden-Trump debate drew an average audience of 51.3M viewers across 17 networks in the US, down from 2020's first debate, with nearly 73.1M— Networks include CNN, which originated the debate, as well as ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Scripps News, Telemundo, Univision, BET …

Discussion:
New York Post, Politico, The Free Press, New York Times, @dylanbyers, @brianstelter, Adweek, @antonej@threads.net, @parkerortolani@threads.net, Nielsen, MediaPost, CNN, Matthew Keys on LinkedIn, CBS News, The Desk, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, Financial Times, Washington Post, Forbes, The Wrap, CNN, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter

Discussion:

Ryan King /
New York Post: Eye-popping 72% don't think Biden has the mental and physical strength to be president: poll

Olivia Reingold /
The Free Press: Inside the Biden Bubble

Michael M. Grynbaum /
New York Times: 51.3 Million Viewers Tuned In for Shaky Biden and Boisterous Trump

Dylan Byers /
@dylanbyers: CNN Debate *fast national* (not final) ratings in detail: Fox News: 8.82 million CNN: 8.75 million ABC: 8.70 million NBC: 5.17 million CBS: 4.81 million MSNBC: 3.94 million FOX: 3.48 million Fox Business: 372,000 HLN: 251,000 CNN Espanol: 46,000

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: This just in from CNN: “A combined 47.9 million total viewers watched the CNN Presidential Debate on television last night” across all the networks where it appeared.

Mark Mwachiro /
Adweek: CNN Presidential Debate Scores 51 Million Viewers Across All Networks [Final Numbers]

Antone Johnson /
@antonej@threads.net: So 85% of Americans didn't watch it.

Parker Ortolani /
@parkerortolani@threads.net: oh hey nobody watches debates no one cares no one will remember, said a delusional person

Wayne Friedman /
MediaPost: First Presidential Debate Earns 51.3M Viewers, Down 30%: Nielsen

Matthew Keys /
Matthew Keys on LinkedIn: CNN initially published an article claiming it had the highest-rated coverage of the presidential debate on Thursday. …

Matthew Keys /
The Desk: Fox News grabs highest ratings for CNN Presidential Debate

Stephen Battaglio /
Los Angeles Times: CNN Biden-Trump debate draws 51.3 million TV viewers, a major drop from 2020

Zachary Leeman /
Mediaite: Trump-Biden Debate Draws 51 Million Viewers, Most Watched Event in CNN History

Anna Nicolaou /
Financial Times: Trump-Biden debate draws smaller audience as voters tune out US election

Ted Johnson /
Deadline: CNN Says 47.9 Million Watched Presidential Debate; TV Viewership Drops Considerably From 2020

Nieman Lab:

Spain's El País launched a digital edition to cover the US in Spanish in May with 11 bilingual correspondents; as of April, the outlet had ~366K subscribers— “The best reader is the one who reads you a lot.” — For years and with various levels of success, U.S. news outlets …

Discussion:
@hanaatameez and American Press Institute

Discussion:

Hanaa' Tameez /
@hanaatameez: 🇺🇸 New from me: I talked with @jmahrens about the launch of @ELPAIS_USA, the latest edition of @el_pais that aims to cover the US for Spanish-language news consumers. This is likely where I'll be getting my election news through November 🗳️ https://www.niemanlab.org/...

Reuters:

In a parliamentary hearing, Meta says it is considering blocking news content from Facebook in Australia if the government makes it pay licensing fees— Facebook owner Meta (META.O) is considering blocking news content from the platform in Australia if the government makes it pay licensing fees …

Discussion:
Bloomberg

Discussion:

Ainslie Chandler /
Bloomberg: Australia PM Says Arrogant Meta Should Pay Outlets for News

The Hollywood Reporter:

Several current and former Daily Mail employees describe a leadership vacuum in its US newsroom, following the mysterious departure of online EIC Gerard Greaves— Its online editor is MIA (he was last seen frantically deleting emails), his self-appointed replacement is said to be equally erratic …

Discussion:
@brenbrenchie, @mediaguy19 and @mediaevan

Discussion:
@brenbrenchie: As Brits claim top postings in U.S. media at CNN, WaPo and WSJ the events that have played out at the Daily Mail may serve as a cautionary tale of imports arriving from across the pond with a lack of understanding of American news, practices or audience. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ... @mediaguy19: People are truly fed up," one recently departed staffer told Hot Source. “This place is completely fucked, and there is zero leadership coming from London, and they have destroyed the potential we had here in the United States.” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

Evan DeSimone /
@mediaevan: “Greaves, an old-school Fleet Street editor who had been parachuted into the U.S. to help steady the site in 2022...was last seen in the New York newsroom in late February frantically asking staff for help to delete emails off his computer.” https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...

Semafor:

The Wall Street Journal EIC Emma Tucker says she felt vindicated by the debate, after previously facing criticism for coverage of Biden's age and mental acuity— The News — Prominent liberal columnists are calling for President Joe Biden to step aside following a widely-panned debate performance …

Discussion:
Washington Post, TIME, Financial Times, Politico, New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, @maxwelltani, @semaforben, New York Post, Fox News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Mediaite and Forbes

Discussion:

Jeremy Barr /
Washington Post: CNN debate moderators didn't fact-check. Not everyone is happy about it.

Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing /
Politico: Some Democrats are doubling down despite growing calls for Biden to step aside

Sammy Gecsoyler /
The Guardian: New York Times first US paper urging Biden to drop out of presidential race

Max Tani /
@maxwelltani: I asked WSJ EIC Emma Tucker if she felt vindicated after tonight by the publication's recent piece about Biden's age, which was the subject of a lot of partisan complaints https://www.semafor.com/... [image]

Ben Smith /
@semaforben: Remember how much shit WSJ took for the Biden age story? https://www.semafor.com/... [image]

Ben Smith /
@semaforben: Media wrap from @maxwelltani -Liberal media turns on Biden -WSJ EIC Emma Tucker takes a victory lap -Interview with CNN chief Mark Thompson https://www.semafor.com/...

Steven Nelson /
New York Post: Biden admits 'I don't debate as well as I used to' but ‘I can do this job’ in NC rally Fox News: ABC's ‘The View’ erupts with calls for Biden to step aside after debate: ‘Maybe he needs to go’ Associated Press: Biden tries to quell concerns after an unsteady debate showing as he and Trump head to swing states

Peter Wehner /