Top News:

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.

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

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
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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

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

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

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

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

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, American Press Institute and LatAm Journalism Review

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

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

Three journalists were turned away from an Azerbaijan energy conference earlier in June, prompting concern over media access ahead of UN climate talks there — Incident reignites concerns over crackdown on media before crucial UN climate talks in Baku later this year
Discussion:
@glynmoody@mastodon.social