Energy warning: Victoria faces gas shortfalls and blackout risk A leaked Victorian government briefing warns the state could face critical gas shortages within three years, with higher power bills and increased blackout risk unless around $65bn is spent on new energy infrastructure. It lands as a major election issue, sharpening the debate over reliability, transition costs and who pays for the next phase of the grid. Covered by: Herald Sun, Australian Financial Review, The West Australian. Parliament reckons with political violence after Haines attack Federal politics is grappling with the aftermath of the car-ramming attack on independent MP Helen Haines, with tributes turning into a wider reckoning about rising anger, threats and the coarsening of public debate. Several papers note the tension between calls for civility and the reality that partisan combat and media blame-games continue. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, Australian Financial Review, The

Information Age managing editor Roulla Yiacoumi says any PR pitch with “AI” in the header will be rejected by her team’s shared inbox, given the sheer volume of AI stories out there. Yiacoumi made the comment on the “Business of Tech” panel at Influencing Live’s Innovation stream last Tuesday. She said she receives close to 100 guest-article pitches a month, 95 per cent of them focused on AI. “Of those 90 to 100 pitches I receive every month, I publish maybe one,” she said. “But if it's a topic that's interesting, and that appeals to technology professionals, and how they do their job, then it is definitely something that will go straight to the top of the list.”  ARN and Reseller News editor Julia Talevski and CRN Australia editor Athina Mallis also appeared on the panel and said email was the best way to pitch them. Mallis said she was happy for PR practitioners to go off on a tangent on channel stories, a

“Zero AI. Nothing.” That was the Financial Standard’s Eliza Bavin answer when asked about her masthead’s use of AI. Yaffa’s Kim Berry described a different approach, saying, “I wouldn’t be able to do my job now without it.” The five business-stream panels at Influencing Live revealed sharply different approaches to AI usage. Capital Brief’s James Hennessy estimated that 85 to 90 per cent of the op-eds he receives are entirely or mostly AI-generated. Mumbrella’s Hal Crawford said his publication simply won’t run a submission that an AI-detection tool scores as 100 per cent machine-written. Most panellists said they used AI for tasks such as transcription, grammar, headlines and digesting long reports. Policies on generated copy differed sharply, however. Some outlets prohibit AI-written articles, others use generated material with human oversight, and Financial Standard’s team has been told not to use AI at all

Monday, 26 October 2026 #1  ·  Times City  ·  Data story All Haryana cities breached annual PM10 limit since 2019 By Ipsita Pati   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page Page 7 Using CPCB data compiled by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the report finds that not a single monitored city in Haryana has met India's annual PM10 standard of 60 μg/m³ in any year since 2019. All 178 readings across the state exceeded the limit, with 88% crossing even the 24-hour national standard of 100 μg/m³, and PM10 levels peaking sharply in 2025 when the average across 22 cities rose from 119.9 to 175.2 μg/m³. A CREA air analyst argues Haryana needs a state-level mitigation strategy and expanded NCAP coverage beyond just Faridabad. Driven by original data analysis of 178 CPCB readings spanning seven years, the story goes beyond seasonal alarm-ringing to establish a systematic,

  A well-crafted PR pitch can open the door to a news story, but getting a journalist's attention does not guarantee coverage. Poor timing, generic outreach and overly promotional content often prevent pitches from meeting newsroom requirements, even when the information is relevant to a brand or client. For communications professionals, the challenge is to identify stories that serve both their clients' interests and journalists' editorial priorities. For journalists, it is to assess whether a pitch offers timely, credible information and a reason for audiences to care. Prerna Mahajan, a PR Professional, believes effective media pitching begins with understanding the journalist rather than simply distributing press releases to a large contact list. “Journalists are fellow professionals who understand their audiences and know what makes a story relevant and newsworthy. Our role is to identify how our clients’ expertise can add value to the stories the

Anxious journalists at the Australian arm of Future have been asked to pitch for their jobs, with the company’s UK head office to then decide how deep the cuts will be to the local editorial team. Last week, Influencing revealed that Future’s Australian division would undergo a major restructure, which would include it exiting print and ceasing to publish magazines including APC, Australian Hi-Fi, Sound & Image, Australian Camera and ProPhoto. It is believed that Future has been discussing handing over at least one of those titles to local staff. However, it is not just the company’s print journalists who have been involved with the restructuring consultation process, with journalists across its digital titles, including the flagship TechRadar site, also pulled in to discuss their roles with management. Journalists have been encouraged to link future roles to revenue generation, with Future’s head office eventually expected to make decisions about the b