India’s Union Budget 2026–27 has formally brought the Orange Economy into policy focus, recognising industries powered by ideas, culture, intellectual property, and digital storytelling as engines of future growth. Unlike traditional sectors built on physical production, this economy generates value through creativity -- spanning Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC), film, publishing, design, advertising and multimedia content. The government’s plan is ambitious. It proposes AVGC content creator labs in 15,000 secondary schools and 500 colleges under the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies. With projections suggesting nearly two million skilled professionals will be needed in the creative sector by 2030, policymakers aim to align education with emerging digital markets while expanding institutions like the National Institute of Design. But as creativity becomes economic policy, journalism finds itself at a crossroads. Is it a pillar of the cre

Image Edited by Dinesh Raj M   For at least a decade now, if not longer, Indian digital media chased traffic like it was oxygen. Pageviews were power, going viral made platforms feel like gods. At the DNPA Conclave 2026, that illusion cracked. Held in New Delhi on February 26, under the theme “Rewriting the Playbook for a Resilient Digital Future,” the event signalled something bigger than another industry gathering. It felt like a confession. According to the Digital News Publishers Association, the conversation has shifted from scale to sustainability, from reach to relevance. That’s not a philosophical pivot. It’s survival. A Times of India report bluntly acknowledged what many publishers won’t say publicly: traffic spikes built on platform distribution created hollow foundations. High numbers. Low loyalty. No ownership. The algorithm giveth. The algorithm taketh away. And so, the industry now wants “identity, consistency and control.” Newsletters, apps, sub

Disasters rarely wait for confirmation. They unfold in minutes, escalate in hours, and reshape lives overnight. In that window, information can save lives or deepen confusion. For decades, disaster reporting relied heavily on eyewitness accounts, official briefings, and delayed field updates. Today, in 2026, real-time datasets are transforming that model. Journalists are no longer just documenting destruction. They are interpreting risk as it develops. From hurricanes and floods to earthquakes and wildfires, disasters generate enormous streams of data, satellites, live rainfall dashboards, radar imagery, river-level monitoring, social media signals and government alert systems. Instead of waiting for post-event damage assessments, reporters can now track storm paths, identify high-risk neighbourhoods and monitor impact as it unfolds. Flood maps built from live rainfall and river-level data can pinpoint vulnerable localities. Satellite imagery confirms inundation patterns. Social m

Refraction Media will expand its Careers With STEM stable this month with the launch of Careers With STEM: Primary. Managing Editor Jasmine Fellows said the new title targets students in years three to six, as well as teachers and parents, with the objective of getting children “inspired and discussing STEM” and future career paths. “Careers with STEM Primary is all about having fun and exploring from that earlier stage, smashing those stereotypes, addressing those misconceptions, and making sure everyone feels supported and sees a place for themselves in STEM,” she said.  Featured in the new magazine will be wildlife scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta, astrophysicist Dr Kirsten Banks, and Download This Show host Rae Johnston as a tech reporter. Fellows said the magazine included “experiments and mini missions so young people can play as real STEM adventurers, cracking codes, designing inventions and backyard explorations.” The idea followed research showing the need to e

So Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead. Nobody celebrated that news harder than The Australian who not only threw its entire front page over to the ‘Death of Tyranny’ but then devoted the next four pages inside of the paper.   The Australian’s Washington Correspondent Joe Kelly filed the lead, writing US president Donald Trump had “launched a historic attempt at regime change”. Iranian-born freelance journalist Shokoofeh Azar was also given a front page slot under the headline ‘We’re dancing on your corpse’ where she wrote of “jubilant rebellion” across Iran. Meanwhile, Israels’ are “bracing for the worst” opined North Asia Correspondent Yoni Bashi, expecting reprisal attack from the Iran “now under new management”.   At The Herald and The Age, Supratim Adhikari, Michael Kozil and Chris Zappone combined for the front pager.   Well, at least we think they did beca

Republic Media Network hosted an insurance awareness and enrollment drive on 26 February 2026 at its Kolkata office, in collaboration with Axis Bank and Niva Bupa Health Insurance. Employees received guidance on health insurance benefits, plan options, and claim procedures through interactive sessions and one-to-one consultations. As shared in a LinkedIn post, the initiative saw enthusiastic participation across departments and reflects the company’s commitment to integrating health, financial literacy, and wellbeing programmes into its employee support framework.  

Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   Among the various topical discussions that took place at the 4th annual Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) Conclave 2026 held under the theme "Rewriting the Playbook for a Resilient Digital Future" on Thursday, one of the most pertinent was the one on how to get the Indian digital news subscriber to pay for quality content. With the explosion of digital outlets publishing news content reaching atomic proportions in the AI era, it is no secret that almost all traditional outlets publishing news content struggle to make their subscribers pay for their content while the same, or a slightly less-polished version, is available for free elsewhere and is just a click away. This is has now become even more complicated with internet browsers offering an AI-version of news that practically scrapes through all related content and gives its own version, a collage of everything that is out there on the topic. One of the speakers, Jaideep K