Housing market alarm as home loans plunge Fresh data points to a sharp downturn in housing finance, with investor lending hit particularly hard amid higher interest rates and Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes. The significance is both economic and political: a weaker property market can drag on consumer confidence, construction and bank risk settings, while sharpening the debate over whether the tax overhaul is helping first-home buyers or worsening the slump. Covered by: Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age. CFMEU “direct line” claims deepen Big Build corruption storm Victoria’s Big Build royal commission heard explosive evidence alleging senior CFMEU figures boasted of direct access to Premier Jacinta Allan’s office while pressuring contractors—alongside fresh claims about union money and influence. With an election backdrop, the inquiry is becoming a major test of Labor’s integr

The use of legal proceedings against journalists is among the threats to press freedom monitored by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), whose 2026 Press Freedom Predators List includes the Adani Group over its litigation involving journalists and media organisations. Speaking to Influencing Insider, RSF's India representative Ritika Jain explained why the Paris-based press freedom organisation considers legal harassment a serious concern, how it documents such cases and what support is available to journalists facing pressure over their reporting. “There has been a whole dossier, a profile on Adani as to why we are putting the group on the list. There's a whole justification behind it,” Jain said, emphasising that the organisation's assessments are grounded in documented actions rather than isolated allegations. The Adani Group features in the legal category of RSF's latest Predators List. Jain pointed to cases involving investigative journalists Paranjo

Wednesday, 11 November 2026 #1  ·  Times City  ·  Ground report Back to normal? Not quite. Year on, Red Fort bears scars of blast horror By Jatin Kumar, Gs.Dhanush   ·   The Times of India, New Delhi  ·  Page Page 7 One year after a car bomb killed 12 people near Red Fort, reporters returned to Chandni Chowk to speak to survivors, victims' families, and local traders. The story documents unresolved compensation grievances — a street vendor with shrapnel wounds who was denied an MLC certificate, a young woman whose treatment costs far exceeded her Rs 20,000 payout — and finds the market still economically depressed despite surface-level normalcy. Reporters physically visited the site, gathered named on-record survivors with specific, verifiable details of injuries and compensation failures — this is genuine field journalism that holds the state accountable on the anniversary rather than recy

Australian Associated Press (AAP) cadet journalist and passionate sports fan Annabelle Banfield counts the NRL preliminary final between Newcastle and Penrith among her favourite stories.  “I was doing the main match report [at the game]... Initially I was thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll just help out and watch the game and get quotes and things. Then it turned into a crazy situation [following an injury and a player send-off] where you're coming up with content quickly.” Banfield said two other assignments in her 12-month cadetship taught her a lot – a house fire and a trip to Canberra to cover an inquiry on sexual and family violence.  “It was a difficult situation because three people had died and [I was] trying to tell that story respectfully, talking to the firefighters, cops, and neighbours who’d come into the street. It taught me a lot about how to work in those quite tragic circumstances that journalists often find themselves in.  “[At the inquiry], an MP told a s

If 2026 has felt like a year of closures, redundancies and shrinking freelance budgets to you, well, you’re not alone. However, a comprehensive data set of job ads tells a more nuanced story. Influencing was surprised last month to see Mercury Talent director Justin Randles quoted in AdNews reporting that media hiring rose 11 per cent in the September quarter, the industry's best result in three years. He admits that result came as a surprise to him. Randles has logged every media job advertised in Sydney and Melbourne since March 2024. That now amounts to about 11,700 ads, each tagged by sector, job function, seniority and location. At Influencing's request, he squeezed a variety of insights out of the data set he’s spent years meticulously building. Did media jobs rebound in 2026? There were 3,588 media roles advertised between January and October 2026, up six per cent on the same period last year. That almost wins back the ground lost in 2025, when ads fel

AFP sounds alarm on youth radicalisation The Australian Federal Police is warning of a sharp rise in youth radicalisation, with cases developing rapidly and increasingly driven by online ecosystems. The significance is twofold: it raises immediate public-safety concerns after recent foiled plots, and it adds pressure for tougher platform obligations and earlier intervention by schools and families. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald. Power price shock: wholesale electricity forecast to double New modelling reported today forecasts wholesale electricity prices surging by 2029, blamed on renewable build delays colliding with coal closures—an explosive mix for households and industry already sensitive to cost-of-living pressures. Politically, it sharpens the stakes for the government’s energy transition timetable and invites renewed scrutiny of reliability, investment settings and bill relief. Covered by: The Australian, The Advertiser. Wages go backwards as economic press

  The Kerala High Court has directed police to provide protection to Big TV journalist Aparna Kurup and her minor son following alleged death threats and cyber attacks after she anchored a television discussion on women's rights. Justice Murali Purushothaman passed the order on November 6, directing the Ernakulam South Station House Officer to provide protection whenever she reports any threat or intimidation. Kurup had alleged that she faced online harassment after hosting a programme discussing remarks by Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar on women's rights. The court disposed of her petition after the state assured it of adequate police protection, Lawchakra reported.