On Thursday evening, Influencing sponsored CPRA Newcastle's "Trust Under Pressure" panel discussion in which several media professionals discussed how individuals can navigate crisis communication situations.  Held at The Green Room in Merewether, the panel featured Sophie Anning from Cancer Council Australia, Lucas Coleman from the Port of Newcastle, Karen Dunnicliff from Salterbaxter and Herd MSL, and Nathan Avery-Williams from SWS Lawyers, who discussed the importance of Speed and Accuracy, Stakeholder Relationships, Business understanding and operational alignment and First-Hour response in such situations.  Please enjoy a collection of photos from the event. 

The Australian Financial Review’s Zoe Samios has been appointed the masthead’s technology editor, taking over from long-time editor Paul Smith. Samios announced the news in a LinkedIn post on Friday evening. “I am excited/nervous/humbled to announce that earlier this week, I became technology editor as the wonderful Paul Smith ended his 17-year (!!) reign,” she wrote. Samios (Left) has replaced Smith (right) as The Australian Financial Review's Technology Editor Samios said Smith will stay with The Fin’s tech team as senior technology correspondent, covering “the US tech giants, industry trends and the intersection of AI and government policy.” “His deep industry knowledge and expertise is invaluable and critical to our coverage moving forward,” she added.  Samios has been on the tech beat at The Fin since July and was a Business Reporter there since May 2023. Before the AFR, She’d worked for the Sydney Morning

The New York Times Company is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Letterboxd, a social platform for film enthusiasts, in a deal valued at about $330 million, reported Adgully. Founded in 2011 by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, Letterboxd has grown to around 30 million users, particularly among Gen Z audiences. Under the proposed deal, the platform's co-founders are expected to remain in charge, while Letterboxd would continue to operate independently. If completed, the acquisition would further expand the publisher's digital portfolio beyond news, following its earlier acquisitions of The Athletic, Wirecutter, and Wordle. No final agreement has been reached, and the talks could still collapse. 

Senior journalist Shobhit Pandey died of a heart attack in Sant Kabir Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday, November 4. He was a reporter with Hindustan and had earlier served as the district in-charge of Amar Ujala. His death has left the local journalism fraternity in shock. The Gramin Patrakar Association described his demise as an irreparable loss, remembering his work in highlighting the concerns of the poor and marginalised. Former MLA Jai Chaubey also paid tribute to the journalist, Dainik Bhaskar reported.  

   Senior journalist Shekhar Joshi, who worked with Marathi newspapers Sakal and Loksatta, died of a cardiac arrest in Dombivli, Mumbai in the early hours of Wednesday. He was 60. Joshi had a long career in journalism, beginning with the Sakal newspaper group, where he also served as its Dombivli correspondent. He later joined Loksatta, where he covered literature and culture, reporting extensively on All India Marathi literary conferences and theatre conventions. Known for his writing on civic and social issues, Joshi consistently highlighted problems faced by residents of Kalyan and Dombivli, including traffic congestion, unauthorised hawkers around railway stations and the lack of proper autorickshaw services. For nearly 25 years, he campaigned through his reports for the introduction of a mandatory meter system for autorickshaws in the Kalyan-Dombivli region. His reporting eventually contributed to the transport department introducing meter-based autorickshaw services

The Hindu has accused The Indian Express of reproducing and reworking substantial portions of its exclusive interview with Tamil actor Rishikanth, and of using a photograph from the accompanying shoot without permission or credit. In a post on X on November 5, The Hindu said the interview was conducted by its journalist Srinivas J at the newspaper’s Chennai office, and that the photograph was taken by its photographer Thamodharan. “Quoting an exclusive interview is standard journalistic practice. Reproducing virtually an entire story, even with portions reworded, is not,” The Hindu said. It called the disregard for original reporting and photography deeply disappointing and said giving credit was a basic tenet of journalism. The Indian Express responded with a clarification attached to its story, titled ‘Dorothy actor Rishikanth faced ‘enormous’ failures, found success after 15 years’.  Stating that the publication was committed to t