Helping journos make the most of early morning announcements
By Seamus Byrne in Media News on Tuesday, 22nd September 2020 at 10:14amLast week was one of those classic weeks when there were multiple reasons for Australian journalists to get up before the sun – or stay up – to cover big events taking place in US focused timezones.
It’s something Australian sports fans have always endured if they want to catch the big global events live, so it’s not like tech and games are the only industries where this happens. But it’s one of those things that often gets a begrudging “here we go again” response from journos on social media.But, for the most part, I think many of those who do get up early for these things enjoy the sense of occasion that such an early alarm means. Yep, it’s ‘just’ a new product, or a new game, and if the event isn’t super ...
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TODAY’S TEN: E20 fuel damage complaints mount, Ram Temple SIT flags donation failures and more
By Staff Writer in Media News on Monday, 20th July 2026 at 3:32pm
Monday, 20 July 2026
#1 · Times City (Page 4) · In-depth feature
Dowry dairies: Inside the room where brides prove cost of their abuse
By Devanshi Mehta · The Times of India, New Delhi · Page 4
A ground-level immersive report from inside Delhi Police's Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC), documenting how women navigate the counselling and mediation process before criminal proceedings in dowry harassment cases. The piece uses NCRB Crime in India 2024 data showing Delhi recorded 109 dowry death cases in 2024 — the highest among 19 metro cities for the fifth consecutive year — and weaves in direct observations of complainants, officers, and case files to illuminate systemic barriers including absentee in-laws, private settlements, and the difficulty of proving stridhan theft.
Rare access journalism that situates granular human testimony — women balancing toddlers, han
'Anyone with a phone...' Delhi HC wants framework on who counts as press
By Meena R. Prashant in Media News on Monday, 20th July 2026 at 3:25pm
The Delhi High Court has called for a legal framework to regulate media, warning that virtually anyone with a mobile phone and microphone can today claim to be a reporter without any journalistic training, ethical grounding, or accountability.
Justice Girish Kathpalia made the observation while granting bail to Abid Ali and Fukran, accused of assaulting freelance YouTube reporters in a 2025 incident in northeast Delhi's Seemapuri. The reporters were filming a segment on an allegedly illegal place of worship when a mob attacked them and seized their phones and camera battery, according to the prosecution. Both men denied direct involvement; one claimed he was a bystander, the other said he wasn't at the scene.
The bail grant itself isn't the story. What matters is what the court used it to say. Justice Kathpalia noted that "self-styled reporters" sometimes aggressively confront subjects and shape misleading narratives and in this case, observed that the reporters had apparently agit
"Every chutney has a story": Senior journalist Sudha Tilak's new book finds history and heritage in every spoonful
By Meena R. Prashant in Media News on Monday, 20th July 2026 at 3:00pm
Readers picking up Chutney Chronicles might assume writing the book came naturally to Sudha G. Tilak. After all, she has spent more than two decades translating complex ideas into stories, scripts and digital content across newsrooms and media platforms.
Yet Tilak says the process was far more demanding than she expected. She approached every recipe much like a news story, verifying facts, testing dishes in the kitchen and carefully checking ingredients and measurements before including them.
"To me, this book goes far beyond recipes and nostalgia," she says. "I unearthed fascinating stories about ingredients, history, geography, botany, migration, folklore, colonial influences and nutrition, bringing together culinary heritage with insights for today's health-conscious reader."
Her journalistic instinct also shaped the questions she asked while researching the book.
"I kept asking: what are the many aspects, factoids and stories that are commonplace and easily ignored behind a d
Brisbane talkback station must double ratings
By Staff Writers in Media News on Monday, 20th July 2026 at 7:56am
Tapt Media’s 4BC Brisbane is reaching only half the audience it needs to be profitable, according to documents obtained by The Australian.
The report by Steve Jackson also cites “disillusioned” staff who have “lashed out” at “out-of-touch” management, blaming them for “trashing one of the country’s proudest talkback radio brands and torching a number of presenters’ careers in the process”.
The Australian obtained “confidential internal network analysis” which calculated that the station needs between 6.2 and 6.4 per cent of market share to break even based on its current costs.
When Arthur Laundy’s Tapt Media acquired the station, the analysis figured that 4BC needed to lift its share to around 8 per cent to be profitable, however, instead its share has gone backwards after it recorded a disastrous most recent ratings result that saw it hit just 3.4 per cent.
Read the full article at The Australian
Upfront: Mining money dries up, Zombie renewables exposed, Rare-earths investment squeeze.
By Staff Writers in Media News on Monday, 20th July 2026 at 6:02am
Mining revenue slump puts Labor’s tax and spending plans under pressure
A sharp fall in mining royalties and resources tax payments—about $25 billion over two years—has reignited debate over whether governments can rely on commodity windfalls to fund budgets and promises. With Labor considering higher imposts on the sector, the story sharpens the political and economic stakes ahead of internal policy fights on resources taxation. Covered by: The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald.
Clean-energy “zombie projects” threaten Australia’s 2030 targets
Concerns are growing that Labor’s Capacity Investment Scheme is backing renewable projects that are delayed or may never be built, risking a gap between announced capacity and real-world generation. Investors and experts are calling for policy tweaks to reduce bottlenecks and improve delivery certainty—crucial as the grid transitions and coal exits accelerate. Covered by: Australian Financial Review, The Australian.
Foreign in
Insider: Audience-first focus for Healy’s In The Blink of AI show
By Will McLennan in Media News on Monday, 20th July 2026 at 11:45am
Georgie Healy, host of the In the Blink of AI podcast, says the show is built entirely around the audience.
"It's all about making sure my listeners get value out of my guests," she said on Influencing Insider last Thursday. "My job is to make it entertaining, make it useful, give people something they can understand at home.
“I've got an expert on the show to give their take, and it's my job to make sure I get the best that's out of their brain onto the episode for the audience.”
One way Healy does that is by asking guests for their best AI hack. She discovered one guest uses AI to curate a personalised wine menu.
She is also not afraid to pursue unconventional lines of questioning, recalling how she once asked Notion chief executive Ivan Zhao what it was like growing up as a middle child.
She advised PR practitioners pitching guests to do their research on In the Blink of AI first, before explaining why their guest is a good fit.
Healy said pitches that stand out in
Bombay High Court denies interim relief to journalist Gurbir Singh
By Pavithra A in Media News on Friday, 17th July 2026 at 8:45pm
The Bombay High Court has dismissed an interim application filed by journalist Gurbir Singh challenging his six-year expulsion from the Mumbai Press Club for facilitating a meeting involving accused persons in the Bhima-Koregaon case at the club premises.
Justice Prafulla S. Khubalkar rejected Singh’s plea for interim relief, observing that the managing committee’s decision did not appear arbitrary or perverse. The court held that the trial court’s refusal to grant an injunction was a plausible view based on the available material and did not require interference at this stage.
The case relates to a meeting held on January 19, 2026, at the Mumbai Press Club, where Singh and two other members organised an event involving four accused persons in the 2018 Bhima-Koregaon case. The meeting allegedly allowed the accused persons to gather, potentially violating their bail conditions.
Following the incident, the Press Club issued a show-cause notice to
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