AI-Generated Image   Every time a journalist trades a press card for a party ticket, it trends. When Sagarika Ghose was fielded by the Trinamool Congress for the Rajya Sabha in February 2024, it read online like a fresh phenomenon. It wasn't. Newslaundry, tracking the pattern the same month, pointed out she was joining a list that stretches back decades: M J Akbar, who moved from a Congress Lok Sabha seat in Bihar's Kishanganj to a minister of state role in the Modi cabinet before stepping down amid harassment allegations. Arun Shourie, nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the BJP in 1998 after editing The Indian Express and The Times of India, who later turned sharply critical of the party that gave him the seat. Chandan Mitra, nominated twice. Rajeev Shukla, who moved to the Congress after his own Rajya Sabha nomination. Shazia Ilmi, Ashutosh, and Ashish Khetan, who all joined the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2013 to 2015 window. Supriya Shrinate, who left the executive editor

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has savaged News Corp saying that Australians needed to “treat the rantings of the Murdoch media… the way you treat the drunk that you seel ate on a Saturday night, raving and screaming and raging at the moon outside a pub”. “Just carefully step by them, hopefully he doesn’t vomit on you… you’ve got to basically ignore it”. The comments were made at a private book launch for Getting Murdoched, written by two former News Corp journalists Andrew Dodd and Matthew Ricketson, and were reported this morning by Calum Jaspan at the Sydney Morning Herald. Dodd and Ricketson’s book claims to “expose how dissent is silence and reputations are destroyed” by the Murdoch empire. Turnbull urged Australians to “evict [Murdoc] from living rent free in the heads of the nation’s politics, media and public life”. ““Why any Labor government ever takes any notice of w

Albanese takes the reins on AI as warnings mount The Prime Minister has moved to centralise Australia’s artificial intelligence policy by creating a new Office of AI inside his own department, signalling a major shift in how Canberra intends to steer the technology’s economic and security impacts. The move comes amid expert warnings about job displacement, disinformation risks and data-centre pressures, setting up a high-stakes debate over whether Australia can both back innovation and tighten safeguards. Covered by: Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian. Budget surplus under fire as bracket creep becomes the quiet plan Fresh analysis is challenging the government’s pathway back to surplus, arguing it leans heavily on bracket creep and optimistic assumptions about spending restraint—especially on the NDIS and the size of the public service. The scrutiny sharpens Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ political dilemma: bank a surplus narrative or spe

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has invited proposals from industry associations, organisations, and institutions across the media and entertainment (M&E) sector for Create in India Challenge (CIC) Season 2, a flagship initiative under the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2027. To streamline submissions, the ministry has launched a unified online portal. The initiative aims to roll out 50+ industry‑led challenges to identify creative talent, promote innovation, upskill youth, and foster collaboration across emerging media and technology sectors. The challenges will span domains including AI, digital and social media, animation, VFX, AVGC‑XR, online gaming, esports, broadcasting, films, music, dance, comics, AR, VR, and XR technologies. Selected challenges may be eligible for a one‑time grant of up to 1 crore, subject to evaluation. Eligible organisations can submit proposals by July 31, 2026. Winning projects will be showcased at Cre

The Andhra Pradesh Journalists' Forum (APJF) has sought a Rs 10,000 monthly pension for senior journalists with more than 25 years of service, the creation of a journalists' welfare fund, and financial assistance for the families of deceased journalists. The demands were raised during the APJF Maha Sabha held in Srikakulam on Sunday in the presence of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Kalisetti Appala Naidu and several MLAs. Addressing the gathering, Appala Naidu urged journalists to attend orientation programmes regularly, saying they provide opportunities to update their technical and language skills, enhance their knowledge, and interact with veteran journalists and professors from various universities.

Two books documenting the life and work of veteran photojournalist Rajiv Kant are bringing Bihar's visual journalism history back into focus. The Photojournalist: A Memoir of the Late Rajiv Kant and Photographers of Bihar: The Shadow Memory of the Late Rajiv Kant, edited by his son Rohit Kant, chronicle the photographer's decades-long contribution to documenting the state's political, social and cultural landscape. Compiled from thousands of archived photographs and negatives, the books showcase Rajiv Kant's work beyond headline events, capturing everyday life, democratic movements and cultural traditions across Bihar. Together, they serve as a visual record of an era before digital photography, highlighting the enduring value of photojournalism in preserving history.   Image credit: Sikkim Express 

As questions intensified over the deaths of 19 pregnant women in Rajasthan over the past six weeks, the state's health minister, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, ended a press briefing with a smile and the remark, "Break ke baad milte hain" ("See you after the break"), before walking away from reporters, News18 Hindi reported. Earlier in the day, Khimsar chaired a high-level meeting at the Health Building in Jaipur to review the maternal deaths and discuss the state's response. The meeting was attended by doctors from Kota, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Bhilwara and Banswara, along with principals of medical colleges and senior health department officials. Speaking to the media afterwards, the minister faced repeated questions about the causes of the deaths, the findings of investigations so far and the measures being taken to prevent further fatalities. As reporters continued to press for answers, Khimsar stood up, smiled, said, "See you after the break," and left the briefing without addressing the r