For nearly two decades, freelance journalist Sameera Kapoor Munshi, who writes for Hindustan Times, has built her career around a simple principle: every story deserves to be verified, understood and told from the perspective of the people it affects. Over the years, she has reported across print and digital platforms, covering crime, civic affairs, aviation, transport, disasters and human-interest stories. Yet, regardless of the beat, her focus has remained the same: bringing public issues to light and ensuring ordinary citizens are heard. Interestingly, Sameera says she did not enter journalism with the ambition of becoming a reporter. "I gradually realised journalism gave me an opportunity to raise public issues before the right authorities and bring attention to problems that might otherwise go unnoticed." That sense of purpose continues to shape her reporting. Looking back on her career, Sameera believes the fundamentals of journalism have remained unchanged despi

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to conduct an independent inquiry into what he described as a growing trend of criminal cases and police action against journalists, digital media professionals and independent reporters in the state. According to a party statement issued on July 30, Rai asked the commission to examine whether the use of criminal laws against journalists is affecting freedom of expression and press freedom.  In a letter to the NHRC Chairperson, Rai said freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and an independent media are essential to a democratic system. He said journalists must be able to report on matters of public interest without fear.  Rai referred to cases involving senior journalist Abhishek Upadhyay, journalist Mamta Tripathi, reporters from The Wire, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair and the late journalist Vinod Dua. He also noted concerns raised by the Editors Guil

I’ve been a critic of the News Bargaining code ever since its inception. However, I’m going to change positions and say the government has now gotten it “right enough”. With one big exception. My main beef with the code was, from a logic perspective, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to ask big technology companies to pay for sending their audience to news sites. Because the default response from big technology companies is to do what Meta has done in Canada, and simply stop featuring news on their platforms. Which is not to say I don’t believe that big technology companies should contribute more to our economy, and I’m more than ok with that being funnelled into supporting professional journalism. I would instead use a Digital Services tax to achieve that. That is what the government has introduced as its fallback position, for technology companies that don’t want to go to the negotiating table with the media companies. However, a sc

Communications Minister Anika Wells: "Journalism is the lifeblood of a robust democracy." Smaller and regional publishers will benefit from last-minute changes the government will introduce to its news bargaining incentive legislation, but major newsrooms are likely to receive less from the final bill. LinkedIn has also been snared within the legislation. Communications Minister Anika Wells said that the final bill will offer digital platforms increased offsets, up to 200 per cent, for deals done with smaller and regional publishers. "Journalism is the lifeblood of a robust democracy, which is why the Albanese government is backing a strong and sustainable media sector,” she said. “An important change is the doubling of the distribution scheme loading for smaller and regional publishers. This acknowledges both the challenges smaller outlets face, but also the incredible contribution they make to the communities they serve.” The News Bargaining in

Journalists at Nine are threatening to strike over changes the media organisation is forcing through newsrooms under the Future News program. Steve Jackson revealed in The Australian’s media column this morning that “the vast majority of newsroom staff were so miserable they have secretly signed an ‘explosive’ letter of demand… after being informed they had to agree to perform up to a day of unpaid overtime each week as part of the sweeping changes.” Jackson quoted one signatory of the letter who said, “This is all over the Future News changes.” “We’re all being expected to start performing three simultaneous roles – reporter, cammo, editor – as if we’re not already working hard enough as it is, and we have to take on all that additional responsibility for no additional money whatsoever,” the unnamed source told Jackson. The source claimed that new contracts put to staff include a non-negotiable cl

Housing downturn deepens as rates bite and confidence cracks Australia’s property slump is accelerating, with fresh data showing capital-city dwelling values falling again and auction clearance rates sliding to their weakest levels since 2020. The coverage underscores a broader economic squeeze: higher interest rates, cost-of-living pressure and budget settings are now feeding directly into weaker demand, with flow-on risks for household spending and construction. Covered by: The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Morning Herald. Labor sharpens ‘news tax’ to force Big Tech to fund journalism The federal government has refined its News Bargaining Incentive, narrowing the revenue base to digital advertising while lifting pressure on platforms to strike funding deals with Australian publishers—reportedly bringing more services (including LinkedIn) into scope. It’s a major policy fight over the sustainability of public-interest journalism and the balance