Questions around press freedom and online speech have surfaced in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu after recent government-linked takedown actions targeting social media content critical of political leaders and parties. The developments come shortly after newly formed governments in both states publicly assured support for press freedom and journalist safety during and after the election period. In West Bengal, award-winning journalist and Millat Times CEO and Editor-in-Chief Shams Tabrez Qasmi said content shared by him on X regarding post-election clashes in Kolkata was flagged by the Kolkata Police. In a post on May 9, Qasmi wrote: “Received an email from X with a Kolkata Police letter flagging a video I shared on recent post-election clashes in Kolkata. The letter seeks action against the news content. The same video was shared by many others, including TMC MP Sagarika Ghose.” He further criticised the move, stating: “Appalled at this attempt to silence independent journal

When COVID-19 overwhelmed India, health journalists suddenly found themselves at the centre of public life. They were no longer simply reporting on hospitals, seasonal outbreaks, or government health schemes. They were decoding scientific studies, verifying WhatsApp rumours, tracking oxygen shortages, explaining vaccines, and translating rapidly changing medical information into language millions could understand. In many ways, the pandemic permanently changed health reporting in Indian newsrooms. Before COVID, health journalism was often treated as a specialised or secondary beat with limited newsroom attention. The pandemic pushed it into mainstream coverage, forcing journalists to balance speed, science, public anxiety, and misinformation all at once. It also changed what audiences expect from health reporting today. Lifestyle journalist Saumya Rastogi says the transformation was immediate and overwhelming. “Before COVID, health reporting was often treated as a niche

Budget detonates housing tax shake-up: negative gearing, CGT and trusts in the firing line Labor’s 2026 budget proposes winding back investor tax concessions—limiting negative gearing and the capital gains discount and tightening trust arrangements—while redirecting benefits to wage earners via a new offset and housing affordability measures. It sets up a defining political fight over “broken promises” versus intergenerational fairness, with the Coalition and investor groups expected to campaign hard against it. Covered by: The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The West Australian, Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, Sydney Morning Herald. “$77bn tax grab” vs “fairness reset”: the budget’s battle lines harden Conservative and tabloid front pages frame the budget as a sweeping tax hike and a betrayal of earlier assurances, while others argue it’s a necessary rebalancing away from wealth and toward work. The rhetoric matters beca

Microsoft’s AI Tour recent stops in Sydney and Auckland, including a rare visit from CEO Satya Nadella, were designed to show the company’s deep commitment to Australia and New Zealand, according to Microsoft’s Head of Communications for ANZ, Dan Chamberlain. He told Influencing that the reason behind Nadella’s visit was to highlight this commitment and “also opening up a broader industry conversation about AI scepticism – and addressing it head on.” “There are fair questions being asked about value, readiness, trust, and impact. Our job was to move that conversation beyond abstract promise and into practical evidence: how organisations are shifting from pilots to AI blueprints, and turning experimentation into repeatable patterns that can lift productivity, improve services, and create new capability across the economy.” He explained that for media and creators, the company designed a program that included interviews with global and local executives, and custom

The Mumbai Press Club has opened a month-long photo exhibition titled “The Eye That Never Closes” in memory of veteran photojournalist Rajanish Kakade, who passed away in February this year. Inaugurated on May 8 by Uddhav Thackeray, chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), with Sanjay Raut also in attendance, the exhibition pays tribute to Kakade’s contributions to photojournalism and his long association with the press club as an office bearer. “Photography is an art and Rajanish was a master of it. His work will continue to inspire generations of people interested in photography,” said Samar Khadas, President, Mumbai Press Club, recalling Kakade’s immense contribution to visual journalism. He added that the exhibition is a homage to their friend and colleague, thanking the Associated Press for supporting the initiative and helping showcase Kakade’s work. As a senior photojournalist with the Associated Press since 2008, Kakade documented India’s politics, culture, and the every

Tuesday, 12 May 2026 #1  ·  Times City  ·  Investigative Pin-Drop Silence: Location Mapping Poses A Problem By Staff Reporter   ·   The Times of India  ·  Page Unknown The story investigates the self-enumeration process for location mapping in Delhi, revealing that officials can only mark nearby areas rather than precise addresses, creating systemic gaps in civic data accuracy. It examines the North East District's progress in completed entries and highlights structural problems with how household-level data is being captured. The report draws on official statements and on-ground observations to frame the consequences for policy and service delivery. The story goes beyond a routine civic update to expose a methodological flaw in official data-collection that has downstream consequences for urban governance, anchoring abstract bureaucratic dysfunction in concrete field-level evidence. #2  · 

Marking nearly 25 years of grassroots journalism, ten women reporters from Khabar Lahariya have released their collective memoir, The Good Reporter: A Memoir of Journalism in the 21st Century, published by Simon & Schuster and translated into Hindi as Badi Aayi Patrakar. The book was launched in Delhi on May 8. The memoir captures the personal and professional journeys of women journalists working in rural India, reflecting on the challenges they face within the media industry and society. Speaking to Influencing, Kavita Bundelkhandi, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Khabar Lahariya, said the book reveals the realities behind their reporting.  “To date, people have only read or seen stories that have been written by the incredible reporters of Khabar Lahariya. But no one knows the hardships we face in the field of journalism,” she said. Bundelkhandi noted that the memoir is not limited to struggles.  “The book is a mix of emotions and challenges that we have face