Global channel publication CRN have launched the CRN Global Channel Cup - pitting different channel vendors against one another in a knockout-style tournament.  It’s a “fun, global tournament”, CRN Australia editor Athina Mallis has told Influencing, inspired by the ongoing FIFA World Cup occurring in the USA, Canada and Mexico.  “We have matched up some of the channel’s most influential companies in head-to-head battles where CRN’s worldwide readership votes to determine the winners,” Mallis told Influencing.  The tournament began last Thursday, with three rounds set to take place across the coming weeks – in the style of the World Cup knockout bracket – and will culminate in the grand final, with the tournament set to take place on July 15.  Each round will have a week of voting.  The 32 companies competing, picked by CRN Editors, include the likes of Google Cloud, Cloudflare, NetApp, NVIDIA, Micro

Big Four firms face break-up threat as Labor flags tougher regulation The government is weighing sweeping reforms for the Big Four consulting/accounting firms — including potential break-ups, bigger fines and stronger ASIC enforcement powers — after a string of integrity scandals and fresh upheaval at KPMG. The push signals a major reset of how Canberra polices professional services that sit at the centre of government contracting and corporate compliance, with big implications for public trust and business regulation. Covered by: Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald. Cost-of-living fight: tax cuts ‘wiped out’ as rate-rise fears bite As the July 1 tax cut lands, tabloids argue it’s already being swallowed by rising everyday prices — and could be eclipsed entirely if interest rates rise again in August. Politically, it sharpens the inflation blame game, with the Coalition targeting Labor spending while households judg

Prasar Bharati's revised content framework for its OTT platform, WAVES, reflects a broader shift from traditional public broadcasting towards a creator-focused digital ecosystem. The updated policy expands eligible content formats, introduces watch-time-based monetisation, and strengthens rights verification and compliance requirements for creators, producers, and aggregators. Industry observers say the move aligns with changing streaming economics, with greater emphasis on audience engagement, content ownership, and creator-led promotion. The framework also opens the platform to formats such as microdramas, short-form videos, educational content, music programmes, documentaries, and films. 

BigTrunk Communications has been appointed as the integrated media agency for Wonder Cement. Under the mandate, the agency will oversee media strategy, planning, buying, execution, and performance management across digital and traditional platforms to enhance brand visibility and consumer engagement. 

Use it. That, stripped of the corporate gloss, was the message three of Australia's biggest news employers handed their journalists in the space of a few weeks. Nine instructed editorial staff to lift their use of AI "to improve efficiency." Seven began rolling out an in-house tool to turn television scripts into online copy, telling staff they "need to start using it." And the ABC named Anthropic's Claude its enterprise-wide standard, to be piloted by a cohort of internal "AI Champions." Each directive was framed as help, not threat. These initiatives often arrived on the heels of redundancies, with the threat of more job cuts looming.   To Daanyal Saeed, Crikey's media reporter and the journalist who has recently broken several stories on the unfolding, AI-enabled automation of journalism, there’s a big difference between how Aussie journos view AI and how the senior executives deciding their fate do.    The pitch fr

Support is mounting for senior journalist R. Rajagopal, former editor of The Telegraph, whose passport renewal has been held up for more than 100 days. Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday, seeking his intervention in the case, while the Editors Guild of India has urged the Election Commission to restore Rajagopal's electoral identity. The renewal was allegedly held up by an adverse police verification report, after his name was deleted from West Bengal's electoral roll during the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR). In a statement on June 28, the Guild said the case highlighted the hardships faced by citizens caught up in the exercise, and urged the Commission to "display common sense and sympathy" by restoring his identity as a voter and extending the same consideration to others affected. For Rajagopal, what began as a routine renewal turned into months of uncertainty. He had applied the way he al

Editorial ethics in Indian journalism has come under renewed scrutiny after a Bengaluru court convicted the editor of a monthly magazine for criminal defamation, ruling that a 2021 article carried unverified and defamatory allegations against a government employee without supporting evidence. In its judgment, the court underlined that editors have a responsibility to verify facts, assess the credibility of sources, identify bias and ensure fairness before publishing serious allegations. It held that press freedom cannot be used to shield defamatory content that lacks truth, good faith or public interest. The ruling has prompted journalists and editors to reflect on what it means for newsroom accountability at a time when speed often competes with verification. Sumit Singh, Chief Sub-Editor at Bhaskar English, said the judgment reinforces a principle that should guide every newsroom. "The line should be drawn at truth and evidence. We in the press have full freedom to investi