This morning The Australian unveils Culture, a new digital section and weekly liftout dedicated to the arts and entertainment.  With a digital-first approach to storytelling, the newly designed, highly visual Culture section of The Australian’s app and website will deliver expert reviews, in-depth interviews and high-impact reporting across digital, audio and video platforms. Every day people will be able to watch, read and listen to the latest news and features on the best films, television, books, art, music and live performances. Editor-In-Chief Michelle Gunn said that transforming and expanding the way The Australian covered the arts and entertainment with the launch of Culture, reaffirms the masthead’s commitment to delivering audiences deeper, more engaging content. “The Australian has always led the way with its unrivalled arts coverage and now we are taking it to the next level with Culture,” Gunn said. "It will be the go-to destination for exploring culture in Au

Welcome to Wednesday, and not too surprisingly the bulk of today's print coverage is on PM Albanese's successful White House appearance. If it were a game show - which is what such appearances in that august house almost appear to be on some occasions - Albo has gone on to the next level unscathed, less so one other well-known Australian, but we'll get on to that later. 'Albanese hits critical mass' is The Australian's main headline and a story by Geoff Chambers and Joe Kelly outlines the crucial meeting and the outcomes, including the rare earth minerals deal and recognition by Trump that AUKUS is a deterent to China. The two journos do a very neat job of encapsulating all the moving parts, with clear pointers to the pressure it also puts on China as Trump plans a meeting with Xi Jinping sometime soon.  Penning a Comment piece is veteran political watcher Paul Kelly who gives a convincing picture of Albanese now having 'ultimate domestic authority', which would seem to be righ

    Mediaweek editor Dan Barrett (pictured) has been sacked after just five months into the role as the publishing company seeks to rein in costs across its mastheads and reach financial targets. Barnett told Influencing last night that the reasons given by owners Vinyl Group were “pretty weak” and  “didn’t pass the sniff test” but it was within his probation period so there wasn’t much he could do about it.  Barnett is a seasoned journalist and had previously worked at the masthead. When he rejoined five months ago he said the perceived wisdom in the job market is you shouldn’t go back to a previous job but he’d decided to give it a go because he could see a future for the masthead.   It is understood there is no immediate proposal to fill the role. Barnett’s predecessor, editor-in-chief Emma Shepherd, suffered a similar fate, departing before she had completed six months in the job, as we reported at the time. The move leaves Mediaweek’s full-time e

CEAT Limited has announced the appointment of Apurva Chandra, former Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as an Additional Director in the capacity of Non-Executive, Independent Director for a term of five consecutive years. According to BestMediaInfo, Paras K. Chowdhary has also been appointed as an Additional Director in the capacity of Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director. Chandra, a senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1988 Maharashtra cadre, brings over 36 years of experience in public administration, policy formulation, and industrial development.

The Hindu has announced the launch of its new YouTube channel, The Hindu Originals.   The channel will feature videos about politics, governance, culture and world affairs.   Pradeep Gairola, VP and business head of digital at The Hindu Group wrote on LinkedIn: “Here, our seasoned journalists go beyond headlines to unpack politics, governance, culture, and world affairs, bringing you stories that define today’s India - with depth, balance, and context.”  The first video has been posted on the channel, featuring Carnatic musician Amrita Murali in conversation with Meera Srinivasan.   Subscribe using the link given here to watch contents from the YouTube channel.

 As most newspaper outlets remain closed due to Diwali/Lakshmi Puja, we will not be presenting our TODAY'S TEN newsletter for the day.  We, at Influencing India, also take this opportunity to wish all our subscribers a Happy Diwali/Lakshmi Puja and will return with our daily news analysis of the leading newspapers from tomorrow. 

Gaming journalist and communications professional Dr Ben Schuster has joined video game developer Gameloft as Community Manager in its Brisbane studio, and says his appointment is surreal.  “I've admired this studio for years,” Schuster told Influencing after one week in the role.   “Gameloft has been one of the staple game developers here in Brisbane and is packed full of incredible talent. I've had the pleasure of knowing many people who work at Gameloft and it's surreal to be part of it.” A part of the marketing team, Schuster said his role as Community Manager is to assist in fostering the studio’s video games’ online community.  “A community manager fosters the online community of a game developer. I’ll have a lot of involvement with the player base, either through social media, reviews, player support or in-person events, ensuring players are a part of the community and feel heard.  “I’m also a conduit between the player and the development team. S