Our next Influencing Insider session features Aakriti Dhawan — international journalist, producer and host of the Beyond Borders Podcast. With bylines in BBC, Deutsche Welle, TRT World, Mongabay, Citywire, and NDTV, Aakriti reports on global issues including migration, gender, diplomacy, and human rights. Currently based in Germany, her work connects stories and perspectives across borders. In this session, we’ll discuss international reporting, cross-border journalism, podcasting, and the evolving realities of global storytelling. 📅 March 11 | 2:00 PM (IST) Register here: https://app.livestorm.co/mediaconnectconnect/influencing-insider-with-aakriti-dhawan

Somerset Indus Capital Partners has appointed SPAG FINN Partners as its strategic communications partner. The mandate aims to strengthen Somerset’s corporate reputation, highlight the impact of its investment platform, and increase its presence in industry conversations. As part of the partnership, SPAG FINN Partners will handle reputation management, media relations, strategic storytelling and leadership positioning for Somerset across India’s healthcare and investment ecosystem. Established in 2011, Somerset Indus Capital Partners invests in healthcare businesses that expand access to quality care, especially in underserved markets. Its portfolio companies have impacted around 105 million lives, including nearly 21 million patient lives. Mayur Sirdesai, partner of Somerset Indus Capital Partners said the partnership will help share the real-world impact created by the firm’s investments. Aman Gupta, managing partner, Health Practice Asia Lead - SPAG Finn Partn

Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   For four weeks starting March 6, the loudest scoreboard in Indian television news is going dark. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting directed the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to suspend weekly news ratings, citing “unwarranted sensationalism and speculative reporting” during coverage of the escalating Israel–Iran conflict. The order invoked Clause 24.2 of the 2014 Television Rating Agency Guidelines, a rarely used provision that allows the government to intervene in rating releases during extraordinary circumstances. That matters because in Indian television news, TRPs are not just statistics. They are oxygen. Advertising rates, newsroom strategies and even the theatrical intensity of prime-time debates orbit around weekly ratings. Remove the numbers, and the incentive structure of the entire ecosystem briefly collapses. And this is where the story takes an interesting turn because three days after th

India has recorded 44 shortlists across nine categories at the Spikes Asia 2026, taking its total tally to 77 so far. The latest announcements cover Creative Strategy, Design, Film Craft, Gaming, Healthcare, Media, Music, PR, and Social & Creator. Earlier, India had secured 31 shortlists in categories including Audio & Radio, Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Commerce, Direct, Film, Outdoor, and Print & Publishing, along with two in Innovation, Best Media Info reported. More categories including Creative B2B, Creative Data, Creative Effectiveness, Digital Craft, Entertainment, and Industry Craft, will be revealed on March 11, followed by Glass: The Award for Change and Integrated on March 12. Winners, including those from the Young Spikes Competition sponsored by Meta, will be announced at the Awards Gala at Capitol Theatre, Singapore, on March 12.

Jackson Ryan and Mark Serrels will today launch a Kickstarter campaign for the first issue of their new video games magazine, CONTINUE. Ryan told Influencing CONTINUE is designed to deliver a new place for video games writing, criticism and discussion and to bring the video game community together. Serrels said the project would give the pair a place to publish their best work and offer other gaming journalists the chance to produce long-form stories. “It's less about launching a product; it's a platform. We want to bring this to life and give people a new space to engage with video game criticism and reporting,” he said.  “We want to bring the Australian games industry to life for people. That's a big part of it. But we also want to call out bad actors. So that's another thing we don't want to shy away from.” The whole concept comes in the wake of several game studios and outlets shutting down in recent years, as explained on the Kickstarter page. Ryan and Serrels ar

10 technology PR practitioners have been recognised as this year’s finalists in the David Hellaby Best Media Relations category at the 24th Samsung Australian IT Journalism Awards. The Best Media Relations category is awarded to the PR practitioner who consistently goes above and beyond when working with journalists and clients. Nominations are sent in by journalists to determine the finalists and eventual winner. This years’ finalists reflect a vast array of different technology topics represented, including Business Technology, Consumer Technology and Gaming. The finalists, too, are a mix of in-house, agency or self-employed PR practitioners. The list of the 10 finalists for this year’s David Hellaby Best Media Relations can be found below: Claire Corbel, Nintendo David Bass, Bass PR David Wolf, Closer Communications Doug Johns, POWER UP PR Harvey Ferle, Watterson Justine Taylor, Samsung Electronics Australia Luke Frost, PR D

The “top secret evacuation operation” of five Iranian women soccer players has captured the attention and stolen the heart of Australia, dominating front page coverage this morning. As we noted in Monday’s Upfront, it was The Daily Telegraph who via Jessica Wang, really leant into this story first and this morning Wang was on the story again, with the Tele leading with Donald Trump’s praise: GOD BLESS AUSTRALIA.   Over at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Matthew Knott and Emma Kemp promised readers the ‘Inside Story’. They spoke to lawyer and human rights advocate Sara Raflee who was tasked with trying to make members of the team understand they had options if they wished to stay in Australia. “I simply explained that they are on Australian soi, they have legal rights here, and if they choose to seek protection there are lawyers, various Australian community organisations and ordinary Australians ready to support them.”