Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   India's news titans are staring down a digital guillotine and it's not platforms wielding the blade, it's their own addiction to someone else's audience. Kunal Sinha for Maxim India noted that nearly 900 million users are glued to WhatsApp forwards packed with half-baked scoops and 491 million YouTube addicts lapping up rants from bedroom pundits instead of primetime anchors. It appears the audience didn't bail, they just built their own news bazaar with viral reels and carousel posts. If we rewind back to the golden era, newsrooms were the full-stack bosses: they dug up stories shoved them down your throat via Doordarshan or dailies, raked in ad rupees from Fair & Lovely to Fevicol, and whispered what India should think about everything from Mandal riots to Manmohan Singh budgets. No more. That iron has grip snapped.  The Reuters Institute's 2026 Trends report drops the mic: influencers and creators are turboch

Jackson Ryan and Mark Serrels have shattered their $25,000 target for their CONTINUE Kickstarter campaign, reaching $55,000 within the first 30 hours.  “[Exceeding the target] in 30 hours of launching is well beyond my wildest dreams,” Ryan told Influencing.  “What it means is we can really start thinking about how to make this a sustainable business. “If we can get something really cool in people's hands, then we're gonna be well on the way to establishing CONTINUE not just as an annual magazine but as a gathering place for our community. Ryan said the additional funds would not change the core goal of producing the best possible first issue. “We want to be high quality, have great writing, great art, and to be able to pay our contributors fairly. That's the baseline.  “I think now we get to start thinking about longevity. We get to start planning a bit more. We get to start saying issue 1 is going to be unreal. We're gonna spend what we can to make that as best

In a meeting aimed at addressing concerns of the media fraternity, Odisha Chief Secretary Anu Garg on Thursday held discussions with leaders of the Indian Union of Working Journalists (IUWJ) and the Odisha Union of Working Journalists (OUWJ) at the Secretariat. The delegation raised several key demands, including the implementation of a pension scheme for journalists to ensure financial security, revival and restructuring of the State Accreditation Committee, fair distribution of government advertisements, and a streamlined process for issuing identity cards to journalists. Senior officials present at the meeting included development commissioner and additional chief secretary Deorajan Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary (information and public relations) Hemant Sharma, director Anuj Kumar Das Pattnaik, director (technical) Gurbir Singh and other departmental officers. The journalists’ delegation was led by IUWJ National President Pitabas Mishra, Odisha State President B

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) interacted with a visiting media delegation from Meghalaya during a dinner hosted at his official residence in Gangtok on Wednesday, March 11, where discussions ranged from governance and development to environmental initiatives and tourism. During the informal interaction, Tamang spoke about the state government’s priorities, including sustainable development, environmental conservation and social welfare. He highlighted the “Mero Rukh Mero Santati” initiative, under which 108 trees are planted for every newborn child in the state, symbolically linking the birth of a child with environmental responsibility. The Chief Minister also spoke about the need to encourage childbirth in Sikkim amid a declining Total Fertility Rate, noting that the government has introduced incentives to support families and ensure the well-being of mothers and children. Tamang reiterated the government’s zero tolerance policy against

Monday 16 March 2026 National The Australian Wife of media executive Catalano alleges litany of domestic violence David Ross reports that media boss Antony Catalano is facing further accusations of domestic violence ‘Prepare for Covid 2.0 price shock’ Perry Williams writes that major manufacturers warn customers that the Iran war and rising conflict risk could trigger sharp cost increases and supply-chain disruption, likened to “Covid 2.0.” Unmasked: the nation’s shyest billionaire Angus McNeale identifies and profiles a highly private Australian billionaire linked to cryptocurrency, living in suburban Melbourne. ALP’s hidden tax break for trans group Stephen Rice claims the Albanese government is advancing a court-related tax benefit that would advantage trans advocacy group Equality Australia. Hanson: we must hit our policy game Jack Quail writes that Pauline Hanson is signalling a tougher economic-policy push as One Nation navigates internal and ele

Regional and business news channels continued to draw strong viewership on YouTube, according to data released by DataBeings for the week of February 28 to March 6. In the Tamil news category, Puthiyathalaimurai TV topped the chart with 126.5 million views, accounting for 21 percent of the total share. Thanthi TV followed closely with 123.3 million views (21 percent), while News18 Tamil Nadu secured the third position with 108.4 million views (18 percent). While in the Malayalam news category, Asianet News led the segment with 148.2 million views, capturing a 27 percent share. It was followed by 24 News with 115.6 million views (21 percent) and MediaOne TV with 73.1 million views (13 percent). In the Marathi news segment, TV9 Marathi ranked first with 64.8 million views (31 percent), followed by ABP Majha with 51.5 million views (25 percent) and Saam TV with 45.7 million views (22 percent). Among business news channels, CNBC Awaaz led with 31.4 million views (27 percent), followe

The PR Group (PRG) has expanded its partnership with Heidi Health, broadening its communications remit across the Asia-Pacific region. PRG has worked with the company since its early scale-up phase and previously led global communications for Heidi’s US$65 million Series B funding round in 2025, which valued the company at US$465 million.  Under the expanded mandate, PRG will now lead communications across Southeast Asia and North Asia from its Singapore hub, while continuing support in Australia and New Zealand. The scope includes strategic communications, executive profiling, earned media, reputation and issues management, and narrative positioning.  Caroline Shawyer, CEO of PRG, said the expanded regional remit reflects the trust built between the teams and the growing complexity of communications as Heidi scales globally.  Emma MacKenzie, head of communications at Heidi, noted that PRG has been a trusted partner duri