Chris Griffith has gone bigger and better with his AI Chatbot, the Griffbot, releasing a second upgraded version.  The Griffbot was initially launched in August as a way for Griffith’s website guests to ask questions about any of his reporting efforts, with the journo referring to it as “a Q&A session.”  But he says V2 is even better.   “It’s faster and more reliable,” he told Influencing. “I went to a more specialised platform in BotPress, which is a fairly powerful development platform for AI chatbots. It was pretty reliable and uses localised databases.”  In his experience using the BotPress platform, he found that a user is able to extend capabilities by adding code themselves.  “There’s the ability to ask for a transcript, or email from within, and that could be extended to a business or a user who wants to download some standard documents instead of contacting people via phone.”  He added, “If you build up your own repertoire of add-ons,

  Man of Many, The Australian men’s lifestyle publication, has appointed seasoned digital editor and strategist, Rob Stott as editor in chief. Stott replaces Nick Hall, who left the business at the end of 2025 after six years. The appointment marks a shift for the publisher, as it moves to evolve its editorial voice and expand its multi-platform footprint. Stott will lead a major strategic push into original video and audio content, targeting growth across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and podcasting platforms. This expansion is designed to meet the rising consumer demand for high-production visual storytelling and immersive audio experiences. “Man of Many has been Australia’s premier men’s lifestyle brand for over a decade now, and I’m thrilled to be joining as Editor in Chief,” Stott said.  “I’m very fortunate to be taking the reins at such a well-established brand, with a well-deserved reputation for creating

Welcome to Friday and for a change we'll start with The Canberra Times which - like most of the papers today - focuses on the proposed hate speech laws which appear to have become bogged down because the government can't secure the support of either The Greens or the Opposition, and given each party/group have their own separate reasons there's no clear path forward, at least not today. The CT's front page story on that, and a clever enough headline ('Double jeopardy for PM'), is by Grace Crivellaro, Zac de Silva and Tess Ikonomou. But also on the Times's front page is a picture of bomb squad officers searching for pipe bombs, after both exploded and unexploded pipes have been found. One of the senior cops on the hunt says with with a good serve of understatement: "an explosive in a public place does raise a lot of concern for police". That story is, 'Inside' says the Times, without giving a page number, which can be a bit irrita

Happy Pongal, Sankranti, and Lohri to everyone celebrating 🌾✨ Since it’s a national holiday, Today’s Ten and Fourth Right are taking a brief pause today. We’ll be back tomorrow with a fresh, compelling mix of media stories worth your time. Until then, enjoy the festivities, the food, and the well-earned break.

From tonight until normal transmission resumes, WIN News Bendigo will be available to people in the Bendigo TV market as video on demand via 9Now. The Bendigo bulletin will be available each weekday from 6.30pm on 9Now ensuring the Bendigo community continues to receive trusted local news coverage at a time when accurate information is critical. The move follows catastrophic bushfire damage to the Mt Alexander transmission infrastructure, which has resulted in free-to-air television services being unavailable across large parts of the Bendigo market. Restoration of transmission services is expected to take time, with access and safety considerations continuing to impact repair efforts. This streaming solution ensures viewers in the impacted Bendigo area can remain informed about local news, weather and bushfire-related updates while transmission services are restored. WIN Corporation Chief Executive Officer Andrew Lancaster said the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to re

Morning and welcome to Thurdsday and there's a bit of a crime spree going on - at least in terms of stories about an alleged crime kingpin which features in The Australian, Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and The Age this morning. It seems 'Crime boss Kazam 'Kaz' Hamad' has been the subject of a manhunt for some time and at The Oz that includes a quote from now AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett who said Hamad was "an alleged offshore offender who I called a national security threat to this country". It's very Underbelly, (which for younger readers is a reference to a series of hugely successful true-crime thrillers televised and set in Melbourne a couple of decades ago).   The gist of the story today is Hamad has been holed up in Iraq and apparently living a plush lifestyle and avoiding arrest until recently, but is now banged-up in an Iraqi jail and may face the death penalty. Australia wants him back here to face justice

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday granted interim relief to a law student–RTI activist and three journalists, staying further investigation in an FIR lodged against them over a social media post questioning the use of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s official helicopter while he was abroad.  According to the source, Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj issued notice to the Punjab government, with the matter listed for February 23, and stayed all proceedings in the case.  The petitioners — Manik Goyal and journalists Baljinder Singh alias Mintu Gurusaria, Maninderjeet Singh and Mandeep Singh Makkar — had sought quashing of FIR No. 67 of 2025 registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ludhiana, under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.  The FIR stems from a December 9, 2025, post by Goyal citing publicly available data from FlightRadar24, which showed the Chief Minister’s helicopter maki