Lego, televisions and all the latest weird and wacky tech gadgets – yes, it’s CES time of year, where all the latest consumer tech is gathered, along with tech and consumer journos from around the world.  And this year was no different, with Samsung, LG, and Hisense all putting on major showcases, as EFTM’s Trevor Long described the event as “pretty awesome.”  “We focused entirely on TV and social video on the ground and written and other content from back home, but broadly I think it was a huge success and good to see new brands in the mix,” Long told Influencing. Meanwhile, GadgetGuy’s Valens Quinn, who spoke to Influencing from a Los Angeles airport lounge, said he was exhausted after covering the event, before calling out the RGB Backlight Technology as one of the major trends of CES. “The challenge [for RGB] is to educate about what the benefits actually are. People don't know what backlights are, and they don't understand that they're different from emi

Two talented visual journalists will join Australia’s best news photography teams as trainees with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. The traineeships, in partnership with Canon Australia, give the next generation of visual journalists a chance to develop their skills in the newspapers' newsrooms.  Audrey Richardson (pictured below) will join the Herald, and Ruby Alexander (second picture,) is heading to The Age, after a competitive recruitment process by the newsrooms’ photographic editors and senior editors. Audrey and Ruby will work alongside the company’s top photojournalists, video producers and editors, developing visual reporting skills and working across different parts of the newsrooms.   Audrey studied journalism and photography at Michigan State University, and completed internships with the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press and Seattle Times. She has an interest in underwater and drone photography.  

Morning, welcome to Thursday and to start today's proceedings a great front page picture from The Sydney Morning Herald - taken by Louise Kennerley - of surfer Stephen Scott back in the water at Maroubra. The official advice is still to keep out of the ocean due to persistent shark attacks across the city's beaches, with better water conditions expected to arrive, but not until the end of the long weekend, following rain deluges last Saturday and Sunday that made it murky out there.    And talking of deluges and attacks, and if you really want to stretch it - the sharks are circling and there's blood in the water as the National-Liberal Coalition looks to be in tatters following the mass resignation of all National shadow ministers following the hoo-hah over federal hate laws legislation. Lib's leader Sussan Ley looks to be in all sorts of trouble. And you've got to hand it to the Herald Sun, they sure know how to put a strong and dra

Two senior journalists passed away recently, marking a moment of mourning in the media fraternity. Veteran journalist Dasu Krishnamoorty passed away on Monday morning in New Jersey following a brief illness. He was 99, just six months short of turning 100. Krishnamoorty was part of the first batch of Osmania University’s journalism course in 1954–55. During a long and distinguished career, he worked with leading newspapers including The Indian Express, The Times of India, and Patriot. According to Telangana Today, he also served as a guest faculty member at Osmania University, Andhra Pradesh Open University, and the University of Hyderabad, mentoring several generations of journalism students. He moved to the United States in 2001 to live with his daughter and was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Osmania University alumni in 2024. In a separate incident, senior photojournalist Vidyasagar also passed away in Hyderabad. He was known for his decades-lo

The Laadli Media Fellowship 2026, supported by UNFPA. The fellowship invites journalists interested in gender-sensitive and ethical reporting.  The theme for this year is Child Marriage in India: Exploring Its Gendered and Intersectional Dimensions. Journalists are encouraged to report on the social and human realities that sustain child marriage, including adolescent health, SRHR, poverty, climate change, migration, community roles, masculinity, survivor voices, and inter-generational impacts.  Journalists with 3–5 years of experience in social or development reporting can apply. The fellowship will run from February 1 to March 30, 2026. Selected fellows will receive an honorarium of ₹20,000 for two original, in-depth stories published in their media outlet.  The deadline to apply is January 28, 2026.  

Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   Here’s the thing. The most effective form of intimidation doesn’t always arrive with handcuffs. Sometimes it shows up as paperwork, quietly stamped, politely worded, and endlessly renewable. In Jammu and Kashmir, journalism is being disciplined not through bans or arrests, but through a slow procedural grind that turns reporting itself into a liability. Summons. Undertakings. Bonds. Hours of questioning. Promises not to repeat what has already been published. This is not law enforcement correcting errors. It is the state training journalists to anticipate punishment. That is the real story behind the recent summoning of reporters from national outlets such as The Indian Express and Hindustan Times for covering the police’s profiling of mosques, imams, and seminaries. The reporting was not the provocation. The visibility was. According to detailed reporting by The Wire and Madhyamam Online, Indian Express reporter Bashaarat

Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have voiced concern over the recent summoning of Srinagar-based journalists by police, calling the move an overreach and a threat to press freedom. Over the past several days, reporters working with national media organisations have been summoned to the Cyber Police Station in Srinagar for questioning in connection with a January 13 report on the profiling of mosques and imams in the Union Territory. Journalists said they were questioned about routine reporting, with some claiming they were asked to sign bonds or undertakings. One reporter from a national daily was reportedly called for questioning for three consecutive days. Hindustan Times reporter Ashiq Hussain also received an oral summons, but the newspaper has sought a written notice stating the reasons before responding. The controversy follows criticism on January 14 over police distribution of forms to village officials seeking details of mosques and madrasas, including financial rec