Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   Among the various topical discussions that took place at the 4th annual Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) Conclave 2026 held under the theme "Rewriting the Playbook for a Resilient Digital Future" on Thursday, one of the most pertinent was the one on how to get the Indian digital news subscriber to pay for quality content. With the explosion of digital outlets publishing news content reaching atomic proportions in the AI era, it is no secret that almost all traditional outlets publishing news content struggle to make their subscribers pay for their content while the same, or a slightly less-polished version, is available for free elsewhere and is just a click away. This is has now become even more complicated with internet browsers offering an AI-version of news that practically scrapes through all related content and gives its own version, a collage of everything that is out there on the topic. One of the speakers, Jaideep K

The Tripura High Court has refused to direct the filing of an FIR on a complaint by Ramchandraghat MLA Ranjit Debbarma against an electronic media outlet, stating that no prima facie cognisable offence was made out under the BNSS, 2023. According to Northeast Today.in, Justice Dr. T. Amarnath Goud dismissed the MLA’s plea challenging the closure report issued by West Agartala Police Station in a February 23 ruling. Debbarma had complained on October 26, 2025, that Tripura National and its editor Pranab Sarkar broadcast allegations that he possessed fake Bangladeshi identity documents. He claimed the report was deliberate and harmful, citing provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, SC/ST Act, and IT Act. Police carried out a preliminary enquiry under Section 173(3) BNSS and declined to file an FIR on November 8, 2025. The court ruled that defamation is non-cognizable, no forgery by the media was shown, and no offences under the SC/ST Act or IT Act were made out. It also cite

The countdown is officially on to the 24th Samsung Australian IT Journalism Awards, as Influencing celebrated the upcoming awards last night at Cisco's North Sydney office.  The night was filled with conversations, catch-ups and lovely food and drinks in addition to speeches from Cisco's Communications & PR Manager, Adela Amanowicz, and Influencing CEO Phil Sim.  "One of Influencing's strategic pillars in our 25th anniversary year is to provide as many networking and face-to-face opportunities as we can for our communities," said Phil Sim. "So we're really thankful for Cisco who hosted this event, and their agency Thrive who did much of the heavy lfiting, in order to provide our sponsors and entrants with a relaxed opportunity to connect prior to the awards". Sim said that entries are now in judging with finalists to be announced mid-March. For those looking to purchase tickets to this year's Lizzies awards, they

Morning, welcome to Friday and let's start with The Australian Financial Review, or more specifically with its lovely monthly magazine, the March issue of which comes out today along with the print issue. The main story in this glossy packed-with-ads-for-rich-people publication (Chanel, Hublot watches, etc) is also home to some first class editorial and photography, not least the main story which is an interview with Daniela Amodei, president and co-founder of Anthropic whose AI model Claude is at the forefront of evolving machine intelligence.   Now for those of you who are not tech-heads, I totally get it. I'm not one either, but as a colleague recently pointed out, "these days tech, and particularly AI, is in everything", which is true, like it or not. So much so that the AFR has been devoting ever more space to AI and AI-linked stories. One day I expect the financial bible to rename itself The Australian Financial &

Protection for journalists has long been a pressing issue in India, and a recent report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) offers little reassurance. According to CPJ, one journalist has been killed in India every year for the past ten years. While the numbers are significantly lower compared to several other countries, the global picture remains grim. In its report published on February 25, CPJ recorded 129 journalists killed worldwide in 2025. This is the highest number documented by the organisation since it began tracking journalist deaths more than three decades ago. The report noted that Israel accounted for nearly two-thirds of all journalist and media worker killings during the year. When journalists themselves become the story Journalists, often described as the fourth pillar of democracy, have increasingly become news themselves. This is particularly evident in community-sensitive and geo-sensitive regions of India, where reporters face heightened risks. Earl

Journalist Neelesh Sthapak has brought pressing health and environmental concerns to the fore, filing a public interest petition that prompted the Madhya Pradesh High Court on February 25 to issue notices over unsafe transportation of fly ash from a thermal power plant in Jhabua. A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf agreed to examine the matter further, Live Law reported. Sthapak’s petition alleged that villages near the Jhabua Power Ltd plant were being exposed to pollution due to fly ash being carried in open and overloaded trucks, in violation of rules laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board (2013) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (2019). Fly ash, a hazardous by‑product of coal‑based power generation, was said to be contaminating air, water, and soil, posing risks to public safety. The petition also accused authorities — including the state pollution control board, district administration, an

On the occasion of Police Week, the Chakai Police in Bihar organised a friendly badminton match between police personnel and journalists on Wednesday, February 25. The match was held at the Chakai police station premises. The event was jointly inaugurated by Chakai Station House Officer Sarvjeet Kumar, Professor Mahendra Rai, Ajay Kumar Munna of the Business Association, and Manoj Poddar. The police team won the match by a margin of three to two. The chief guests later honoured both the winning and runner-up teams with trophies. The police team was led by Sarvjeet Kumar, while the Journalists’ Association team was led by Jaikumar Shukla. Sarvjeet Kumar, Prabhat Rai, Sunil Kumar, and Mantu Kumar represented the police team. The journalists’ team included Jai Kumar Shukla, Shyam Singh Tomar, Amit Kumar Rai, Vikas Lahari, Dhananjay Rai, and Sudhir Yadav, among others, Prabhat Khabhar reported.