The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party has removed around 200 journalists from Delhi BJP Media Group, a WhatsApp group the party runs for reporters, triggering speculation that selected reporters might have been targeted for their coverage. The removals were first reported by the media news site Bhadas4Media on September 19. Speaking to Influencing, Akashdeep Thind, Delhi bureau chief of PTC News, questioned the whole exercise and informed he was not aware of his removal until it was brought to his notice. "This is no way to remove a journalist who has been covering Delhi BJP. They should have consulted before removing me from the group," Thind said. Thind added when he contacted the party's public relations officer to understand his removal, he was told the group had become too heavy and that his number had been deleted by mistake. He has since been added back. Like Thind, several journalists Influencing India contacted did not know they had been removed.  This is not th

The Gujarat High Court allowed Adani Enterprises to file its response to journalist Ravi Nair’s petition challenging his arrest and judicial custody in a criminal defamation case. Justice M.K. Thakker directed the company to place its legal and factual submissions on record, with the matter scheduled for hearing on September 23.  Nair was convicted by a Mansa magistrate in February 2026 and sentenced to one year in prison with a fine of 5,000 rupees over posts on X and articles published between October 2020 and July 2021. His sentence was later suspended by the Sessions Court and he was granted bail.  The Sessions Court issued a non-bailable warrant after Nair failed to appear personally on September 3. His plea seeking cancellation of the warrant was rejected on September 17, following which he was taken into judicial custody. Nair has challenged the warrant and custody before the High Court, arguing that it was issued

Coalition vows to unwind Labor’s energy agenda The Coalition has unveiled an eight-point plan to roll back key pillars of Labor’s renewable-energy program, including scrapping net-zero targets and mechanisms, ending offshore wind zones, and reopening the debate on nuclear power. It sets up a high-stakes political fight over cost-of-living, investment certainty and Australia’s emissions trajectory ahead of the next election cycle. Covered by: The Australian. RBA signals more pain: unemployment may need to rise Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock has warned joblessness may need to lift to around 5% to bring inflation back under control, with markets and banks bracing for another rate hike. The comments sharpen the political and social stakes of monetary policy, pitting inflation-fighting credibility against household stress and rising mortgage pressure. Covered by: Australian Financial Review, The West Australian, Daily Telegraph. Global oil shock hits Australians at the bow

Indira Gandhi University in Rewari organised competitions as part of the Babu Balmukund Gupta Memorial and Hindi Day celebrations. The event was jointly organised by the Babu Balmukund Gupta Chair, the Hindi Department and the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. Vice Chancellor Prof. Aseem Miglani highlighted Gupta’s contributions to Hindi literature and journalism. Students participated in poetry writing, poster-making, speech and essay-writing competitions.   

The Science Journalists Association of India (SJAI), in association with the Solutions Journalism Network, will host a three-day residential workshop on reporting nature-based solutions and climate resilience. The workshop will be held from October 26 to 28, 2026, at the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh. Journalists based in India’s Himalayan states with 3 to 15 years of experience in text, video, audio or multimedia journalism can apply. The workshop aims to help journalists strengthen their reporting on nature-based solutions and climate resilience. Applications close on October 2, 2026, at 11:59 pm IST. To apply: https://www.sjai.in/himalayasolutionshuddle    

The ABC's Media Watch went in-house on Monday evening, examining last Thursday's ACMA finding that a Four Corners investigation into the redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial "unduly favoured one perspective through its presentation of aspects of the Memorial's redevelopment project." The segment – "Four Corners impartial?" – centres on a 2025 investigation into the redevelopment, fronted by Mark Willacy on the program. Host Linton Besser said ACMA had not found errors of fact in the investigation, but ruled it had "been partial to critics of the redevelopment". Besser cited the ACMA report, which pointed to "the cumulative effect of the negative commentary from interviewees, evocative language, and the host's interview style." Besser noted the complaint had already been examined by the ABC ombudsman, who investigated and dismissed any suggestion of bias. The ACMA finding later prompted a further response f

At this juncture, few journalists are surprised by publicists using AI to generate pitches. But what happens when there’s no human in the loop at all? First, they came for the publicists… A few months ago, a publicist called June Barton emailed Futurism reporter Maggie Harrison Dupré about a wellness app. When she didn't reply, Barton followed up. So far, so unremarkable, except for the fact that June Barton was 100 per cent digital. Barton’s headshot, opened in a new tab, still carried the watermark of this-person-does-not-exist.com, a site that generates synthetic faces on demand. The domain in Barton's email address redirected to a real UK agency, Movchan, which bills itself on LinkedIn as a viral PR specialist. Searching her inbox, Dupré found dozens of emails from at least 15 fabricated personas working out of a rotating cast of invented firms. Several, ostensibly employed by different agencies, were pitching the same client.