Stories shape how societies understand power, identity and progress. In today’s rapidly evolving media ecosystem, women are not merely participating in those narratives, they are increasingly directing them. Across journalism, publishing, and public relations, women are building platforms, guiding brand communication, and shaping policy conversations through storytelling. From independent media ventures to global advocacy campaigns, their work reflects a growing shift: influence in the media landscape is no longer limited to traditional newsrooms. To explore how women are redefining storytelling across journalism and communications, Influencing India spoke to journalists, editors, publishers, and PR professionals whose work spans advocacy reporting, digital media, and brand communication. Their experiences reveal how storytelling is evolving -- becoming more accountable, more inclusive, and more deeply connected to the realities people live every day. Storytelling, Credibil

The Press Media Editors and Journalists Association has written to Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, seeking immediate distribution of the state’s pending journalism awards.  According to HelloMumbai, Association president Gorakh Taware said that although the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations announced award winners for 2019–2023, the felicitation ceremony has not yet been held, leaving recipients waiting for years.  The association has urged the government to organise the award ceremony soon and recognise journalists across categories, including the Atal Bihari Vajpayee National Journalism Award, to maintain the morale of the media fraternity. 

Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   For one full month, the volume knob on Indian television news has been turned down -- not by editorial wisdom, but by regulation. On March 6, 2026, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to suspend TV ratings for all news channels for four weeks. The trigger, according to the ministry, was “unwarranted sensationalism and speculative reporting” during coverage of the escalating Israel-Iran conflict. The order invokes Clause 24.2 of the 2014 Television Rating Agency Guidelines, which allows the government to direct rating agencies in exceptional circumstances. In plain English: the TRP scoreboard has been temporarily switched off. That matters more than it sounds. In Indian television news, TRPs are not just metrics. They are currency. Advertising rates, newsroom priorities and even anchor behaviour revolve around weekly ratings. Take that away, and the entire ecosystem bri

The Mumbai Cricket Association unveiled an Honours Board for former sports journalists of Mumbai at the Balasaheb Thackeray Press Box at Wankhede Stadium during a special ceremony attended by senior members of the cricket and media fraternity on March 4.   The honour board features the names of late veteran sports reporters and photojournalists who contributed to the growth of cricket from grassroots to the state level over the years. Among those inducted are KN Prabhu, Sundar Rajan, GK Menon, Pradeep K Vijayakar and Rajan Bala. The board will remain displayed at the media centre as a permanent tribute to the city’s sports journalists.  According to The New Indian Express, the event was attended by MCA president Ajinkya Naik, secretary Prof Dr. Unmesh Khanvilkar, joint secretary Nilesh Bhosle, members of the Apex Council and journalists present for the India vs England T20 World Cup semifinal.  Naik said Mumbai’s cricket legacy was shaped not only b

Following International Women's Day yesterday, which of today's front pages would you imagine taking the biggest stand on women's issues. No, not you're 'progressive' papers, rather it was The Daily Telegraph who championed the plight of the Iranian women's soccer team who have by branded 'wartime traitors' in the homeland after they refused to sing the national anthem in their Gold Coast Asian Cup match last week. Jessica Wang reported that "Australia has been urged to stand up for the Iranian's women's soccer team and honour any requests for asylum, with fears the players will face major recriminations when they return home". The Australian Iranian Council has collected close to 50,000 signatures but Wang quoted Foreign Minister Penny Wong declining to "get into commentary" about team. The Iranian conflict was less prominent amongst today's front pages with The Australian dropping back from throwing over its

The second edition of CommsDay’s Regional and Policy saw three major themes dictate discussion at the event, according to CommsDay’s CEO and Founder, Grahame Lynch.  Lynch told Influencing the event focused on the future role of satellites in telecommunications, with contributions from Lynk Global, ACS Data Systems and the Space Industry Association of Australia. Other key discussions included regional mobile operations and fixed telecommunications. Telstra and TPG Telecom outlined their regional mobile strategies, while fixed network issues were addressed by Adrian Robason and representatives from NBN Co. Over 270 people attended the event that took place last Tuesday and Wednesday. Lynch said the event went very well and that he’d received great feedback.  This year’s program placed greater emphasis on satellite and wireless plenaries. “There's been a lot of debate around regional telecoms' differing views of where policies should head. In the last year, we've had

Image edited by Dinesh Raj M   In Kashmir, curfews once meant barricades, barbed wire, and soldiers at street corners. Today, they arrive differently with a blocked Instagram account. Last week, the social media handles of Kashmir Life, Greater Kashmir and Rising Kashmir were restricted on Facebook and Instagram after they posted videos of protests across the Valley. The demonstrations followed the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a US-Israel operation. Authorities justified the move by citing “fake news and misinformation” during a tense period that saw protests in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, Budgam and Kargil, along with school closures and slowed internet speeds. But that's now even the troubling part because these weren’t shadowy Telegram channels or anonymous rumour mills. They were some of the Valley’s most established newsrooms. PDP MLA Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi called the restrictions “an assault