Deputy Editor of The Hindu, Afshan Yasmeen, has been recognised with the Excellence in Blood Cancer and Blood Disorders Reporting Award at the Lifesaver’s Honours Night 2026. The award celebrates her impactful story, “A Silent Burden: Thalassaemia Patients in Karnataka Battle Disease with Hope and Hardship,” which highlighted the struggles of patients and caregivers while capturing their resilience. With a journalism career spanning over three decades, Yasmeen said the honour holds special meaning. “I covered the civic beat till 2006-07 and later took up the health beat”, she recalled. What began as a shift in responsibilities evolved into a purposeful journey in health journalism. Over the years, Yasmeen has reported extensively on public health, patient struggles, healthcare systems, and medical awareness, producing stories that directly impact readers’ lives. Reflecting on the recognition, she credited her organisation for encouraging in-depth reporting: “The award

As actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay took oath as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on May 10, several journalists’ bodies welcomed him with hope and anticipation. The organisations stated that while extensive planning is being undertaken to implement public welfare schemes and introduce new initiatives for the betterment of the people of Tamil Nadu, it is equally essential to ensure the welfare and safety of journalists across the state. In a post on X, welcoming the Chief Minister, Chennai Union of Journalists wrote, “Journalists' pensions should be increased. It is also essential to implement safety measures so that, unlike in the past when reporters, photographers, and cameramen were attacked during news gathering, journalists and their family members remain protected.” R. Kathiravan, State General Secretary of the South Indian Journalists Union, said, “We earnestly request Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to ensure that the new government functions as a guardi

Andrew Birmingham and his news desk of AI journalists are back for a second experiment of Unprompted with the Mi3 technology editor seeing a big improvement in this current iteration of writing bots. The Unprompted experiment began in late 2024 and carried into 2025. It saw Birmingham create a set of AI bots that function as journalists.  This second experiment comes seven months after the conclusion of the first. After resurrecting the AI-journos, he’s already seen a difference in his digital helpers.  “The big improvement is partly in the writing,” Birmingham told Influencing.  “What it means is that I can go to a conference, watch a panel conversation with four people, put the transcript through a prompt, and figure out what angle I want. “Then there's this process – across 10 or 11 prompts – that goes through and spits stuff out, does some fact checking, and ends up with the piece, which most of the time is about 90 per cent publish-ready.” As a result, B

Mother’s Day is no longer just a cultural moment for brands. It has become one of the biggest storytelling seasons in influencer marketing. Every May, Instagram feeds fill with parenting reels, emotional campaigns, family-centred collaborations, and creators documenting the realities of motherhood. But behind the surge in content lies a larger shift in advertising itself  one where relatability is beginning to matter more than perfection. Influencing India spoke to PR founders, marketing experts, and mom influencers to understand why motherhood-led storytelling has become one of the most trusted and commercially valuable spaces in the creator economy. According to Gaurav Pandey, founder of Gaurav Pandey Media Company, the rise of mom influencers reflects a broader trust crisis in digital advertising. A 2024 survey by iCubesWire found that 53 per cent of consumers do not trust influencer content at all. Yet another report by The Influencer Marketing Factory showed that

Some solo PR operators are pushing back against the freelancer label, arguing it undersells the scale, strategy and client relationships involved in running a one-person or small-team communications business. Elle Kress, founder of WorkTribes, a network of freelance PRs micro PR agencies, prompted discussion with a recent LinkedIn post, arguing that many independent PR professionals are not simply picking up ad hoc work between jobs but running serious PR businesses. Kress, who also founded the Sydney-based micro PR agency HEY, GOOD NEWS, insists the distinction between a freelancer and a micro agency is not just semantic. “There’s a few ways to differentiate a freelancer with a micro agency,” she told Influencing. “A freelancer will be paid based on their time. Whereas a micro agency, much like an agency, is paid on deliverables. That enables a micro agency to scale.” Kress said another distinction was that freelancers were often directed by what a client needed from

Monday, 11 May 2026 #1  ·  Front Page  ·  Breaking news PM Modi Calls for Pandemic-era Austerity Drive By Nandita Mishra, Prasanta Saha   ·   The Economic Times  ·  Page 1 Prime Minister Modi has urged the government to conserve foreign exchange by avoiding non-critical gold purchases and cutting fuel and fertiliser usage, invoking pandemic-era fiscal discipline. The report details specific directives issued to ministries and the broader macroeconomic rationale, including rising crude oil import costs. The story connects the austerity push to Gulf Crisis-inflated India oil import bills. The story goes beyond a press release by providing specific policy directives and situating them within the broader Gulf-driven inflation context, demonstrating solid access to official briefings and meaningful consequence framing. #2  ·  Front Page / National  ·  In-depth feature India Clears

Three roles at TwentyTwo Ashton Tuckerman, the General Manager of Brisbane-based TwentyTwo Digital, has announced on LinkedIn that there are “three open roles [at] one very good agency”. She’s “on the lookout for clever, curious people who care about doing good work, learning heaps, thinking critically, having a laugh (lots of them), and holding themselves to a high standard.” She also says the available roles might be well-suited to PRs who are “in-house, feeling bored, seeking a momentum shift” or “someone with great ideas but no room to influence things” or someone who is “looking for a team you can learn with and from ready to join an agency that’s growing up, not burning out”. The three roles on offer are: Digital Marketing Specialist: manage campaigns, optimise performance, analyse data, report insights and support juniors. Account Director: manage client relationships, oversee delivery, grow accounts