Nine has announced Catherine West (pictured above) will retire as chair and non-executive director at the conclusion of the company’s 2025 Annual General Meeting on 7 November and be replaced by Peter Tonagh, who joined the Nine board in January 2025 as an independent non-executive director. Tonagh will officially take over the role of chair following the AGM. Tonagh has held senior leadership positions across media, technology and analytics, including CEO of Foxtel, CEO of News Corp Australia, interim CEO of REA Group, and deputy chair of the ABC. He is currently chair of Quantium, GTN Limited and not-for-profit organisation Bus Stop Films. West, who has served on the Nine board since 2016 and as chair since 2023, said the timing was right for an orderly succession. “It has been a privilege to be part of the leadership of this iconic Australian company for almost 10 years, most recently as Chair and Deputy Chair," she said. "Nine is part of Australia’s fabric and plays a

Radio and audio is booming and has never been more relevant, ARN’s head of news and information Fiona Ellis-Jones told our audience on Influencing Live this last week.   “I think the biggest strength for ARN is just how significant our reach is,” Ellis-Jones said. “At any one time, we'll have 15 million Australians tuning into one of our platforms each week. So that's a significant responsibility. Obviously, we have different listeners across the country and they listen and consume our content in different ways. “So for some listeners listening to a two minute news bulletin on the Kyle and Jackie O Show or Christian O 'Connell in Melbourne, will be the only news content they consume that day. For other people, they might consume one of our news podcasts on the iHeart app. They might be listening to a regional news bulletin. But the responsibility that we have to be able to inform our audiences stretches across all of those platforms.  “For us, it's being able to te

          Image credits: The Chenab Times   A Delhi court on Tuesday, September 23, refused to transfer the appeals filed by journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and news outlet Newslaundry against an order restraining them from publishing allegedly defamatory material about Gautam Adani’s Adani Enterprises, Scroll reported. Principal District and Sessions Judge Gurvinder Pal Singh said the matter could not be transferred to the judge who had set aside the restraining order in challenges filed by four other journalists last Thursday, as arguments in Thakurta’s appeal had already been made before District Judge Sunil Chaudhary. On Monday, Chaudhary had stated that it would be appropriate for the case to be heard by Judge Ashish Aggarwal, who had previously dealt with the matter and passed related orders. This led to the appeals being placed before Judge Gurvinder Pal Singh for a decision. Counsel representing Thakurta argued that difficulties may arise if inconsistenc

                Journalist Umang Poddar has received the Best Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom (Hindi) at the 2025 Human Rights & Religious Freedom (HRRF) Journalism Awards. Poddar was recognised for two investigative reports for BBC News Hindi that examined nearly 130 court orders related to the Delhi riots. His reporting revealed systemic flaws in policing, including fabricated evidence and flawed investigations. Notably, in more than 80 per cent of cases, the accused were acquitted or discharged, with some individuals spending over five years in jail before their trials even began. He was one of three finalists shortlisted in the Hindi category. Announcing the award on X, Poddar wrote: “I’m pleased to announce that two of my stories for @BBCHindi on the Delhi riots have won the Best Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom (Hindi) award at the HRRFJ Awards this year. I looked at more than 130 orders that have come relating to De

Image source: The Statesman, News18 and Indian Express; Edited by Dinesh Raj M   At least nine people died due to electrocution in Kolkata and its suburbs after heavy rains lashed the city on Monday night (September 22, 2025) and the early hours of Tuesday (September 23, 2025) due to a low pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) for the tragedy. Hot off the Press The deaths were reported in Kolkata’s Ekbalpore, Gariahat, Haridevpur, Behala, Netaji Nagar, Garfa, and Shakespeare Saranai police station areas in the south, and in the Beniapukur police station area in north Kolkata, reported Shrabana Chatterjee and Shiv Sahay Singh for The Hindu. "The (State) government will come to the aid of families who have died and will ensure that they get jobs. But the Power Department and particularly CESC cannot evade their responsibility. They must pay a minimum compensation of âÂ

NDTV has acquired the GoodTimes channel from Lifestyle and Media Broadcasting Limited (LMBL) for up to Rs 18 crore. The acquisition will be completed through the execution of a Business Transfer Agreement and other ancillary documents on a going concern basis. It is expected to conclude within three months, subject to regulatory approval from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The transaction qualifies as a related-party deal with LMBL but has been conducted at arm’s length based on valuation. The consideration will be paid through a combination of cash and television advertising inventory. The deal is intended to strengthen NDTV’s strategic positioning and diversify its operational capabilities. GoodTimes was originally launched by NDTV in September 2007 through its subsidiary NDTV Lifestyle.  

A panel of prominent economists, including Nobel Prize winners Prof. Joseph E. Stiglitz and Prof. Daron Acemoglu, has warned of a possible “collapse” of the public interest media sector in the age of artificial intelligence. Their report, titled The Economic Imperative of Investing in Public Interest Media, was released under the “Forum on Information and Democracy,” a body formed by Reporters Without Borders and the French state. “Governments around the world are chasing the AI dream, pinning their hopes on these technologies to drive economic prosperity. Yet they are not investing sufficiently in a foundational resource that underpins our 21st-century economies – independent, verifiable information,” the statement said. The economists noted that even before the advent of AI, the sector had been weakened by the collapse of traditional revenue models, as digital platforms captured advertising streams and audience attention, leaving independent media financially fragi