The death toll in the Maha Kumbh stampede has touched 30 and is expected to increase further as the nation grapples with the tragedy that struck one of the most auspicious event of the Maha Kumbh. Shocking stories of people recalling horrific details of how they lost their loved ones crushed under the feet of approximately ten crore people flooded all newspaper front pages as well as digital media outlets. "The stampede at Maha Kumbh came like a tornado — sudden, fierce, and unstoppable," wrote Arvind Chauhan for The Times of India. "A surge of young men tore through the crowd, trampling sleeping devotees and those huddled near the ghat, recounted survivors and eyewitnesses. When the dust settled, 30 lay dead — most of them women," he wrote. It began around 1am. Barricades gave way under the force of the crowd, and in the mad rush towards the river, those who had been waiting patiently for dawn were crushed underfoot, recalled survivors who lost family members to the stampede

Lauren Joyce is set to take on the role of ARN’s chief audience and content officer, a responsibility she approaches with great enthusiasm and dedication.  In a LinkedIn post, Joyce expressed pride in leading a team of content creators, marketers, publicists, and researchers focused on expanding ARN’s audience across all channels. She will work alongside Duncan Campbell in the new role, transitioning from chief content officer to a consulting and advisory position after 15 years.  Joyce has been with ARN since 2019, first as national strategy director and later as chief strategy & connections officer. Prior to ARN, she worked at Mamamia, UM, and Ensemble, where she led content strategies for major Australian brands. Acknowledging the ever-changing media landscape, Joyce is excited to guide ARN through these shifts, emphasising the importance of human connection with audiences. She looks forward to leading the company’s growth as a powerhouse of entertainment brands. �

Greg Byrnes, head of content at Nine Radio, will take on the roles of 2GB Sydney’s station manager and national content manager. This move is a part of several leadership changes Nine Radio has announced, according to Radio Info. Luke Davis, 2GB’s 2024 ACRA-winning content director, will transition to promotions and community manager and Chelsea Barrett, the current Nine radio marketing manager, will take on the same role at 3AW.  These transitions come as Nine Radio aims to strengthen its ‘live and local’ approach, which is especially important during a federal election year. No job losses have been reported and they are also looking to hire new promotions and community managers for Brisbane’s 4BC and Perth’s 6PR.  

Thursday 30, January 2025 | Having upset the global AI hegemony in a big way, DeepSeek is still all that anyone can talk about right now.  In her story China's chatbot juggernaut DeepSeek could mark the end of US supremacy in AI at ABC News, Ange Lavoipierre called the service’s launch onto the world’s stage “a public routing of the world's hitherto unshakable confidence in Silicon Valley's best labs, which have always insisted that the only path to a shining AI future is paved with as many expensive computer chips as possible.”   Noted AI expert and scientific commentator Toby Walsh agreed too, quipping, “It marks the end of US dominance of the AI race” and “It's like running the four-minute mile.” The fact that everyone is spooked now might also lead to a new set of problems, as Professor Jeannie Paterson from the University of Melbourne warned the journalist that “My concern is that a possible AI race means the guardrails on the US-developed AI models [wi

Environmental journalist Mike DiGirolamo clearly remembers the moment that pulled him towards his charter of reporting on environmental issues. “I was living on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and I remember thinking, Why are people less interested in the environment when it feels central to society, and we all depend on it to live…The lack of attention felt strange to me for the amount of importance it has.” DiGirolamo is a podcast host and associate producer at Mongabay, a global not-for-profit news publication. Yet journalism wasn’t DiGirolamo’s first career. He’d previously trained as a stage actor in the United States before moving to Australia in 2023.  At Mongabay, DiGirolamo uncovers and reports important environmental news stories through two podcasts he produces. At the not-for-profit, he’s part of a three-person team that includes his editor, Erik Hoffner and co-host, Rachel Donald.  “I work on two podcasts. The first is the ‘Mongabay newscast’

The Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2024 is out and presents an overall improvement in children's access to quality education. However, several pain points remain such as the dip in government school enrolment, which is down to 67 per cent in rural India. Hot off the Press Manash Gohain for The Times of India points out that government school enrolment for children aged 6 - 14 has declined sharply from 72.9 per cent in 2022 to 66.8 per cent in 2024, according to the ASER data. "While overall enrolment for this age group remains high at 98.1 per cent, the drop in govt school share signals a post-pandemic shift toward private institutions. During Covid, economic pressures pushed families to opt for govt schools, temporarily boosting enrolment, but the trend has now reverted to pre-pandemic levels of 66-67 per cent," he wrote. While Covid did not hamper the learning skills of children in private schools and urban pockets in a big way, thanks to the penetration of digital