Vikatan will present its case before the Inter-Departmental Committee on February 20, 2025, following the blockade of the prominent Tamil weekly magazine's official website on February 15.    Vikatan’s website was reportedly blocked by the central government after the publication put out  a controversial cartoon in its February 10 edition.  The illustration depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in handcuffs while seated alongside US President Donald Trump sparked outrage among BJP supporters. Following this, BJP state president Annamalai filed a complaint against Vikatan with the ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Press Council of India.  B Srinivasan, managing director of Vikatan Group, outlined the sequence of events in a LinkedIn post, writing: “Vikatan's website was unexpectedly blocked by the central government on Saturday, February 15, 2025, without any prior intimation, warning or call for explanation.” “For over a century, Vikatan has been a

Bruce McAvaney is returning to host Seven’s AFL coverage for the 2025 season marking a homecoming for the legendary broadcaster, says Channel 7.  McAvaney, who joined Seven's AFL commentary team in 1990, has called over 1,000 games, including 20 Grand Finals, and hosted the Brownlow Medal 21 times. After joining Seven’s coverage for the 2024 AFL Finals, McAvaney will now host Sunday nights and marquee matches in 2025. McAvaney expressed his excitement about returning, saying, “ Some of my fondest memories have been in Seven’s AFL commentary box, and I can’t wait to witness more unforgettable moments during the 2025 season.” Seven’s director of sport, Chris Jones, praised McAvaney as “the greatest sports broadcaster of our generation,” while the head of AFL, Gary O’Keeffe, called him a “living legend” whose experience will be invaluable. The 2025 AFL season will be significant for Seven including new streaming rights for AFL and cricket. Seven's group

Even as the Supreme Court granted interim protection to Youtuber and Podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia from arrest in criminal cases filed against him over alleged obscene remarks he made in a YouTube show, the controversy surrounding the show has now made the SC pose an important question: Is it about time we had an anti-obscenity law or is it simply as judicial overreach? "Perverted", "dirty", and "disgusting" are some of the words used by the SC Bench comprising justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh while describing the show 'India's Got Latent", according to a report by Utkarsh Anand for Hindustan Times. What he used at the show -- his parents, his sister, his siblings, and the entire society are ashamed. There’s something very dirty in his mind that he vomited during that show… This is a condemnable behaviour and lack of responsibility. If someone thinks I have become someone very popular, I have a right to say anything I feel like... You are taking society for granted,”

Australian Podcast Ranker's January figures reveal the Mel Robbins Podcast has booted the ABC's News Top Stories off the number one spot after climbing 19 places - the ABC dropped just one place into second position with 702,309 monthly listeners against Ms Robbins' 719,444. Having said that, when it comes to monthly downloads the ABC is still well out in front with 2,231,487 compared to 1.277,135 for Ms Robbins during the first month of the year. Steady in third place is Mamamia with 521,399 monthly listeners and downloads at 1,543,766.  The others in the top 10, with last month's positions in brackets, are: 4 - Shameless (same) 5 - Casefile True Crime (down 3) 6 - ABC's Conversations (up 1) 7 - The Imperfects (down 1) 8 - ABC Daily News (up 3) 9 - Life Uncut (same) 10 - Hamish & Andy (down 5) The Australian Podcast Ranker monthly results are compiled by Triton Digital. Full results here.

Publique Agency, a full service public relations and digital marketing firm with offices in Melbourne and Sydney as well as Los Angeles, has rebranded to Influence Haus in a move CEO and Founder Caleb Yorke - pictured - said reflected, “the agency’s commitment to evolving with industry trends”. Influence Haus will continue to offer public relations, digital marketing, brand management, event production, and talent management and procurement. Yorke says the rebrand, “signifies a renewed dedication to crafting tailored strategies that amplify brand visibility and engage and influence target audiences. “Our rebranding represents our evolution and dedication to staying ahead in the dynamic world of public relations and marketing. “We are excited to continue delivering innovative and impactful campaigns that drive influential success for our clients,” he said, adding the rebranded operation will soon roll out, “a new suite of services, further maximising ROI, influen

The newly appointed Digital and Social Producer at ABC Gamer, the former Kotaku managing editor David Smith, has told Influencing, “We have a lot of goals that we want to achieve. One of my personal goals is to ensure the ABC Gamer Team produces great Australian gaming journalism content because that’s something we need, especially in Australia after Kotaku Australia closed down.” Smith said he is “super stoked” about joining ABC Gamer and has already laid out clear goals for what he wants to achieve with the publication.   “In my opinion, ABC is very sympathetic to the idea that Australia needs great gaming coverage and that there is space for the ABC Gamer team to do that. “I’ll also be involved in creating and working on the editorial strategy, including figuring out what that ABC Gamer YouTube channel looks like for 2025 and beyond. We already have some ideas about what we’re doing, and we’re looking at working with new people.  “There’s some real