M A I N   N E W S

Paid News
Govt to refer Press Council’s report to GoM
Anita Katyal
Our Political Correspondent

New Delhi, October 14
The Centre is planning to refer the report of the Press Council of India (PCI) on the contentious issue of paid news to a group of ministers (GoM) for further scrutiny and action.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni is learnt to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, suggesting that the recently constituted GoM, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the bidding of FM channels, be asked to examine the PCI report on the paid news as well as the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee. The PM’s office is said to have agreed to the proposal, though it is yet to be notified officially.

Ever since the practice of the paid news (news appearing in any media for cash or kind as consideration) came to light, the issue has been a subject of an intense debate both in the media fraternity and political circles.

Concerned over the serious dimension acquired by the phenomenon of paid news, the PCI report has suggested that the Representation of People Act be amended to make the incidence of paid news a punishable electoral malpractice and sought more powers for the Press Council to enable it to adjudicate the complaints of paid news. It has also proposed that the Press Council Act be amended to make its recommendations binding and that the Election Commission set up a special cell to receive complaints on paid news.

It has also recommended that efforts be made to educate voters to differentiate between “doctored reporting” and “balanced and just reporting” and that the information and broadcasting ministry conduct awareness campaigns among the stakeholders to deliberate on the issue and arrive at a solution to curb the practise of paid news.

Responding to the PCI recommendation, the Election Commission has set up an expenditure monitoring division, which will look into the practice of paid news and other abuses of money power during elections. The cell, which is headed by senior Income Tax Department official PK Das, has been mandated to conduct field-level investigations into complaints of payment for news which will first be received and processed by the Commission’s media devision.