PAID NEWS MENACE - POLITY
News:
● The Press Council of India (PCI) advised the print media to follow the norms of Journalistic Conduct 2022 on ‘paid news’ during the elections in various States.
Definition of Paid news:
● According to the Press Council’s report, paid news is “any news or analysis appearing in any media (print & electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration”.
● It includes,
○ Advertisements camouflaged as news.
○ Denial of coverage to select electoral candidates.
○ Exchanging advertisement space for equity stakes between media houses and corporates.
Reasons for Paid News:
● Corporatization of media.
● Desegregation of ownership and editorial roles.
● Decline in autonomy of editors/journalists due to emergence of contract system.
● Poor wage levels of journalists.
Negative Impact of Paid News:
1. Negatively Influence People: This kind of news has been considered a serious malpractice since it deceives the citizens, not letting them know that the news is, in fact, an advertisement and affecting people’ s rational thinking and opinion.
2. Impact of Fundamental right: The right to know under article 19 will be affected due to manipulated ‘paid news’
3. Display of Money Power: The payment modes usually violate tax laws and election spending laws. It displays the role of money in elections.
4. Lack of trust over democracy: Such news plays a significant role in influencing voting tendency of voters as the viewer does not get a correct picture of the personality or performance of the candidate in whose favor or against he decides to cast his vote. This destroys the very essence of democracy.
5. Impact on free and fair elections: Such practices interfere with free and fair elections in the country by violating democratic principles enshrined in our constitution.
6. Decline the trustworthiness of the media: Media is described as the fourth pillar of democracy. Such incidents bring down the faith of people in democratic institutions by conveying incorrect and false information to the people.
Status of Paid News in India:
● Paid news is not an electoral offense yet, but there is a case to make it one.
● The Election Commission of India (EC) has estimated (on the basis of its internal assessment) the market of paid news to be as much as Rs.500 crore.
● According to the estimates of the Election Commission, around 40% of the election expenditure of political parties is earmarked towards publicity that includes media advertisements.
Way to tackle the menace of Paid News:
As suggested by Parliamentary standing Committee:
● Government should ensure periodic review of the editor/journalist autonomy and wage conditions.
● Financial accounts of the media houses should be subject to examination, especially the revenue source for a suspected paid news case.
● There should be a mandatory disclosure of “private treaties” and details of advertising revenue received by the media houses.
● The existing regulatory set-up dealing with paid news is inadequate.
● At present, voluntary self-regulatory industry bodies such as News Broadcasting Standards Authority and Broadcasting Content Complaints Council are just an ‘eye wash’.
● The punitive powers of statutory regulators like the PCI and Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) are inadequate. There has been a conflict of interest inherent with appointment of media-owners as members of the PCI or self-regulatory bodies.
● The Parliamentary committee suggested that either there should be a single regulatory body for both print and electronic media or the punitive powers of the PCI should be enhanced and a similar statutory body for the electronic media should be established.
● Such regulators should have the power to take strong action against offenders and should not include media owners/interested parties as members.
As suggested by Press Council Of India:
The PCI had sought amendment in the Press Council Act, 1978, to make its directions binding on government authorities and bring the electronic media under its purview. The recommendations were as follows:
● Representation of the People Act, 1951 should be amended to make incidence of paid news a punishable electoral malpractice.
● The Press Council of India must be fully empowered to adjudicate the complaints of ‘paid news’ and give final judgment in the matter.
● Press Council Act be amended to make its recommendations binding and electronic media be brought under its purview, and
● Press Council of India should be reconstituted to include representatives from electronic and other media.
As suggested by Election Commission of India:
● The biggest hurdle for the election commission of India to tackle the problem is that, paid news is not an electoral offense. The election commission had proposed to the law ministry to make it an electoral offense.
● At the same time, the Election Commission is handling the problem on the basis of the expenditures done by a candidate in elections. This finds its legal base in the Representation of the Peoples Act.