Polity
Paid News
What is paid news?
·
It
is a news article, editorial or headline banner.
·
Appearing
in print/electronic media.
·
For
which the editor, journalist OR media-house has accepted cash or kind.
·
Some
examples of Paid news:
Ø Newspaper publishing a banner
headline on FrontPage stating that a Mr. X is ready to create history in the __
election. But reporter has not presented any news item related to this
headline.
Ø News item stating that one
candidate is getting the support of each and every section of society and that
he would win elections from the constituency.
Why is Paid news bad?
·
Election
Commission (EC) has setup limits on election Expenditure. But if rich
candidates are secretly paying media houses for favorable reporting, then poor
candidates don’t get a level playing field in election campaigning.
·
Reduces
voter turnout. Since Paid news creates an atmosphere that only Mr. X will win,
then some of supporters of Mr. Y, won’t go to polling-booth, thinking their
time and vote will be wasted anyways.
·
Thus,
Paid news prevents voters from selecting right candidate.
What has Election commission done to stop paid news?
·
Under
Representation of Peoples’ Act (RPA) – 48 hours before the polling, media
cannot display any news that can influence the voters. (else jail 2 years)
·
Media
cannot run exit polls until the election polling phases are complete. if in
doubt, they should seek permission of District election officer.
·
EC
has ordered the District Collectors to meet with Political Parties and media houses,
to inform them about “consequences” of surrogate advertising and Paid News.
·
EC
has setup MCMC Committee at every district and state level. MCMC=Media
Certification & Monitoring Committee.
·
This
Committee is made up of Returning officer, representatives from I&B
ministries.
·
They
scrutinize all media coverage within their jurisdiction.
·
If
they suspect a paid news or surrogate news, they seek explanation from
respective candidate.
·
If
reply unsatisfactory, then they include money spend on the paid news, in
candidate’s election Expenditure.
·
EC
has also written to Press council of India
What has press council done?
They’ve issued following
guidelines
·
Advertisement
and news items should be set in different fonts.
·
News
should carry credit line / source. Ads should carry disclaimers.
·
newspapers
should not exaggerated reports about any candidate/party or incident during the
elections
·
Newspaper
should not leave out any important point raised by a candidate.
·
Should
not promote feelings of hatred between people about religion, race, caste,
community or language.
·
Must
not publish unverified allegations against any candidate/party.
·
Must
not accept any inducement/money/gift/hospitality/facilities from any candidate
or party.
·
Press
shall not accept/publish any advertisement at the cost of public exchequer
regarding achievements of a party/government in power.
News Broadcasters Association
They also issued similar
guidelines like PCI. Additionally following points given:
·
News
broadcasters should maintain a clear distinction between editorial and expert
opinion carried on their news channels.
·
must
not broadcast any hate speech
·
All
paid content should be clearly marked as “Paid Advertisement” or “Paid Content”
·
Exit
polls: should explain the methodology used, the sample size, the margin of
error, the fieldwork dates, and data used. Broadcasters should also disclose
how vote shares are converted to seat shares.
Suggest further reforms
CEC has proposed following:
·
Right
now, Paid news is not an electoral offense. In worst case scenario, candidate
will be considered guilty for exceeding election Expenditure limits. In that
case he just has to pay fine. No disqualification, No deterrence.
·
Therefore,
we need to amend Representation of People’s act 1951, to make “paid news” an
electoral offense, with minimum 2 years jailtime and disqualification of
candidate.
·
Government
ads before polls, should be considered “paid news”. (recall the Madhav menon
said Government should not display ads before election except job-tender and
public safety.)
·
Enact
a law for opinion polls conducted by TV channels.
·
Additionally,
we need to make clear guidelines on election Expenditure because:
Ø Candidate’s poll Expenditure
is counted from the day he files nomination. Therefore, politicians spend
crores on media-campaign before filing nomination. (some of them even delay
nomination till last date).
Ø Poll Expenditure limits is
for candidates and none for political parties. This rule is also misused.
Challenges ahead
·
It
is very difficult to prove paid news because money transfer done via Hawala and
sometimes “in kind” e.g. land-allotment after election, free wine-n-dine,
luxury phones, tours.
·
Contractual
employment in media houses- journalist don’t truly have ‘independence’. Editors
and Media owners enjoy too much discretionary powers.
·
Companies
with political affiliations. They enter in “private treaties” with media house.
Product advertisement contracts given, in exchange of biased reporting during
elections.
·
Companies
with political affiliations themselves, own media-houses and news channels.
·
Therefore,
nuisance of paid new can be fixed only by ‘self-regulation’ of political
parties and media houses. RPA-amendment alone, will be insufficient.
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