Two reports on paid news

By -

Note: MediaVigil had released the original report of the Press Council's sub-committee on Paid News on May 21, 2010 as Press Council's Sub-committee Report on Paid News Scam.

Gopal Krishna

Two reports on paid news

The Press Council subcommittee’s original report on Paid News, and the sanitised one that the Council membership finally accepted offer an interesting contrast. THE HOOT presents both.

Aug 11, 2010

On the 30th of July the Press Council put out a press release which was something of an anticlimax. It announced the release of the Council's report on Paid News, something that had been in the works since a sub-committee was appointed in July 2009.

The two members of this sub-committee, Kalimekolan Sreenivas Reddy and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, together with the Press Council of India Chairman Justice G.N. Ray, the Council's Secretary, Smt Vibha Bhargava and other members, met a wide cross-section of stake-holders in New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad and also perused through many letters and representations that were sent to the Council.

The subcommittee gave its report in April 2010, but it created consternation. Some council members argued that it would destroy the publishers' credibility and hurt their long term interest. So the report was referred to a larger group of Council members who had three months to decide how it should be presented.

The press release below outlines the findings and recommendations of a sanitised report. It is careful not to mention the names of publishers who indulged in paid news in the Lok Sabha elections of 2009, and in earlier state elections. The Hoot published these in May.

The Chairman of the Press Council Justice G N Ray who was reported to be in favour of the much longer original report which named names of offenders was outvoted in the final council meeting by a narrow margin.

The Hoot presents the official press release, the original report, the revised report, and other relevant links.

Press Release, Dated:30.07.2010.

Press Council releases its Report on ‘Paid news'

The Press Council of India in its meeting held on July 30, 2010 under the chairmanship of Hon'ble Mr. Justice G.R. Ray has placed in the public domain its Report on the issue of ‘Paid News'. Concerned over the serious dimensions acquired by the phenomenon of payment for news in the media in the General Elections 2009, the Council not only took cognizance of the matter suo motu but also considered representations from various eminent persons. The analysis of its Sub-Committee was studied by the Drafting Committee to prepare the final Report of the Council that was adopted on 30th July, 2010.

The Report defines Paid News as “Any news or analysis appearing in any media (Print & Electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration”.

The Report records that “Sections of the media in India have willy-nilly become participants and players in such practices that contribute to the growing use of money power in politics which undermines democratic processes and norms ??" while hypocritically pretending to occupy a high moral ground. This has not merely undermined democracy in India but also tarnished the country's reputation.”

MAJOR OBSERVATIONS

The election time paid news phenomenon has three dimensions. One, the reader or the viewer does not get a correct picture of the personality or performance of the candidate in whose favour or against he decides to cast his vote. This destroys the very essence of the democracy. Two, contesting candidates perhaps do not show it in their election expense account thereby violating the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, framed by the Election Commission of India under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Third, those newspapers and television channels which received money in cash but did not disclose it in their official statements of accounts, have violated the Companies Act, 1956, as well as the Income Tax Act, 1961, besides other laws.

It was felt that there should be a clear distinction drawn between the managements and editorial staff in media companies and that the independence of the editor should be maintained and safeguarded.

The Election Commission of India should set up a special cell to receive complaints about ‘paid news' in the run-up to the conduct of elections and initiate a process through which expeditious action could be taken on the basis of such complaints.

There should be a debate among all concerned stakeholders on whether a directive of the Supreme Court of India that enjoins television channels to stop broadcasting campaign-related information on candidates and political parties 48 hours before elections take place should be extended to the print medium since such a restriction does not apply to this section of the media at present.

The Council suggests that efforts should be made to educate the voters to differentiate between the doctored reporting and the balanced and just reporting.

The Union Information & Broadcasting Ministry should conduct awareness-generating campaigns involving all stakeholders to deliberate on the issue and arrive at workable solutions to curb the ‘paid news' phenomenon in particular.

A small committee of Members of Parliament from both Houses should hold a hearing for suggesting changes in Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The Council feels that all these initiatives, if sincerely implemented, may not entirely stop such malpractices in the Indian media but could reduce their incidence to a considerable extent.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Representation of the People Act, 1951, 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

The detailed report of the Council is attached and can also be accessed at Council's website: www.presscouncil.nic.in

Relevant links

The original report

The revised, sanitised, final report

The Empire strikes back ??" and how! P Sainath

'Conspiracy Of Silence'

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266560

Press Council Meeting

Who Voted How?

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266559

Comments

ann@israel said…
i think there is no any other country in the world where rich people are that rich and poor people are that poor. but nothing like revolution or internal war happens there.
8:07 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Greek, French Elections Sound Death Knell for Austerity

By -
By Julio Godoy BERLIN, May 7, 2012 (IPS) - The voting out of conservative governments in France and Greece this weekend heralds the end of harsh European austerity programmes and ushers in an era of new economic, investment, and social policies aimed at restoring growth and employment across the continent. In France, the Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande, a champion of government-led economic growth and employment strategies, accomplished a comfortable victory over the incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy – the man often seen as the poster child of the austerity programmes in practice all over Europe. In Greece, citizens penalised the two strongest, traditional parties, New Democracy and the Pan- Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), for their recent technocratic coalition government that has imposed a severe austerity plan on the country, which deepened the five-year-long recession and ignited a steep increase of unemployment and poverty Instead, Greek citizens cast the...
Read more

Home Ministry’s Population Register Worse than Prisoner Identification

By -
NPR is not Citizens Register, it’s a Register of Residents like UID/Aadhaar Privacy Bill should precede creation of NPR, RFID & Intelligence Grid Biometric data collection an act of “illegitimate advances of the (police) state” & businesses New Delhi 11/11/2011: Quite like prisoners whose biometric data like finger prints can be collected only under the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, it is quite outrageous that National Population Register (NPR) is taking biometric data of every resident and citizen of India disregarding absence of any legislative mandate for it. In the case of prisoners their biometric data is required to be destroyed on their acquittal but in the case of NPR and Centralized Identities Register (CIDR) of Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar Number, the same will be recorded for ever. Are residents and citizens worse than prisoners? In a letter to Planning Commission, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL) has drawn their attention towards th...
Read more

Open letter to Kim Jong-un urging a new era in North Korea

By -
Kim Jong-un Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army Pyongyang Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Dear Supreme Commander Kim: I am writing to recognize the passing of your father and acknowledge your leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), and to raise a number of concerns and ideas which we believe would enhance your leadership, improve the standing of your country and benefit your people. It is clear that the coming year will be one of great challenges for you and the people of North Korea. It can also be a time of great opportunity, both for your legacy and for the well-being of all the people of North Korea, provided that you seize this moment in history to ensure that your government respects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the North Korean people. I am seriously concerned about what is happening to the people of your country. More than 200,000 men, women and children are still being held in a system of prisons and labor camp...
Read more