Paid news syndrome:
a tip of the iceberg
Need to cope with due recognition to practicalities
Along with a number of changing trends in newspaper publishing industry, the issue of ‘Paid News’ has constantly been remaining in the limelight, witnessing debates at almost every forum which is any way associated with the news publishing industry. Owing to its seriousness in terms of its impact on nation-building and society at large, this issue has also been raised in the Parliament, the top government institution. Resultantly, different viewpoints are being presented regarding the phenomenon of ‘paid news’ - which has acquired different forms over the last six decades,
and no commonly acceptable arrangement could be finalized so far.
Ajeet Singh tries to spotlight the current scenario in this regard.
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Rationally, an institution, be it formal or informal, having all strengths to influence common interests and reshape public opinion at large, needs to perpetually and effectively perform at least the primary duties adhering certain norms and values for constantly preserving its prestige. Being the most important informal institution, placed to the fourth position after the three formal institutions of state - Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary - in terms of significance, ‘Media’ is expected to play greater role in national building through its extending reach to people. And no doubt, Indian print and electronic media has been doing quite good jobs on its part. However, like any other institutions, it has some malpractices to deal with, such as ‘Paid News’ which is defined by the Press Council of India as ‘any news or analysis appearing in any media (print & electronic) for a price in cash or kind as consideration’.
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Despite knowing the root causes of the prevailing scenario of ‘paid news’, the government institutions and newspaper industry organizations seems unable to ascertain ‘effectively workable solutions’ to deal with. We have been talking about ‘self-regulations’ and ‘punishing the wrong doers’, while the issue needs to cope with due recognition to practicalities. We need to do more introspection, pondering over: what are the real factors forcing news dissemination establishments or journalists to use ‘paid news’ as a source of additional revenue? Should we not consider such viewpoints as conveyed by Paresh Nath, president of Indian Languages Newspapers Association (ILNA) that this issue has been wrongly promoted by a lobby of non-language media houses, which is a conspiracy against language newspapers.
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As per Jacob Mathew, president of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), and executive editor & publisher of Malayala Manorama Group of Publications in Kerala, India, “Declining professionalism among journalists in some parts of the globe is a key concern in the media world, and one of the ugliest manifestations of eroding professionalism and journalistic ethics is the phenomenon of paid news. This is the crassest form of unprincipled journalism, in which governments, political parties, corporations, NGOs or individuals pay money to media organisations to get anything published or even block out anything they dislike. This is a highly obnoxious practice, and editors and other media leaders should firmly resolve to eschew it.”
On the ‘Paid News’ issue raised in Rajya Sabha under Calling Attention Notice tabled by Sitaram Yechury regarding the role of print and electronic media indulging in paid news in disguise as news, then minister of information & broadcasting Ambika Soni accepted that there have been a number of media reports that sections of the electronic and print media have received monetary considerations for publishing or broadcasting in favour of particular individuals or organizations or corporate entities, what is essentially ‘advertisement’ disguised as ‘news’. This has been commonly referred to as the ‘paid news syndrome’. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has attracted greater public attention and is being widely discussed and debated across the country. It has been reported that the owners of some media organizations have financial relationships, including share-holdings, with advertisers.
The Government is committed to ensuring the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution of India. In pursuance of this objective of preserving the freedom of press and maintaining and improving the standard of newspapers in India and to inculcate the principles of self regulation among the press, the Press Council of India (PCI), an autonomous body was set up under the Press Council Act, 1978. The PCI has developed Norms of Journalistic Conduct that cover the principles and ethics regarding journalism. PCI has also laid down guidelines on reporting of specific issues of public and national importance, along with drawing up a set of guidelines that are particularly applicable to financial journalism. PCI has also issued guidelines on reporting of elections.
It is, however, very commendable that this issue of ‘paid news’ has been vigorously raised by some sections of the media themselves. The Editors Guild of India has in its press note on this issue condemned this unethical practice and called upon all editors of the country to desist from publishing any form of advertisements which masquerade as news. They went on to say that it is imperative that news organizations clearly distinguish between news and advertisements with full and proper disclosure norms, so that no reader and viewer is tricked by any subterfuge of advertisements published and broadcast in the same format, language and style of news. The Indian Women Press Corp, a body of working women journalists from print, TV and online media are also highlighting this issue in a seminar being held in a few days from now in order to build an opinion against this malpractice. The Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) conducted a detailed sample survey to highlight the manner in which newspapers had published ‘paid news’ items. A number of senior journalists have formally complained about the phenomenon of ‘paid news’ to the Press Council of India and the Election Commission of India. In view of all this, the PCI constituted a Sub-Committee to consider this issue and collect evidence from stakeholders. However, the report of the Sub-Committee was not accepted by the Council and was only relied upon, inter-alia, for information for drawing up the Final Report. “The phenomenon of ‘paid news’ goes beyond the corruption of individual journalists and media companies. It has become pervasive, structured and highly organised and in the process, is undermining democracy in India,” said Press Council Sub-Committee Report.
The Press Council of India in its report on the issue of ‘Paid News’ 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.” As per the Council observations presented in the report, 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 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. The PCI report recommended that, i) Representation of the People Act, 1951, be amended to make incidence of paid news a punishable electoral malpractice; ii) The Press Council of India must be fully empowered to adjudicate the complaints of ‘paid news’ and give final judgment in the matter; iii) Press Council Act be amended to make its recommendations binding and electronic media be brought under its purview; and iv) Press Council of India should be reconstituted to include representatives from electronic and other media; etc. 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.
The Press Council of India in its meeting held on August 27, 2012, at New Delhi, resolved that the Government of India be requested to initiate suitable legislation to amend the Press Council Act, 1978, by (i) bringing the electronic media (both broadcast and social media) within the purview of the Press Council Act, and renaming it as The Media Council, and (ii) giving more powers to the Press Council (to be renamed as The Media Council). The Press Council was of the opinion that it is absolutely necessary now to do so in the prevailing circumstances of the country.
‘Workable solutions’
Undoubtedly, the phenomenon of ‘paid news’ is observed to be dominated by political and business news content. The DNA of news dissemination organizations has been changing fast with the increasing impact of market factor on the value journalism. In one of his speeches, the vice president of India M Hamid Ansari rightly observed that prevailing scenario, mentioning that the pursuit of profit has altered the profile of the media entrepreneur. Today, a media enterprise is seen as a necessary subsidiary for a growing business enterprise, a political party and even individuals seeking to leverage public influence for private gain. On the other hand deception, opaque flow of political information, or slanted economic data prevents political and economic actors from exercising rational and well considered choices. They impede the democratic process and could lead to public disenchantment. In this context, the recent practices of leveraging political and economic content in our media for overt and covert revenue generation have the malevolent potential to tarnish our polity and even destabilise the economy.
As per Paresh Nath, President of Indian Languages Newspapers Association (ILNA), “We have been assuming false concept about ‘paid news’. In a democracy any restriction on reporting about elections is a threat to freedom of speech. The bogey of ‘paid news’ has been created to reduce the influence of language newspapers as these have real and effective influence at grass root level on voters. If a news item has value in the eyes of an editor, it does not matter whether it is published in the news column or as an advertisement. There is nothing wrong, if you have been chosen to be paid for a report as long as readers accept it. To publish news about candidates or parties in an election is the right of the newspaper. The election code now following certain norms laid down by the Election Commission of India is a restriction on freedom of press if it counts every report as a paid item. During the election time, these newspapers cannot publish the positive aspects about any candidate as it will now be taken as ‘paid news’. This issue has been wrongly promoted by a lobby of non-language media houses, which is a conspiracy against language newspapers. Some vernacular newspapers may have been influenced by propaganda about 'paid news' inappropriately, but ILNA has now been trying to convince them about the reality. I have been meeting publishers who are feeling pinch of restrictions but keep mum as they are scared of election commission.”
Thus, despite knowing the root causes of the prevailing scenario of ‘paid news’, the government institutions and newspaper industry organizations seems unable to ascertain ‘effectively workable solutions’ to deal with. We have been talking about ‘self-regulations’ and ‘punishing the wrong doers’, while the issue needs to cope with due recognition to practicalities. We need to do more introspection, pondering over: what are the real factors forcing news dissemination establishments or journalists to use ‘paid news’ as a source of additional revenue? Should we not consider such viewpoints as conveyed by Paresh Nath, president of Indian Languages Newspapers Association (ILNA).
