The entity called paid news, whereby a media outlet is remunerated to carry editorially a particular piece of information without any disclosure and often before an election, has become more and more common in recent years and correspondingly the demand for banning such news and punishing those who carry it has grown. The Press Council of India appointed a committee in 2010 to examine the issue but, thanks to intensive lobbying with the council by sections of the media industry which were cast in poor light by the report, it took considerable effort and time to put the report in the public domain. The government now, according to a news report, is contemplating changing several laws to make carrying paid news not just a punishable offence but also liable to serious penalties. The one measure which appears to have wide support is to declare publication of paid news an electoral offence. This will put it in the domain of the Election Commission which is held in high esteem. Hence there is comfort over any censure or more emanating from the Election Commission which will thereby acquire legitimacy.
http://southasiamonitor.org/detail.php?type=emerging&nid=16855
I-BRIDGE's blog (Link Campus University's Research Centre on Global Affairs) - editor, Marco Emanuele - Critical thinking, complexity, international relations (Twitter, @Glob_Eye - Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/marco.emanuele.50)
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