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Paid news in India
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Paid news in India
In India, paid news is the practice of cash payment or equivalent to journalists and media organizations by individuals and organizations so as to appear in their news articles and to "ensure sustained positive coverage". This practice started in the 1950s and has become a widespread organized activity in India through formal contracts and "private treaties". Pioneered by Bennett, Coleman & Company, Ltd. (B.C.C.L.) group through their Times of India publication and widely adopted by groups such as The Hindustan Times, Outlook and others, the practice was brought to Western media attention in 2010. Paid news financially benefits the "individual journalists and specific media organizations" such as newspapers, magazines and television channels according to a 2010 investigative report of the Press Council of India. It is paid for by politicians, organizations (for profit and non-profit), brands, movies and celebrities who seek to improve their public image, increase favorable coverage and suppress unfavorable information.
The widespread "paid news" practice in India has been criticized because it diverts the coverage to whoever is willing to pay and selectively presents information that makes the paying customer appear in a favorable light, instead of presenting everything that is significant and necessary for the public to obtain a complete understanding. The information which needs to be delivered to the audience is somehow changed . Paid news corrupts the information and deceives the newspaper-magazine reader or the television audience, particularly given the Indian practice of "not making it clear that the news item has been paid for", state James Painter and John Lloyd.
The Press Council of India – the official Indian watchdog on media ethics – conducted a limited study of the widespread practice of "paid news" in India in 2010. In a report issued in July 2010, it stated that "paid news" is a pervasive, structured and highly organized practice in Indian newspapers and other media outlets, where news space and favorable coverage is exchanged for money. It wrote, "paid news is a complex phenomenon and has acquired different forms over the last six decades [1950–2010]. It ranges from accepting gifts on various occasions, foreign and domestic junkets [trips], various monetary and non-monetary benefits, besides direct payment of money. Another form of paid news that has been brought to the notice of the Press Council of India by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is in the form of "private treaties" between media companies and corporate entities. Private treaty is a formal agreement between the media company and another non-media company in which the latter transfers certain shares of the company to the former in exchange for advertisement space and favorable coverage."
In recent years, corruption in the Indian media has gone way beyond the corruption of individual journalists and specific media organizations – from "planting" information and views in lieu of favours received in cash or kind, to more institutionalized and organized forms of corruption wherein newspapers and television channels receive funds for publishing or broadcasting information in favour of particular individuals, corporate entities, representatives of political parties and candidates contesting elections, that is sought to be disguised as "news".
— Paranjoy G Thakurta, Kalimekolan S Reddy, Press Council of India, April 2010
The 2010 investigation was limited to the 2009 elections by the Press Council of India. It found substantial evidence of corrupt practices and collusion between the Indian media, various politicians and political parties. It ruled that newspapers should not carry articles that report "enmity or hatred between people on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language", refrain from critical statements on "personal character and conduct of a political candidate", refuse financial or indirect forms of compensation for political coverage among other voluntary guidelines.
The Council's detailed report on "paid news" was suppressed by the Press Council after its members voted to "not forward the detailed report on paid news prepared by the sub-committee" it had previously appointed. According to J Balaji, some of the members objected to the specific names of media organizations that were mentioned in the detailed 2010 report. A partial summary report was released by the Press Council of India instead, omitting the 71-page annexure of the original report. A majority of the Press Council of India membership consists of journalists and representatives of the media houses.
The Election Commission of India has detected hundreds of cases where politicians paid newspapers or TV channels to carry favorable reports.
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Paid news in India
In India, paid news is the practice of cash payment or equivalent to journalists and media organizations by individuals and organizations so as to appear in their news articles and to "ensure sustained positive coverage". This practice started in the 1950s and has become a widespread organized activity in India through formal contracts and "private treaties". Pioneered by Bennett, Coleman & Company, Ltd. (B.C.C.L.) group through their Times of India publication and widely adopted by groups such as The Hindustan Times, Outlook and others, the practice was brought to Western media attention in 2010. Paid news financially benefits the "individual journalists and specific media organizations" such as newspapers, magazines and television channels according to a 2010 investigative report of the Press Council of India. It is paid for by politicians, organizations (for profit and non-profit), brands, movies and celebrities who seek to improve their public image, increase favorable coverage and suppress unfavorable information.
The widespread "paid news" practice in India has been criticized because it diverts the coverage to whoever is willing to pay and selectively presents information that makes the paying customer appear in a favorable light, instead of presenting everything that is significant and necessary for the public to obtain a complete understanding. The information which needs to be delivered to the audience is somehow changed . Paid news corrupts the information and deceives the newspaper-magazine reader or the television audience, particularly given the Indian practice of "not making it clear that the news item has been paid for", state James Painter and John Lloyd.
The Press Council of India – the official Indian watchdog on media ethics – conducted a limited study of the widespread practice of "paid news" in India in 2010. In a report issued in July 2010, it stated that "paid news" is a pervasive, structured and highly organized practice in Indian newspapers and other media outlets, where news space and favorable coverage is exchanged for money. It wrote, "paid news is a complex phenomenon and has acquired different forms over the last six decades [1950–2010]. It ranges from accepting gifts on various occasions, foreign and domestic junkets [trips], various monetary and non-monetary benefits, besides direct payment of money. Another form of paid news that has been brought to the notice of the Press Council of India by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is in the form of "private treaties" between media companies and corporate entities. Private treaty is a formal agreement between the media company and another non-media company in which the latter transfers certain shares of the company to the former in exchange for advertisement space and favorable coverage."
In recent years, corruption in the Indian media has gone way beyond the corruption of individual journalists and specific media organizations – from "planting" information and views in lieu of favours received in cash or kind, to more institutionalized and organized forms of corruption wherein newspapers and television channels receive funds for publishing or broadcasting information in favour of particular individuals, corporate entities, representatives of political parties and candidates contesting elections, that is sought to be disguised as "news".
— Paranjoy G Thakurta, Kalimekolan S Reddy, Press Council of India, April 2010
The 2010 investigation was limited to the 2009 elections by the Press Council of India. It found substantial evidence of corrupt practices and collusion between the Indian media, various politicians and political parties. It ruled that newspapers should not carry articles that report "enmity or hatred between people on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language", refrain from critical statements on "personal character and conduct of a political candidate", refuse financial or indirect forms of compensation for political coverage among other voluntary guidelines.
The Council's detailed report on "paid news" was suppressed by the Press Council after its members voted to "not forward the detailed report on paid news prepared by the sub-committee" it had previously appointed. According to J Balaji, some of the members objected to the specific names of media organizations that were mentioned in the detailed 2010 report. A partial summary report was released by the Press Council of India instead, omitting the 71-page annexure of the original report. A majority of the Press Council of India membership consists of journalists and representatives of the media houses.
The Election Commission of India has detected hundreds of cases where politicians paid newspapers or TV channels to carry favorable reports.