A Parliamentary panel has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) to consider on a priority basis the matter of “paid news” as well as cross-holdings in the media. It also urged prompt action to prevent a “monopolistic” trend in the media.
The panel asked the I&B Ministry to take comprehensive and swift action on the issues regarding paid news before the onset of the next general elections in 2014.
The Ministry had asked TRAI to examine the issue of paid news in 2008 and again in 2012.
Observing that paid news was not only an election time phenomenon but was happening everyday, the Standing Committee on Information Technology on issues related to paid news, has said that the Ministry had an important role to play in ensuring that news and information made available to the public was factual and fair. The Press Council of India, Election Commission of India, Editors Guild of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, TRAI and other self-regulatory bodies have “acknowledged the gravity of the menace of paid news.”
Statutory body
The Committee has recommended two options in this regard. One, there could be a statutory body, say, a Media Council with eminent persons as its members to look into all media content and electronic media, television as well as radio, with the powers to take strong action against defaulters. Media owners should not be part of this council, it added.
Revamp
Alternatively, it suggested that the Press Council of India could be revamped so that it could function like a regulatory body with powers to award strict penalties on print media, while another statutory body should be set up for electronic media.
The Parliamentary panel has also suggested that election laws and guidelines should be reviewed and strengthened to curb paid news in the election process, empowering the Election Commission to take action against the defaulting candidate as well as the media entity found indulging in paid news.
Some of the panel’s other recommendations include creating awareness among the people about the problems of paid news and disclosures of annual income by media companies from advertisements.
It has also asked the I&B Ministry to consider the recommendations and the developments associated with the Leveson Report in the UK on media ethics. The Ministry was also urged to chalk out a plan to ensure that till the time a structured mechanism was put in place, all the relevant guidelines were strictly enforced and followed by the authorities.
The panel also stressed that the Government and the regulatory bodies concerned should improve the working conditions of the journalist and media personnel and ensure that the autonomy of the editorial staff was upheld.