Bangalore: Menace of paid news 'is very complex and serious problem,' says EC

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Apr 3: The menace of paid news ''is a very complex and serious problem,” according to the Election Commission.

The paid news virus has damaged the credibility of both the print and television medium and has caused serious damage to the country’s political life, especially the electoral system, said the Director General of Election Commision Akshay Rout.

The Election Commission, which has been grappling with the problem, had taken it very seriously in a bid to restore the credibility and impartiality of elections and also to ensure level playing field for all political parties and candidates of not just recognized political parties but even independents, Rout said.

He said the Election Commission would make concerted efforts to check the menace of paid news, which has played havoc with the electoral system due to the greed and unethical conduct of some of the candidates, political parties or their representatives as well as the editorial and management staff of newspapers and television media.

''We will be focusing on  the paid news cancer very seriously during the May 5 assembly polls in Karnataka,” he said.

Addressing a “Media Workshop on Electoral Process,” Rout, said: “paid news is a complex issue and it had disturbed the political arena. Paid news violated the Right to Information Act.”

“We will take suo motu complaints based on media reports on violation of model of code of conduct during the election process,” Rout said.

Unaccounted money was being spent by political parties, candidates and their agents through paid news, he said pointing out that it was not a healthy trend for political parties, governments, and the economy.

Use of money power to influence voters would come in the way of free and fair elections, he said.

As a result of the strict implementation of the model adopted in the Bihar elections, the Election Commission had set up state and district-level media certification and monitoring committees (MCMC) to check instances of paid news ahead of the state Assembly polls.

MCMCs monitor instances of paid news in districts. However, only by self regulation media houses could control paid news, he said complimenting ''The Hindu” newspaper for highlighting the issue of paid news extensively in Maharashtra.

Rout appealed to the print and electronic media not to project any candidate or the party and thereby influence voters just 48 hours before polling.

Projecting a candidate or a political party 48 hours before polling was an offense under the Representation of People’s Act, he said.

The Director General said all affidavits of candidates, who have filed their nominations, would be posted on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka.

The Hindu Chief of Bureau K Giriprakash inaugurated the workshop in the presence of Chief Electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha and Officer on Special Duty (Expenditure Monitoring) Pankaj Kumar Pandey and Kannada and Culture Department Principal Secretary Basavaraju.