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".[1][2] This practice started in the 1950s and has become a widespread organized activity in India through formal contracts and "private treaties".[3][4] 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,[5] the practice was brought to Western media attention in 2010.[6] 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.[4] 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.[5][2][7]
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.[8][9]
Sponsors of paid news[edit]
Politicians sponsoring paid news[edit]
The Election Commission of India has detected hundreds of cases where politicians paid newspapers or TV channels to carry favorable reports.[13]
Criticism of paid news[edit]
Author Chandrahas Choudhury wrote in 2011 that paid news "is rotting India's democracy."[36] The Analytic Monthly Review states that paid news is a fraud on its readers and the public, a tax fraud, as well as improperly manipulates the financial and real estate market.[37]
In 2010, a two-person panel of the Press Council of India investigated the phenomenon of paid news in India.[38] This resulted in a detailed 72-page report citing names and instances where information that had been paid for had been passed off as genuine news.[39] However, the Press council voted to not release the full report, and published a shorter watered down version of the report.[40][10]