Investigate unethical media practices, women journalists tell EC
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COMMENTS 
Women journalists in Andhra Pradesh have written to the chief electoral officer demanding an investigation into the cash-for-news scam by Telegu newspapers and TV channels
Women journalists in Hyderabad have drawn the attention of the Election Commission (EC) to the unethical practice of newspapers in Andhra Pradesh “selling news space in the guise of news coverage of candidates in the just concluded assembly and Lok Sabha elections”.
Members of the Hyderabad chapter of the Network of Women in Media said in a letter to the chief electoral officer, Andhra Pradesh, that Telugu daily newspapers had a deal with political parties to carry paid news without any intimation to readers that the article was paid for. News items, profiles of candidates, their contribution to public life and in-depth articles on their prospects of winning were generated outside of the newspapers. This was evident from the fact that several newspapers carried the same items.
The letter notes that this “unethical practice of taking money for publishing ‘positive’ stories of a candidate’s prospects” was earlier indulged in by individual journalists working in the districts. This time “managements decided that they too wanted a piece of the cake and so every single Telugu daily newspaper formalised this underhand method of making money and cheating their readers. The rate was the same as the advertisement tariff of the newspaper for per column centimetre”. There are around six Telegu newspapers and the same number of TV channels.
The electronic media adopted similar methods, the letter alleges. According to an estimate by the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists, Telugu newspapers made between Rs 50 crore and Rs 100 crore each through such ‘paid news coverage’, and each news channel made Rs 5 crore.
Newspaper reports suggest that the ‘deals’ were negotiated in the papers’ district editions which are in tabloid form. A report in Deccan Herald explained the modus operandi. The advertisement manager and the bureau chief negotiated the terms with the candidate or an aide. Nothing was committed on paper. The candidate got a receipt for 10% of the amount paid so that it could be submitted to the Election Commission towards expenses. Since unaccounted cash was being seized by the police in the run-up to the elections, the media worked out a foolproof method of payment. They took a post-dated cheque from the candidate. After the polling was over, the media’s representatives returned the cheque and took cash.
The letter accuses the newspapers of cheating readers by “misrepresenting facts, influencing the voters, spreading falsehood, and distorting the truth by playing up candidates who paid them”. This is not only “gross dereliction of duty as Fourth Estate and as watchdog of society but also portends a dangerous drift of the media towards ganging up against the people”.
The letter urges the Election Commission to constitute a time-bound committee to investigate the allegations. It has also asked the commission to issue notices to the managements of newspapers and television news channels to explain their conduct.
This practice is not confined to Andhra Pradesh. The Wall Street Journal reported that Ajay Goyal, an independent candidate contesting a Lok Sabha seat in Chandigarh, said he was approached by several brokers and public relations managers acting on behalf of newspaper owners, reporters and editors from national Hindi language and regional papers who said he would only get written about in the news pages for a fee. “One broker offered three weeks of coverage in four newspapers for Rs 10 lakh ($20,000). A reporter and a photographer from a Chandigarh newspaper told him that for Rs 1.5 lakh ($3,000) for them and a further Rs 3 lakh ($6,000) for other reporters, they could guarantee coverage in up to five newspapers for two weeks,” the paper reported.
Source: The Hoot, May 14, 2009
Deccan Herald, May 13, 2009
The Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2009