Paid News: First meeting of GoM tomorrow

Cabinet Secretariat has convened the first meeting of the Group of Ministers on the issue.

More than a year after the Press Council of India placed its report on Paid News,the Cabinet Secretariat has convened the first meeting of the Group of Ministers on the issue with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as its head.

The GoM on Paid News,which was announced last January,is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to consider the PCI report of July 2010 which recommended,among others,an amendment in the Press Council Act to bring electronic media under its purview and make its recommendations binding.

At present,TV channels self-regulate themselves through a loose federation of News Broadcasters Association.

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The GoMs brief is to study the PCI report and suggest comprehensive institutional mechanism to check the corruption in media, said an official with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

Interestingly,the other members of the GoM are Home Minister P Chidambaram,Telecom and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and Law Minister Salman Khurshid all of whom faced the brunt of the Team Anna blitzkrieg.

Other members are Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni,Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar,the official said.

While most MPs on August 27 criticised the media especially television channels for its role in the Anna crusade,Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has insisted that media be brought within the ambit of the Lokpal as a section of the media was taking money and releasing news in favour of a particular party.

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The PCIs report also admits that Sections of the media have willy-nilly become participants and players in such practices that contribute to the growing use of money power in politics which undermines democratic processes and norms while hypocritically pretending to occupy a high moral ground.

Besides talking of certain do’s and don’ts for the media during elections,the PCI recommended that there should be a clear distinction between the management and editorial in media companies.

It also sought full empowerment to adjudicate the complaints of paid news and give final judgment in the matter. A proposal to amend Section 15(4) of the Press Council Act,1978,to make the directions of the Council binding has been pending for a long time, it said.

The PCI is a statutory,quasi-judicial body for the purpose of preserving the freedom of the Press and of maintaining and improving the standards of newspapers and news agencies in India.

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However,it has only limited powers to admonish,reprimand and pass strictures. It cannot penalise the errant or those found guilty of malpractices.