A Parliamentary panel is mulling suggesting to put in place district level committees to scan news items from the time of announcement of elections as a mechanism to check the menace of paid news. These committees would report to the Election Commission about any adverse trends in news reports appearing in media. This was among the few ideas that were tossed around at the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Information Technology that examined issues related to paid news at a meeting today. Top officials from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting appeared before the Committee. Among other suggestions was bringing in an amendment to the Act governing the Press Council of India to give the media watchdog more powers to tackle the issue of paid news. The Committee,headed by Congress MP Rao Inderjit Singh,has decided to summon officials of the Election Commission to explore ways to deal with the issue of paid news. A note circulated ahead of the meeting talked about a separate regulator for the electronic media besides the existing mechanism of self-regulation. Members also wondered whether the existing mechanism of the Press Council and self-regulation by the electronic media was adequate given the recent controversy over the tapped phone conversations of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia. In order to hold wider consultations,the Committee has invited suggestions within two weeks from the public in general and experts,professionals,organisations,associations and stakeholders interested in the subject in particular.
