Paid news in India

Paid news in India 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". This practice started in the 1950s and has become a widespread organized activity in India through formal contracts and "private treaties". 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, the practice was brought to Western media attention in 2010. 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. 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."News You can Abuse"
Outlook, Anuradha Raman (December 2009)

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. 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.

Press Council of India

The Press Council of India – the official Indian watchdog on media ethics – conducted a limited study of the widespread practice of "paid news" in India in 2010. In a report issued in July 2010, it stated that "paid news" is a pervasive, structured and highly organized practice in Indian newspapers and other media outlets, where news space and favorable coverage is exchanged for money. It wrote, "paid news is a complex phenomenon and has acquired different forms over the last six decades 950–2010 It ranges from accepting gifts on various occasions, foreign and domestic junkets rips various monetary and non-monetary benefits, besides direct payment of money. Another form of paid news that has been brought to the notice of the Press Council of India by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is in the form of “private treaties” between media companies and corporate entities. Private treaty is a formal agreement between the media company and another non-media company in which the latter transfers certain shares of the company to the former in exchange for advertisement space and favorable coverage."

The 2010 investigation was limited to the 2009 elections by the Press Council of India. It found substantial evidence of corrupt practices and collusion between the Indian media, various politicians and political parties. It ruled that newspapers should not carry articles that report "enmity or hatred between people on the ground of religion, race, caste, community or language", refrain from critical statements on "personal character and conduct of a political candidate", refuse financial or indirect forms of compensation for political coverage among other voluntary guidelines.Report on Paid News
The Press Council of India (30 July 2010)

The Council's detailed report on "paid news" was suppressed by the Press Council after its members voted to "not forward the detailed report on paid news prepared by the sub-committee" it had previously appointed. According to J Balaji, some of the members objected to the specific names of media organizations that were mentioned in the detailed 2010 report. A partial summary report was released by the Press Council of India instead, omitting the 71-page annexure of the original report.PCI sidelines sub-committee report on paid news
The Hindu, J Balaji (30 July 2010) A majority of the Press Council of India membership consists of journalists and representatives of the media houses.Press Council of India, Introduction
National Informatics Centre, Government of India (2017)

Sponsors of paid news

Politicians sponsoring paid news

The Election Commission of India has detected hundreds of cases where politicians paid newspapers or TV channels to carry favorable reports.Media collusion with politicians, business weakens Indian democracy
South China Morning Post, 3 July 2013

* Ashok Chavan, a former chief minister of an Indian National Congress-led government in Maharashtra used campaign funds for paid news. He was questioned by the Election Commission of India in 2010. The Commission stated that " e complaint against Mr. Chavan was that he arranged publication of news items, masquerading as advertisements, in newspapers praising him in the 2009 State Assembly elections and he had not properly accounted for the expenses in his election expenditure accounts. But he claimed that the newspapers on their own might have published complimentary stories on him." According to ''The Hindu'', its 2009 investigation found evidence that "paid news" was used to benefit Chavan, because an identical word-for-word hagiographic article appeared in three different newspapers as news on the same day under different titles and authors.
* Narottam Mishra, a cabinet minister in a Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Madhya Pradesh, was accused by the Election Commission of India, allegedly “failed to lodge his accounts of his election expenses in the manner prescribed by law” and was linked to 42 news items on him during the November 2008 state elections which “read more like election advertisements in favor of imalone rather than as news reports.”'Yes, we spent money on paid news ads'
The Hindu, 30 January 2013
* In 2009, Bhupinder Singh Hooda – then the chief minister of Congress-led government of Haryana, acknowledged that he offered money to the newspapers in his state to stop printing unfavorable "paid news" he alleged was funded by his opposition, and to print favorable news and the "right picture" in his view. According to Anuradha Raman, the regional newspaper ''Punjab Kesri'' stated that they earned during the 2009 elections through "paid news" and the marketing of editorial space to politicians willing to pay for coverage, that they did this because all Indian media was doing this with "the so-called national English dailies who had their packages and were mopping up revenue. We could not have missed out on the opportunity."
*In 2009, according to an article by Anuradha Raman, Sandeep Dikshit – a Congress party member of parliament acknowledged paid news and stated he was surprised when approached by a Delhi-based television channel with "a package deal to cover Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the East Delhi constituency during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections" and the channel offered to "arrange the crowds" for Gandhi's visit for a fee. According to Dikshit, states Raman, "You watch your opponent misusing the media and you’re forced to part with the money. I won’t take names but everyone is involved".
*In 2009, Akhilesh Das – a politician belonging to the Bahujan Samaj Party, stated that "I don't blame my party if it pays for news in its favor, there is a general media bias against his party". Das alleged, states Anuradha Raman, that the Congress-party politician Raj Babbar graced the front pages of local newspapers, and "paid news" is a growing trend in Indian elections.
* In April 2009, on the day of the election in Varanasi, the Hindi edition of the Hindustan newspaper, published by ''The Hindustan Times'' group, carried a front-page article that deceptively looked like news. The article stated that there was a popular voter "wave in favor of the Congress party". The next day, after the voting was over, the newspaper admitted and printed an apology that it was not news, but a paid item.
* The politician P.K. Rama Rao of Loksatta party alleged that he paid for favorable state assembly time election time coverage to a representative of Eenadu

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