Today, there hardly exists any media organization that is truly unbiased in its reporting or coverage of events.
Political parties have taken to patronizing the media and the latter in its bid to survive the fierce competition has acquiesced to the same.
Journalism with values is slowly becoming an antiquated concept.
During last year’s Lok Sabha elections, out of a staggering 3,053 cases reported, 694 were found to be genuine cases of paid news by the ‘Media Certification and Monitoring Committee’ of the ‘Press Council of India’ (PCI).
According to the PCI, paid news can be defined as “any news or analysis appearing in any media for a price in cash or kind as consideration.”
Simply put, paid news is “items published as news but is actually an advertisement in nature.”
With the Delhi Assembly elections around the corner, the PCI has constituted a committee to monitor instances of paid news.
It has also come out with guidelines for media organizations and officials, one of which mentions absolute compliance with the regulations of the ‘Election Commission’.
For any democracy, it is mandatory for a ‘free press’ to thrive. In fact, journalism rescued India in 1977 during the ‘Emergency’ when the ‘Indian Express’ courageously stood up for the people against Indira Gandhi despite its editorial team being jailed.
The situation today is a far cry from those days. While free press is important for a thriving democracy, it is equally important for the free press to be honest as well. And therein lies the distinction, a distinction that can mean the difference between success or failure of democracy.
