May 23, 2024, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar
If such news is published in the newspapers, the expenditure will be added to the account of the concerned candidate by the District Election Officer.Paid news is to be praised as the news of the selected candidates.
Admiration of election candidates in the form of news in newspapers falls under the category of “Paid News”, which, following the interpretation of the Press Council of India, the Election Commission issued guidelines to credit the candidate’s account. are
Expressing this, the District Election Officer Ms. Ashika Jain said that the newspapers in which the election campaign of some selected candidates will be raised specifically to influence the voters, then it will be considered as ‘paid news’.
He said that the cost of such news will be credited to the candidate’s account as per the advertisement (DAVP) rate of that newspaper. Seeking cooperation from all print and electronic media, he said that such news should be avoided. He said that apart from political parties, this issue has also been raised by the members in Media House and Parliament House and the Election Commission has been requested to be strict in this regard.
In this regard, the Election Commission has also sent a proposal to amend the People’s Representative Act, 1951 to provide a two-year sentence. He said that a district-level MCMC (Media Certification and Monitoring Committee) has been formed for continuous monitoring of the news published in newspapers, television and social media. This committee is bound to issue periodic notices to the candidate through the District Election Officer/RO/ARO regarding news of value and news violating the standard election code.
He said that the candidate can appeal to the state level MCMC within 48 hours of receiving the notice against the decision taken by the district level MCMC regarding paid news and the state level MCMC . In the next 48 hours against the decision of the Chief Election Commission, whose decision will be final.
He also stated that the news published in the same newspaper about the candidates of the opposition parties in the same format in which the candidate is praised and said that both the candidates have the support of all the people (every class) and that the candidate Can win, also falls under the category of dubious paid news. News headlines that say a candidate has the support of the entire public are also paid news. A sustained coverage of a minor political event is also paid news.
He said that the role of the media is very important in maintaining the credibility of the media among the people and not allowing the impartiality of the voters towards their vote to be affected, therefore avoiding the evil of paid news will be an important contribution to the strengthening of democracy.