Election Commission to keep check on 'paid news'; issues guidelines

In a bid to keep a check on 'paid news' and avoid misuse of media by political parties, the Election Commission has issued guidelines to the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all states and union territories.

These new guidelines will help deal with advertisements taken out by candidates on television and cable channels owned by political parties, or their functionaries and office bearers.

In a recent letter to the CEOs, the Commission said that such a step was being taken to ensure uniformity while dealing with 'paid news,' even when no consideration of cash and kind was involved in giving the candidates publicity.

For the record, this is the third set of guidelines that has been released relating to the issue. The Commission had earlier issued guidelines on June 8, 2010, September 23, 2010, and March 18, 2011.

The Commission took the step of constructing the guidelines based on the various complaints and references regarding 'paid news' and advertisements on TV channels owned by political parties or their functionaries. The complaints stated that during the process of elections, such functionaries upset the level-playing field since they are not reflected in the candidates' election expenses accounts.

As per the process, all the political advertisements in relation to the candidates will be monitored by the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the district and state levels. MCMC will then inform the returning officer for issue of notices to candidates for inclusion of an estimated expenditure based on standard rate cards in their election expenses accounts, even if they actually do not pay any amount to the channel/newspaper.

This will also include publicity by or on behalf of candidates by star campaigners, to impact their electoral prospects. A copy of the notice will also be marked to the Election Expenditure Observer.

In case of by-elections to parliamentary or assembly constituencies, the standard rate card will be obtained by the district election officer immediately on announcement of the election. The monitoring committee will take due action immediately afterward.

Also, if and when there is a technical doubt about the application of the standard rate card, the issue will be taken to the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for advice.