For the first time ever, the Election Commission will monitor "paid news" in the print and electronic media, during the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
Accordingly, it has rushed to the Bihar chief electoral officer and its media expenditure monitoring commission the revised formats of daily reports to be filed by candidates.
Earlier, the monitoring team comprising observers posted by the commission in each district used to keep a tab only on advertisements in newspapers and television including cable TV and radio, but a new column has been added giving "details of paid news" and the cost of such paid news.
The Election Commission has examined the menace of "paid news" that was rampant during the last Lok Sabha elections and decided to include the cost of such news in the expenditure of candidates to check if they exceed the ceiling on expenditure by resorting to "paid news" instead of issuing advertisements.
The Press Council of India had expressed grave concern over the ordinary reader being taken for a ride as he takes the "paid news" to be a genuine assessment by the media of the candidates. The PCI, however, left it to the Election Commission to take remedial measures.
The Election Commission had discussed the issue with all political parties, and the move being undertaken in the Bihar assembly election may lead to remedial formulations in the coming elections, commission sources said.
Poll time paid news undermines fair elections: Press Council