'Paid news' corruption undermines Indian media

The Indian media, a pillar of the country's vibrant democracy, is riddled with corruption that sees journalists report stories for cash in a phenomenon known as "paid news", a probe has revealed.

The findings of an investigation for the Press Council of India, yet to be released publicly, throw a damning light on an industry that is meant to serve as a bulwark against corruption in other areas of public life. Regional newspapers in vernacular languages are the biggest culprits but their national English language counterparts do not escape criticism and the Times of India group is also in the firing line.

"This malpractice has become widespread and now cuts across newspapers and television channels, small and large in different languages and located in different parts of the country," the report said. The 70-page study, prepared by two senior investigative journalists for the council, lists testimony from leading journalists and politicians, as well as examples of suspect reports.

In its worst form, paid news sees newspapers present a rate card to political candidates who must pay a set amount for coverage for themselves or critical coverage of their opponents.

Former minister Harmohan Dhawan is quoted describing his experience in 2009 of contesting a seat in the state of Punjab when he had calls from the Hindi-language Dainik Jagran and the Punjab Kesri newspapers.

"A representative of Dainik Jagran came to me 20 days before the election and clearly told me: 'If you want coverage in this election, you have to buy a package'," he said.

He turned down the offers. Various politicians quoted in the report said they had been offered packages by newspapers ranging from $1,000 (Dh3,670) to $20,000.

In southern Andhra Pradesh state, journalist unions have estimated the size of the illicit market at $70-220 million. "I felt that newspapers would cover large election rallies… but my rallies were not mentioned in these newspapers," Dhawan continued.

A manager from the Jagran group called repeated allegations against his company "rumours spread by lost candidates in frustration".

The report cites examples of how some newspapers run political advertising as news stories without indicating the story has been written by the media team of a candidate.