The following is the full text of the statement issued by the Editors’ Guild of India on Wednesday, 23 December 2009, on the issue of “paid-for news”:
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The Editors Guild of India is deeply shocked and seriously concerned at the increasing number of reports detailing the pernicious practice of publishing “paid news’” by some newspapers and television channels, especially during recent elections.
The Guild, at its annual general meeting held on 22 December 2009 has strongly condemned this practice which whittles the foundations of Indian journalism and calls upon all editors in the country to desist from publishing any form of advertisement which masquerade as news.
The Guild noted that it had always stood for publication of news which is in public interest; news which has been gathered due to the professional efforts of journalists; and news which is not influenced by malice, bias, favouritism or monetary influence.
The Guild recognises that news media in print and electronic form, has a genuine right to publish and broadcast advertisements on all issues, subject to the voluntary Advertising Standards Council code and the News Broadcasting Standards Code.
It is imperative that news organisations have to clearly distinguish between news and advertisements with full and proper disclosure norms, so that no reader and viewer is tricked by any subterfuge of advertisements published and broadcast in the same format, language and style of news.
It is disturbing that this “paid news” practice is also being used by companies, organisations and individuals, apart from political parties.
The Guild further deplores the practice of “private treaties” where news organisations accept free equity in unlisted companies in lieu of promoting these companies through news columns and television news programmes. The news organisations should disclose their commercial and equity interests in such companies to the readers and viewers in a transparent manner.
The Guild decries the unsavoury and unacceptable practice of some political parties and candidates offering payment for “news packages” to news media and its representatives to publish and telecast eulogising and misleading news reports on the political parties.
Both the media organisations and editors who indulge in it, and the customers who offer payment for such “paid news” are guilty of undermining the free and fair press, for which every citizen of India is entitled to.
Such irresponsible acts by a few media organisations and journalists is discrediting the entire media of the country, which has a glorious tradition of safeguarding democratic rights and exposing all kinds of injustices and inequities.
Editors and journalists have been at the vanguard of the movement for creation of a just society, both during the days of colonial rule and Independent India. The ugly phenomenon of “paid news” will be a blot on the country’s democratic fabric.
The Guild calls upon publishers, editors and journalists of media organisations to unitedly fight this creeping menace of commercialisation and bartering of self respect of the media. During the coming months, the Guild will join hands with other media organisations to sensitize the media and civil society, including political parties and the Election Commission, on the need to eliminate this unacceptable practice.
The Guild will be shortly unveiling an initiative to encourage transparency regarding “paid news” and “private treaties.” We appeal to all stakeholders to join us in pushing for a clean, transparent media.
Rajdeep Sardesai, president of the guild, announced the formation of an ethics committee headed by T.N. Ninan, editor in chief, Business Standard. The members are B G Varghese, editor & columnist; Sumit Chakravartty, editor, Mainstream, and Madhu Kishwar, editor, Manushi.
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Also read: Pyramid Saimira, Tatva & Times Private Treaties
Times Private Treaties gets a very public airing
SUCHETA DALAL: Forget the news, you can’t believe the ads either
Does he who pays the piper call the tune?
SALIL TRIPATHI: The first casualty of a cosy deal is credibility
Selling the soul? Or sustaining the business?
PAUL BECKETT: Indian media holding Indian democracy ransom
Does he who pays the piper call the tune?
PRATAP BHANU MEHTA: ‘Indian media in deeply murky ethical territory’
The scoreline: Different strokes for different folks
A package deal that’s well worth a second look
ADITYA NIGAM: ‘Editors, senior journalists must declare assets’
The brave last words of Prabhash Joshi
‘Only the weather section isn’t sold these days’
Tags: BCCL, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd, Churumuri, Mainstream, Manushi, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sans Serif, The Times of India, Times Private Treaties, TPT
24 December 2009 at 7:03 am
Will NDTV stock suffer after this? I hold lot of stock in NDTV!!!
24 December 2009 at 9:05 am
Ayoo bidi swami.
CNN-IBN works for Congress No
They portray Rajini Kanth never apologised No
Raj Taakre , KaRaVe are goons No
Let TOI make money No
Churchill is better than half naked fakir No
English is refined than Kannada medium No
Telangana is bad No
Judiciary, Politics Bureaucrats are corrupt No
“Corruption is Universal” No
24 December 2009 at 11:06 am
Rajdeep Sardesai announcing something about ethics LOL :)
So this gathering was paid for by which company ?
24 December 2009 at 11:17 am
“news which has been gathered due to the professional efforts of journalists; and news which is not influenced by malice, bias, favouritism or monetary influence”
Oh really!!! Then what are these things; single malt, Mont blanc, plots, padmashri, Rajya sabha seat, etc.
Managements want to monitise these things and show it on their balance sheets, ashte.
BTW, owner editors have laddus in dono haath.
24 December 2009 at 11:25 am
stop subscribing to “The Times of India” publications. I also wish Swaminathan A Aiyar disassociates from the group.
24 December 2009 at 11:29 am
Ha ha ha……they have said what is happening for a long time including in some News Blogs. Did I miss the name?
24 December 2009 at 1:14 pm
Its happy atlast the guild has woken up from its slumber… how sincere is Rajdeep in this effort?? we know how his channel played during the elections…..
24 December 2009 at 1:47 pm
Glad it got a start…
24 December 2009 at 9:04 pm
It has taken a very long time for the journalists to even recognise the malaise. I dont know if they can ever put their ideas into practice.
24 December 2009 at 11:08 pm
Sincerely insincerely or insincererly sincere
25 December 2009 at 9:45 am
“Devil quoting the scripture”?!.
25 December 2009 at 3:17 pm
As if it is a new discovery ?
Nothing new about this.
25 December 2009 at 5:29 pm
Will there be another guild protesting the soul-selling done by a set of journalists and their employers?
It is not always about money!
We regularly see in frontpages, coverpages and prime-time shows, how obvious their biases are.
These journalists are so shameless that they trade in their integrity for honours, positions and power. :<
27 December 2009 at 1:55 am
With Rajdeep Sardesai as the President the whole guild is a non-starter.
It will just be a holier than thou shroud for the corrupt journalists.
27 December 2009 at 4:05 pm
Why blame poor Rajdeep Sardesai or Prannay Roy for their stake in Congress stocks is too high to risk jeopardising the boom in their TRP rating
30 December 2010 at 2:13 pm
Sirs: Congrats to Editors Guild for the note on PAID NEWS
of channels and papers. I see eminent journalists there. But dal me
kutch kala hai na. – i could see certain persons whom we perceived
as anchored paid news, biased news, trp tained news, travesrsity of
so called news etc etc and etc. But only consolation is that now a
days such unmentioned (here not to hurt) person/s seems to be
mellowed down in presenting the news etc to an extent but
unfortunately at times now another person has been demonstrating
his vocabulary, histrionics, wicknedness, over confidence. utter
disregard to real news and the people and country that ultimately
get affected, which disturbs communal harmony, etc on another
screen. How long to go through this type of disregard of the
commonsense and wisdom of people every day by such anchors just
because there are trp and there are people to see any junk and
untruth if coated with masalamatrics. This is a time when people
devour ghost serials along with buffet plates in hands and hence
they dont mind or even they have a saddistic enjoyment in watching
such yellow visiual media. Everything that is not news, and not
true news, but tampered is yellow news. This is the time of YELLOW
CHANNELS AND YELLOW ANCHORS. While appreciating the humble
contribution Editors Guild may genuinely wish to make, there must
be stringent prosecution against defaulting channels and anchors
for any violation that they commit and as now it is proved that so
called Celebrity Anchors are conniving and colluding and partnering
with all kinds of politicians and powerful people for selfish ends,
the Watch Dog who can prosecute must be from a nonpolitcal
institution. Radia Tapes will never be forgotten by indians and
never the faces those appeared in it inspite of their covert and
overt efforts seen on media to make everything look so normal as
earlier by appearing and performing like earlier. People are
waiting for further investigation and prosecution to happen before
condemning such people if they are really proved guilty. Corruption
is related not just to politicians or other burecrats, but for
everyone. And if a slight scar of that sort is on any Journalist,
by virtue of their professional ethics and duty to the public and
their country, the prosecution must be many fold and strongest.
However, let us not crucify innocents, as most of the time we see
on visual media. We dont need such TRP (just cheap cash). WE ASK
NEWS, JUST NOTHING BUT NEWS. We dont want your wisdom, knowledge,
analytical prowess, etc because today any person is better than a
Journalist. ultimately affects by distorted selfis
reporting/anchoring,
6 September 2011 at 8:07 am
The Editors guild website has vanished! http://www.editorsguild.in is as good as a squatters place.
9 December 2011 at 9:21 am
The concept of paid news in now paid to fade!!!…
25 August 2012 at 6:49 pm
Sir, The paid news / articles system is a vicious circle. It is just like corruption. Now a days journalists / managements are working like that. Is is my practical experience.