Paid news a big menace: FM

Suggesting a link between excessive advertisements and paid news, he said paid news could not get protection meant for the free press. “Therefore, we need to find out a way to check it...We are now reaching a phase when excessive advertisement is acquiring the proportion of political bribery,” he said, wondering should large-scale advertisement with the intention of affecting the quality of reportage be allowed.

“First time the country is confronted with this. We need to see whether excessive advertisements become political bribery,” Jaitley said as he called for a need to discuss how to deal with paid news. He dismissed suggestions regarding “censorship” on media, saying it now is “too large”. “Gone are the days when censorship was possible,” he said. 

When asked about the implementation of the Majithia Wage Board for journalists, he said it is for the management of news organisations to implement. “We are bound by the report,” he added.

The Minister  also spoke on drought. He claimed the Centre had done more than what had ever been done to tackle the problem plaguing several states. “In the last one year, the funds that we have released for disaster management of drought and natural calamities is the highest ever in the history,” he said.