MPs target graft in fourth estate

Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, initiating a discussion on the growing incidence of corruption in the country, said the growing menace of paid news was a matter of great concern.

‘Misleading readers’
“In recent years, we started hearing whispers and then a number of us had to face the reality. Take the case of the menace of paid news.

The media in the country  not only helps in developing the economy, it also shapes the human mind. If the shaping of the human mind also gets polluted because you have to buy packages, then the reader is misled,” he said.

Expressing concern over growing corruption in media, Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Sitaram Yechury said paid news was a great threat to the country as people fail to get factual news on any incident.

Same sentiments
Many other members, including Ramvilas Paswan, echoed the same sentiment.
In the Lok Sabha, K Sambashiva Rao demanded that the media and non-governmental organisations be brought under the ambit of Lokpal in order to clean up these sectors.
On Tuesday, Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed said there would be a ‘mass movement for cleansing of the media' if it goes ahead with the investigation of the senior journalists who figure in corruption.

In an interview to a private news channel, he wondered why Team Anna’s Jan Lokpal Bill had not called for investigation into corruption in media and NGO sector.