India

“The phenomenon of ‘paid news' goes beyond the corruption of individual journalists and media companies. It has become pervasive, structured and highly organised and in the process, is undermining democracy in India.” So finds the draft report of inquiry conducted into the phenomenon by the Press Council of India to be discussed by the full Council on April 26 in Delhi. The Hindu has obtained a...

The Press Council of India has found two newspapers, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran, guilty of publishing advertisements masquerading as news before the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The decision in the case, along with all the case papers, has been sent to the Election Commission for further action. These newspapers published a one-sided news item in the form of an advertisement in favour of...

Indian newspaper publisher Jagran Prakashan Pvt Ltd on Thursday said it is in talks with smaller rival Mid-Day Multimedia Ltd for a "strategic alliance", as it seeks to expand its presence in the world's second-largest print media market, according to a zeenews.com report. Jagran Prakashan--publisher of India's most-read Hindi-language newspaper, Dainik Jagran—has signed a-non disclosure agreement...

Blackstone Group LP, the largest private-equity firm, is investing in a Hindi-language newspaper to benefit from a surge in readership in India as print advertisement sales in the US fall to a 26-year low, says a Bloomberg News report. Blackstone Group plans to invest 2.25 billion rupees ($50 million) in Jagran Media Network Pvt., according to a joint statement on April 7. A unit of Jagran Media...

News channel NewsX, which was sold out last year by INX Media following a financial crunch during the global economic meltdown, is set to be re-launched under a new brand within the next few months, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported. “We will re-launch our channel in the second quarter of next fiscal, after the summer break... The channel will sport a new name, logo and on-air look,”...

The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry on Wednesday has asked 164 private channels, which were given permission to uplink before December 2005, to register for downlinking in the country. Out of the 500-odd television channels, the I&B has issued notices to 164 such channels including Aaj Tak, Zee TV, NDTV 24x7, NDTV India, NDTV Profit, Sun TV, Sahara One, CNBC-TV 18 and India TV. At a...

The Indian government has reportedly refused to issue a press visa to Hasnain Kazim, a German journalist of Indian origin, so that he can base himself in India as the German weekly Der Spiegel's correspondent. Indian diplomats have acknowledged verbally to German officials that the failure to approve the visa request he made five months ago is linked to the fact that his articles are regarded as...

It was a project doomed to failure: a newspaper written, produced and sold by poor, “low-caste,” rural and barely literate women – in a local language. Now, it has won international recognition through the award of the 2009 UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize. Khabar Lahariya (the name means “News Waves”) was launched in May 2002 and today the 8-page fortnightly newspaper, published in local...

The Supreme Court has rejected a plea for putting curbs on the media and television channels from conducting sting operations. It held that any attempt to control and regulate the media from outside was likely to cause more harm than good, the Hindu has reported. A Bench consisting of Justices BN Agrawal, GS Singhvi and Aftab Alam, in its 175-page judgment in the RK Anand case, said: “It is not...

The Madras High Court has dismissed Union Minister A Raja’s plea for extension of stay restraining Tamil magazine Junior Vikatan from publishing articles relating to him and his family over allegations of irregularities in allocation of spectrum to telecom players, according to news reports. The Hindu had details on the case: [ Link] Dismissing an application in a civil suit, with costs of Rs.10...