In view of the approaching General Elections to the Lok Sabha, a State Level Awareness Workshop on EVM/VVPAT, Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC)/Media Matters for media persons was organized by the Chief Election Officer Nagaland at Hotel Japfü on Thursday. The workshop was organized with an intention to sensitize the media fraternity on media related regulations.
CEO Nagaland, Abhijit Sinha, in his address said that in a few days time, the Election Commission of India (ECI) would announce the Lok Sabha elections date.
Media persons need to learn about media related regulations, paid news, the MCMC and other related issues so that they can avoid committing mistakes, he added. He gave a slide-show presentation on the history of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) and clarified issues related to paid news and the MCMC.
Joint secretary, power & national level master trainer, Sara S. Jamir, in her slide-show presentation, showed that Paid News has been defined by the Press Council of India (PCI) as any news or analysis appearing in any media (print & electronic) for a price (cash or kind).
She said the PCI guidelines stated that news should be clearly demarcated from advertisement with disclaimers, and this practice should be strictly enforced by all publications.
Based on PCI guidelines, she said that as far as news is concerned, it must always carry a credit line and should be set in a typeface that will distinguish it from advertisements.
Dwelling on how Paid News can become a major cause of concern, Sara said it misleads the public, hampers their ability to form correct opinions, unduly influences voters and also affects citizens’ Right to Information.
According to Sara, this can be checked by making Paid News an electoral offence through amending the RP Act, 1951, using an expenditure ceiling mechanism, partnering with stakeholders (including political parties and media), and sensitizing people on the ill effects of Paid News. She added that the mechanisms to monitor Paid News are: Constitution of Media Certification & Monitoring Committee (MCMC), obtaining rate cards, sensitizing and training the media fraternity and organising media and political party workshops.
According to Sara, the ECI believes that a vibrant media and its involvement in the Indian elections is essential to the conduct of elections.
The media is considered a facilitator of transparency and accountability through debates and analysis, paving way for forming informed choices for voters. Absence of communication with the media can create difficulties in conduct of elections, therefore, according to Sara, there are two major aspects where authorities engage with the media during elections i.e. facilitation and regulation of media.
Among other topics, Sara also extensively covered positive engagement with media, authority letters, air time allocation to political parties, use and monitoring of social media, expenditures on campaigning through internet including social media websites, checking fake news on social media, strategies to counter fake news, new initiatives towards a sensitized electorate, media monitoring during elections, and media regulations.
Assistant chief electoral officer & NLMT, R. Mhathung shared on EVM/VVPAT administrative procedures.
An interactive and discussion session related to paid news, MCMC, and other subjects was held later.
The workshop was attended by media personnel of various organizations, DIPR staff, CEO staff and others.