PAID NEWS SAGA- A STUMBLING BLOCK IN NATION BUILDING

Abstract

Mass media is called upon to play agenda setting role, but this role itself has undergone a
tremendous metamorphosis with the emergence of paid news syndrome in the country. Recently,
some newspapers and media houses are passing off untruth information in the guise of real news
items. The practice of paid news in India has been fuelling malpractices like advertorials, biased
opinionated news, yellow journalism etc. Today, paid news phenomenon has gone beyond the
individual journalist and has reached the organizational level of media establishments. Spreading
its tentacles across all news media of communication, it has become pervasive and highly
organized. It is not only undermining the fabric of democracy but also acting as a stumbling
block in nation building. As fourth estate of the democracy, the press should have contributed a
positive role. But, on the contrary, it is eroding the development of the society. This paper is a
humble attempt to dissect the present trends of paid news saga that stands as a big obstacle in the
role of nation building.