Paid news is what everybody is talking about. This is coverage that is paid for, but not labelled as advertising. Meaning, it kind of looks like a normal newspaper story, except that everybody at some time or the other carries the same story in roughly the same language. There is political and general paid news. In the political genre, this not-so-smart practice had a major outing in the Lok Sabha elections of 2009, though it started much earlier. It became full blown with the Maharashtra elections last year, as this newspaper has told you, several times over. What does it cost, at its maximum? According to the leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, citing her personal experience in Madhya Pradesh last year, figuring in a positive light in all the papers that matter is ensured for a rough total of Rs. one crore. Another venerable MP from her party in a private conversation cited exactly the same figure for another state, Jharkhand. Does it win you an election? Not necessarily because ...more

Any event in the news for which the news challels/media is paid.