Paid news: Did KA Paul buy “slot” in TV channels?

Evangelist turned politician KA Paul has suddenly become cynosure of all eyes in this election season. He is seen in almost all TV channels nowadays, he is giving interviews to them and even his statements are scrolled prominently in almost all the top channels. People are wondering why his statements are given so much importance by the media even when they don’t make much sense and they doubt whether he “bought” any slots in TV channels.

Concept of paid news:

The concept of paid news is not a new phenomenon in Indian media or Telugu media. If a politician spends amount on advertising his candidature, the amount spent needs to be revealed by the candidate to the election commission of India. There is a cut-off on the amount spent so that rich candidates do not get undue advantage in the elections.

However, Indian politicians are experts in circumventing such rules and regulations and there have been instances of political leaders doing ‘ motivated propaganda’ in the media on the pretext of news. Also, many people believe this concept is there in both print media and electronic media. Many people also believe, if one has an “agreement” with media, he may get good coverage of his activities or statements in the media in such a way that it will benefit them in elections.

Is screen space allotted to Paul in sync with his prospects or people aspirations?

People expect media to reflect the opinions or aspirations of people. However, to be frank, KA Paul’s party doesn’t have much prospects in the upcoming elections, even though he is claiming that his party will get 79 seats as per the surveys. Moreover, people are not taking seriously KA Paul’s statements or his politics. Yet, the proportion of screen space given to KA Paul’s statements and interviews in the electronic media shocking the people. Even his ridiculous claims are being scrolled in top TV channels.

Obviously, this is triggering many doubts among people whether media is doing this as part of the “agreement” they have with media. Moreover, Paul never hesitates to boast about his money power. He offered 100 crores to Vangaveeti Ranga if he joins Praja Shanti party. He also told he can bring crores of rupees as donations to the state. Whether his claims are real or not – we don’t know, but one thing is sure – he believes politics can be managed with money.

Overall:

By seeing media giving too much of coverage to KA Paul’s statements and his opinions, people getting doubts if the media is paid heftily by Paul. Moreover, given the facts that the same media not even giving coverage for the activities of other political parties like Janasena or communists even when lakhs of people attending their meetings, people getting such doubts is completely justified.

– Zuran (@CriticZuran)