POONCH, NOVEMBER 09: District Election Officer, Poonch, Mr. M H Malik convened a meeting of Media Persons including the local cable operators, representative of AIR Poonch and editors of local newspapers here today.
District Information Officer, Waqar Talib, Member of Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), K D Maini, local Cable operators, editors and correspondents of different newspapers and news channels attended the meeting.
Reminding the media persons of their role in a democratic setup and briefing them about the guidelines of the Election Commission of India on paid news and related matters, the DEO asked them to exercise self regulation with regards to the menace of paid news and sensitize their reporters not to indulge in this phenomenon which is assuming alarming proportions. He also informed them about the MCMC that has been constituted in the district election office for vigorous scrutiny of both print and electronic media for detecting suspected paid news cases and the guidelines of the ECI on how to check it. Malik said media has been one of the commission�s most powerful ally, its eyes and ears and he expects them to play the role of effective messenger in ensuring a free and fair election. Malik who is also the chairman of MCMC asked the local cable operators and AIR not to entertain any advertisements of political nature which have not been pre-certified by the district MCMC.
All the media persons assured full cooperation in making the forthcoming Assembly Elections a success.