Trend of Paid News in Media: A Danger to Healthy Democracy

Today a number of people admit the fact that journalism, which was a mission before the Independence, has gradually turned to a tool for making money, expanding its marketing network more and more for profit. Entry of business tycoons in media and proliferation of many newspapers has led to a decline in professionalism and has diluted the quality of journalism, in general. This decline has come at both journalist and management level. According to the data released by the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), the total number of registered newspapers stood at 82, 337 of which 4853 new newspapers were registered during year 2010-11. The largest number of newspapers and periodicals registered in any language is in Hindi with a figure of 32, 793.