PM concerned over paid news

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday expressed concern over the paid news syndrome,saying it was unfortunate that some journalists have forgotten the decorum of their profession for greed of lucre. He was speaking at the K C Kulish International Awards for excellence in print journalism,instituted by Hindi daily Rajasthan Patrika. The Indian Expresss Patna-based special correspondent,Santosh Singh,was among the awardees.

The others who also received the award are: New Crusading Guide,Ghana; Dayashankar Shukla,Hindustan,Lucknow; Matthew Verghese,Malayala Manorama; Neelesh Mishra,Hindustan Times,Delhi; R Joseph,Deepika and Akhtar Mirza,Daily Jang,Pakistan.

Saying that the media should engage in constructive debate,the PM said journalists do not remember that distorting news in the temptation of making it sensational can cause huge damage to society. I am confident that people concerned with the media will try to remove lacunae in the coming days, he said.