A clear cut advertisement policy taking care of the interests of both the big and small newspapers in a transparent manner while also taking into consideration the needs of web media too, was highlighted by speakers at a stakeholders meeting convened by the Press Council of India (PCI) here on Monday.
Ad hoc release of advertisements by the Government, delay in finalising tariff sheets and billing, very few ads being released to the small and medium newspapers, denial of ads, etc., were among the issues that figured prominently when the PCI sub-committee headed by Gurinder Singh, convenor and Prabhat Kumar Dash, member, called upon representatives from several small and medium newspapers and periodicals to present their case.
The common refrain from the representatives was that the Information and Public Relations Department (I&PR) was not releasing sufficient number of advertisements to small newspapers and periodicals especially those belonging to the Urdu and Telugu media. “The charge against us is that we are not bringing out the issues regularly. But, we can print only if we get Government support in the form of ads,” they exclaimed. “For the last couple of years there have been no ads to the smaller Urdu newspapers. Accreditation and health cards too have been kept pending. The rates too are very low,” said Syed Akbar, one of the representatives. Mr. Singh said the TS Government could consider following the Centre’s DAVP categorised norms for releasing advertisements and wanted 50 per cent of ad budget be allocated to the smaller, regional newspapers.
I&PR’s Joint Director Nagaiah Kamble explained that the Government was releasing ads to any publication having assured printing over the last three months. “We are monitoring and taking action. A panel is also looking into tariff issue,” he said. PCI member K. Amarnath was present.
