International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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Media Ethics in Transition: Navigating Fake News, Paid News, and Journalistic Credibility in Indian Newsrooms

Author(s) Dr. Pesara Venu Gopal Reddy
Country India
Abstract All the news media in India are in the midst of an ethical metamorphosis that is being driven by commercial concentration, electoral competition, platform-centric information flows and uncoordinated regulation. This paper discusses three interrelated challenges to credibility in Indian newsrooms: paid news, fake news and misinformation, and loss of trust. It is a documentary and secondary data design. It spans evidence from the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, Parliamentary replies to complaints in the Press Council of India, orders issued by the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority, fact-checking records by BOOM and Alt News and, last but not least, judicial rulings between 2020 and 2024. The study reveals that India was included in the list of 180 countries at 151st rank in 2025 as compared to the 161st position it occupied in 2023; that the number of complaints against paid news to the Press Council has gone up from 28 in 2023-24 to 290 in 2024-25; that the mainstream outlets themselves appear in the records of fact-checkers; and that self-regulation in broadcast media is not very active in sanctioning, with only 12 on 416 complaints. The paper argues these are not problems of the individual or the individual teacher, but part of a structural accountability gap. It calls for a multi-layered reform approach, including enforcing a new statute criminalizing paid news, establishing independent and transparent regulators, requiring disclosure of ownership and political advertising, strengthening newsroom verification, and promoting sustained media literacy.
Keywords Paid News, Fake News, Misinformation, Journalistic Credibility, Press Freedom, Media Regulation, and Media Ethics.
Published In Volume 7, Issue 3, May-June 2025
Published On 2025-06-04
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i03.91561
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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