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India’s media is one of the nation’s great glories, with 250 radio stations, 850 TV channels and 93,000 registered newspapers and magazines. It is one of the few countries in the world where newspaper readership is growing.

But just how free is India’s free press? Shilpa Kannan investigates the growing concern over 'paid media', in which powerful business and political interests ensure they get favourable coverage. This takes many forms. Advertising content in newspapers is reprinted as straight news: politicians send the text of articles they want published directly to news outlets and pay cash fees for the privilege: or businessmen build cosy connections with media outlets. It is widely believed that many media outlets have 'rate cards', which outline the fees for positive coverage. Conflicts of interest abound: freelance journalists are frequently given fees for attracting advertising as well as reporting the news.

There have been over 1,400 cases where the Election Commission detected alleged paid news in polls in 17 states over the last four years. Now the Indian parliament has been considering legislation which will outlaw the practice – although detecting and proving it is likely to be tough.

Shilpa asks if the phenomenon is likely to be a threat to India’s democracy.

Picture: A man reads a newspaper in New Delhi, Credit: Rebecca Conway/AFP/Getty Images