-The Indian Express Learning from the success of Greyhounds, a special police unit in Andhra Pradesh, the Centre has approved funds to raise specialised forces in four Naxal-hit states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The special units will be trained in guerilla warfare and will be assisted by other Central forces during operations against the rebels. The four states will get funds to create and upgrade infrastructure, weaponry and equipment. The proposed...

-NewsLaundry.com Come election time, “paid news” is one of the most oft-heard phrases. News items on politicians can’t be explained away so easily anymore. Responding to reports of paid news during the Himachal Pradesh elections, the Press Council of India (PCI) for the first time set up a four-member Election Coverage Monitoring (ECM) Committee to look into incidents of paid news in the run-up to the Gujarat elections last December. Here’s the gist...

-The Business Standard News TV's martial music drowns out its responsibilities It should go without saying that the media has a role in informing and educating a citizenry about the issues of the day, providing background, context and holding the powerful to account. A case study in how not to go about this is currently being provided by the electronic media in its coverage of recent raids and counter-raids on the Line...

-Poynter.org It’s not often that two stories about rape — one in India and one here in the U.S. — get so much attention at the same time. What’s striking about the simultaneous stories is how differently journalists are covering them. The case in New Delhi involves a young woman who was raped so brutally that she died. The five men suspected of the rape now face charges of kidnapping, rape and...

-Jagran Post Jabalpur (MP): Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Friday released a report on Gujarat polls which claimed that the malpractice of paid news was noticed on a large-scale in the recently held elections.      Releasing the report before the media here, Katju said that the team has found large-scale practice of paid news, both in print and electronic media, in the recent Gujarat Assembly elections.      The...