Tirupati: District election officer and collector P. S Pradyumna has clarified that political parties or candidates must obtain prior certification from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC), which is mandatory, to issue political advertisements in print and electronic media.
The meeting of the MCMC held in connection with the ensuing state Assembly election, 2019, was held at district collectorate office in Chittoor on Saturday. To keep a watch on election related news and features appearing in print and electronic media, earlier, a Media Monitoring Cell was established by the district administration.
Addressing the media persons, the collector said that the meeting primarily focuses on paid news and political advertisements. The committee constituted would be responsible for certification of advertisements, monitoring of news in print and electronic media and keeping records of all election-related news of candidates in the contest, he said.
“The committee members would verify the advertising contents, sought to be published by political parties, candidates or their supporters, before releasing them to the media. Any violation of the model code of conduct would also be monitored. This facility would help monitor whether poll-related expenditure incurred by the candidates were properly accounted for,” he added.
Meanwhile, during the meeting, MCMC Nodal officer Thimmappa, training officer Vidya Sagar gave a power point presentation on paid news and political advertisements. joint collector Kamala Kumari, MCMC members C.P. Rao and Srinivasa Murthy took part.
