Mediapersons told about guidelines for ads

The district-level Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) on Monday apprised media representatives of the guidelines pertaining to publication of advertisements issued by political parties in the run-up to the Assembly elections.

Deputy Director of Information and Publicity A. Prakash said it was mandatory to obtain permission from the office of the MCMC, which will function from Vartha Bhavan, before advertisements related to political parties or candidates are aired over Doordarshan, AIR, cable television and other forms of electronic media.

In case of advertisements issued for the print media, the cost of the advertisement will be included in tabulating the candidate’s election expenditure, he added.

Publicity materials, including pamphlets printed on behalf of any political party or candidate should compulsorily have details of the publisher, including the name, address and contact details, said Mr. Prakash.

The attention of the media representatives was drawn to the clause that prohibits publication of advertisements without the permission of the candidate or the political party.

Violation could lead to prosecution of the publishers.