Skip to main content

Modi wants ministries to begin media blitzkrieg to defend govt, PMO "allows" paid news in communication plan

Nripendra Misra
Our Representative
Rattled by adverse all-round criticism over the failure of his economic policies, including from within the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants his ministries to come up with an "effective communication strategy" for fighting adverse publicity. A note prepared by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has said that this "is essential for establishing proactive engagement with citizens.”
The communication plan attached with a Cabinet note sent by Modi's principal secretary Nripendra Misra to different ministries says that the "strategy" must include all or a combination of “publicity on television and national/ regional/ local newspapers" and "articulation of benefits on national and local media".
Other important thrusts would include "opinion piece articles in leading English, Hindi and regional dailies on the nature and scope of the decision and how it impacts people; bulletins on AIR News/AIR FM/Private FM radio stations; interviews on electronic media/radio and TV talk shows; and special mass media programmes", the guidelines add.
Insisting that the media blitzkrieg should be done “only after ensuring value optimization of such methods”, the guidelines say,the ministries should influence the social media through what it calls “personalised SMS texts, Whatsapp posts, video messages, mailers with such videos, images and captions” to keep citizens informed of their activities. It adds, Facebook posts are to be deployed to “tap its wider reader base”.
Wanting that all this should b done in a well-coordinated manner, the guidelines also include inserting "favourable" opinion pieces in newspapers and television channels, as well as getting independent experts to endorse the government’s schemes and decisions, adding, the ministries can also resort to paid promotions, too.
Allowing ministries to freely pay social media “influencers” to multiply the reach of its messages, the communication plan says, “Cabinet/CCEA [Cabinet committee on economic affairs] decisions and policies may be tweeted and shared on Facebook by other concerned ministries/departments also,” adding, “Other ministries and departments may individually link the cabinet and CCEA decisions with their respective plans and programmes etc.”
Comments a top scribe who has brought this to light, "This new strategy is considerably more detailed than the procedures followed earlier. Before this, ministries only prepared a press brief to be forwarded to the Cabinet."
Especially insisting on roping in proper experts for the communications job, the guidelines say, “It would also be advisable to reach out to influencers who have worked on a particular issue or are influencing voices on the particular issue”, adding, for example, “on National Health Policy, tweets and Facebook posts by leading doctors and health experts can have a strong impact”.
The new guidelines follow similar ones issued by the Union ministry for agriculture and farmers welfare, which floated a tender for a social media agency that can “provide amplification of digital marketing communication and messaging through planning and execution of a social media marketing activity across both paid media and non-paid media avenues”.This included, says a report, “planning and executing a ‘key influencer programme’ on social media platforms”, adding, the plan was to engage top 100 influencers in the industry to give a multiplying impact of its messages across social media.
When an agency sent in a query, wanting to know if they could engage with influencers of repute for such as Gul Panag, Ranveer Singh etc., as they would expect a monetary benefit, the ministry replied, it would "decide this as on required basis", adding, payments would be made "on actual for approved proposals.”

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Regional political dynamics 'leading to' institutional violence in SAARC University

By Sandeep Pandey*  South Asian University is a university set up in Delhi by member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives – which is open to students from all these countries. However, as SAARC is receiving little attention these days because of regional political dynamics, it appears as if SAU has lost significance too. Because of the hiatus in peace process between India and Pakistan, the Board of Governors of this University is dysfunctional.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.

'Vulgar display of wealth': Govt of India using G20 presidency for political, electoral gains

Counterview Desk  Seeking endorsement for a public statement on India's G20 Presidency, several people’s movements, trade unions and other civil society groups have come together to say that not only will G20 and its priorities “will worsen economic, social and climate crisis”, already, India’s presidency is being used “for vulgar display of pomp & for electoral gains.”