EC plans to hire private firm to track its media coverage

New Delhi: With many states, including UP and Punjab, going to polls around the corner, the Election Commission is looking to hire a private agency to track the print, television, digital and social media space for coverage of issues concerning the electoral processes and the poll watchdog itself.

Sources said this is the first time that the Election Commission is hiring a separate agency to monitor media coverage. A Request for Proposal (RFP) to this effect has been floated by the public sector undertaking Broadcast Engineering Consultants India limited (BECIL), which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

As per the RFP, the agency will have to closely track all major print, television and online media, alongside social media platforms and the foreign press on the coverage of the Election Commission and the poll processes in different states.

Based on this coverage, it will have to generate periodic sentiment analysis reports, categorising the news reports or the opinion pieces into positive, negative and neutral. This analysis can also be based on certain keywords put forth by the EC. Additionally, the firm will be required to create an interactive dashboard for all platforms, where all such related content will be uploaded and can also throw up real-time notifications on poll-related developments.

The Election Commission's efforts to gain feedback over its decisions and other poll-related matters come in the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand Goa and Manipur going to polls in the first half of next year.

The poll watchdog in the past had drawn criticism from different corners for its stand on alleged violations of electoral processes.

The sources said the reason the poll body would want to hire its own agency is because it needs timely feedback from the ground, especially from the poll-bound states.

Ministries like the MEA have feedback agencies exclusively suited to their requirements and the EC also felt the need to have a specific agency tailored to its needs, the sources added.

Earlier this year, the Election Commission sought from the Madras High Court an order to stop the media on reporting on oral observations during hearing of cases related to elections. The Madras High Court had refused to entertain the petition. Subsequently, the Supreme Court had also declined a plea made by the EC on reporting of certain remarks made by the Madras High Court.