Media professionals favour a strong and independent regulatory body for the press to help curb practices like the 'paid news' syndrome. <br/><br/>At a panel discussion in New Delhi on 'Press Freedom: Fettered by Paid News', the participants said paid news, or advertisement masquerading as news, has been there earlier too but has come into the public domain recently.<br/><br/>They also felt that the Press Council for India does not have adequate powers to combat it.<br/>