Page 1 :
Self Learning Material, , Print Media in India: Growth, & Development, (MAJMC 102), Course: MA Journalism & Mass Communication, (Semester-1), , Distance Education Programme, , I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar
Page 2 :
Syllabus, MAJMC 102-PRINT MEDIA IN INDIA: Growth and Development, Unit- I, Invention of printing press and paper, Pioneer publications in Europe and USA, Beginning of printing in India; early origins of newspapers in India, Issues of political freedom and press freedom in India, Birth of Indian language press-contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Birth of the Indian news agencies, The Indian press and freedom movement; Mahatma Gandhi and his journalism; social,, political and economic issues before Independence and the Indian press;, Historical development of important newspapers and magazines in English, , Unit-II, Important personalities in Indian journalism (James Silk Buckhimgham, Kalinath Ray, Dyal, Singh Majithia, Surinder Nath Banerjee, Sadhu Singh Hamdard, Lala Jagat Narayan,), A brief overview of important newspapers and magazines:, -The Times of India, -Hindustan Times, -The Hindu, -The Indian Express, -The Tribune, -Statesman, -India Today, Outlook, Frontline, Tehelka, -Preet Lari, Unit-III, Press in India after independence, Social, political and economic issues and the role of the press regarding issues like reservation,, nationalization, privatization-globalisation, land reforms., , Unit - IV, Press in Punjab: Origin & development of Punjabi Press., -Press in Punjab after Independence, brief History of Ajit, Punjab Kesri group., -Role of the press during Punjabi Suba movement, militancy era, and on various other issues, -Current state of language press in Punjab, arrival of new newspapers, future prospects.
Page 4 :
Table of Contents, Chapter No., , Title, , Written By, , Page No., , 1., , Invention of printing press, paper, and Pioneer Publication, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 1, , 2., , Important personalities and birth, of Indian Language Press, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 16, , 3., , Birth of Indian News Agencies, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 29, , 4., , Indian Press and Freedom, Movement, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 45, , 5., , Mahatma Gandhi and his, Journalism, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 66, , 6., , Historical Development of Print, Media in English, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 81, , 7., , Important Personalities in Indian, Journalism, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 96, , 8., , Overview of Important magazines, in India, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 111, , 9., , Press in India after Independence, , Ms. Kirti Loomba, Assistant Professor, GNKC for, Girls, Ludhiana, , 131
Page 6 :
Lesson 1, , Invention of printing press, paper and pioneer publications, Structure:, 1.0 Objectives, 1.1 Introduction, 1.2 Printing and paper pioneers before 17th century, 1.3 Pioneers in the 17th and 18th century, 1.4 Status of Printing and Press in 19th century, 1.5 Early newspapers of Europe and USA, 1.6 18th and 19th century press in India, 1.7 Pioneers in Indian Journalism, 1.8 Summary, 1.9 Model Questions, 1.10 Glossary, 1.11 Suggested Readings, 1.12 References, , 1.0 Objectives, The main objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of the history of the printing press, and paper in the world. It also includes a brief outline of the pioneers of paper and printing press., , Page 1 of 173
Page 7 :
A reference to the first newsletter is also made in this chapter along with other information in a, chronological manner. Pioneers in Indian journalism is also made part of this chapter with, special reference to their initial papers., , 1.1 Introduction, The history of press, in the words of an American writer, is the story ―of humanity‘s long, struggle to communicate freely with each other, to dig out and interpret news and to offer, intelligent opinion in the market place of ideas.‖ Since Journalism is both an art and a profession,, the trend in modern journalism is to emphasize the professional aspect more than the artistic side., Man from time immemorial has been curious to know about the what, why and how of events, and objects in places far and near. Because of the communication gap, he tried to overcome in, various ways and the continuous striving and experimentation over a period of centuries, produced the journal and the newspaper., Before the invention of printing press in India, the news was given in inscriptions on walls of, temples and in copper plates and through victory coins and writing on rocks. Government, officials used to beat the drums, gather the population and announce the policies or decisions of, the government. In Europe, news was mainly carried by word of mouth. Kings and noblemen, had their own sources of news. Town criers made announcements of local interest. Wandering, ministers used to act as correspondents. They and gathered useful information for courtiers and, merchants and also tidbits of gossip which enlivened their stories. They embroidered their news, to make a good story as reporters today still sometimes do. There were no modern type of, newspapers or other media form for carrying news or information from one place to another., , 1.2 Printing and paper pioneers before 17th century, The modern newspaper came into existence in the 18th century. Before it, Wall posters were used, as newspapers in the Europe. It appeared for the first time in Venice in 1566. They were, popularly known as Notize Scritte and were displayed at public places. A small fee is charged, from its readers which was known as gazetta. This supplied the name of gazettes to the wall, , Page 2 of 173
Page 8 :
newspapers. They became quite popular and a Venetian magistrate had details of a battle being, fought in Dalamatia announced in the wall newspaper., The invention of paper was made in the second century by the Chinese but it reached Europe in, the 16th century. It was made from bark of a mulberry tree which was pounded and strained, through bamboo screens. Then, it was pressed into flat sheets and dried. The art of printing was, also discovered by Chinese. Wang Chieh published a book printed from blocks in 868 A.D. It, was the oldest book in the history of printing around the world. Movable types were used for the, first time by a Chinese, Pi Cheng, in 1045 A.D. The oldest evidence of this printing is a Buddhist, Scripture ―Diamond Sutra‖ in 868 A.D. It was done by carving the Chinese characters in relief, on wooden blocks, then spreading the raised surface of the block with ink and pressing the paper, on it. The ink was made from a mixture of lampblack and resin or gum., In 15th century, Johann Gutenberg, a German, built one of the earliest movable cast metal type, printing machines in Mainz. The first printing press was set up by William Caxton in England in, 1476. He brought printing to England from Bruges in Belgium, 21 years after the first book had, been printed in Mainz. He set up his printing press in London and printed a large number of, books and pamphlets. Till that time, printing was not used for news and it was through word of, mouth or private or semi private letters. These letters either carry foreign news or those written, by scribes which were employed by book sellers in London. All the foreign newsletters came, from Italy which was established as a news collection centre. The subscribers to these, newsletters were statesmen and businessmen. These mainly includes eight pages while the local, news were four pages long. The foreign newsletters came mainly from Italy which was then a, news collection centre. Here news came from all over Europe and was categorized under the, names of the town from where it was originated. These were mainly subscribed by statesmen and, businessmen from all over the continent. It was of eight pages whereas the London letters, containing local news were of four pages only., The publication of newsbooks started in 1513. They were very small in size and contained a, description of just one very important event of public interest. One of the title of the this type of, newsbook was Valiant Exploits of Sir Francis Drake., Activity 1:, Make a list of the pioneer publishers in the 15th and 16th century., , Page 3 of 173
Page 9 :
1.3 Pioneers in the 17th and 18th century, The invention of a modern type newspaper was in 1621 with a primitive news sheet called, Coranto in London. It was not a regular paper but were too specialized in content which satisfied, a long felt need. They were identified by name after 1624. The first report of domestic news, came with the publication of Parliamentary proceedings by the Westminister clerk in 1628. After, it ―Diurnals‖ were developed which were daily reports of local news. The oldest Diurnal was, John Thomas ―Diurnal occurrences‖ which first came out on November 29, 1641. In the words, of Anthony Smith, publication of news passed through four stages in Europe. They were as, follows:, 1. Relation/ Relacionn : It was the publication of a single story which was written after a, long time of the occurrence of an event. It often sufficed merely to mention the year in, which the event took place., 2. Coranto: It was a series of Relations and its invention was of primary importance as it, provided an account of the entire world affairs. The largest number of corantos were, printed by the Dutch. In it, the front page title changed from week to week. These were, circulated in many countries and in many languages., 3. Diurnal: It gave a weekly account of the occurrences of successive days. Robert Coles, and Samuel Pecke were the most prominent publishers of Diurnal in English. They, mainly covered Parliament affairs.They came out in profusion in the 1640‘s as attention, shifted from the Thirty years wars, which provided the main news for most of the, publications in Europe, to the domestic problems in England which were moving to a, civil war., 4. Mercury: It was the forth and the final stage. It was a news book which was written by a, journalist in order to grab reader‘s attention. It was more like a book which was published, section by section. The pages were numbered consecutively throughout the series from, week to week until the hazards of war or censorship. ―Intelligencer‖ was also developed, alongside Mercury which was more official. It used to cover a wide variety of subjects. It, , Page 4 of 173
Page 10 :
was an attempt to add new layers of information or entertainment whenever there seemed, to be a demand for them and the supply was at hand., The first periodical which was very close to the modern newspaper was ―Oxford Gazette‖ in, 1655. It was edited by one Muddiman, It was a bi-weekly paper published by Royal authority., After 24 issues, it became ―London Gazette‖. It continued till the 20th century. While in the 17th, century, technical and administrative framework was established for newspaper, its complete, form was developed in the 18th century., Party system in the government helped in the speedy development of the field of journalism., Political leaders used it for the purpose of social and political affairs. In the early days of, publication, it began with a description of events across immense geographical areas and did not, confine itself to a small local area. As the authorities realized the importance of printing, they, started controlling it through licence. The problem of censorship started from this time period, only. There was a fight between those who claimed that the public had a right to know and say, something and those who wanted to censor and use the press for their own personal purposes., The first daily newspaper ―Daily Courant‖ started on March11, 1702. It was produced by E., Mallet but it lasted only for a few days. It was revised by Samuel Buckley and set standards for, journalism. He did not want his paper to be a rumour mill and was determined that it should, report verified facts. He was impartial in the publication of news and was careful to indicate the, place and date for the news he published. He practiced what he preached. He printed on a single, sheet with advertisements on its back side. Maps and statistics were also used to explain his, reports., While the first London daily newspaper was published in 1702, it was not until one hundred and, fifty years later that a daily newspaper was issued from any part of England outside the capital, city. The main reason for this was poor transport and communication facilities. There were, heavy taxes which severely hit the newspapers. Stamp duty had to be paid on every copy of, newspaper that was sold. Tax was levied on every advertisement and there was a duty on paper., The years between 1870 to 1914 may fairly be described as the golden age of journalism from, the viewpoint of the owners., , Page 5 of 173
Page 11 :
Various famous writers emerged in the 18th century in England. It included Daniel Defoe,, Jonathan Swift and Henry Fielding. They never became full fledged members of this profession., Regularity of publication started when the postal services, printing capacity and supply of, material was sufficient. There were no means of checking statements made by any writer., Politics was the main area of news in England papers. The printer of a newspaper was the key, person in a newspaper organization and the editor was just a processor of materials. There was, no professional group for collecting the news. Parliament had become a place within which the, affairs of the nation were discussed. The power laid outside the chamber as well as in it and, parliamentary discussions were required to be spread through the new political world. There was, no organized or professional group that could provide an accurate and truthful version of events., Accounts of events were taken from hospitals, prisons, private newsletters and courts. This type, of material was sent directly by the source. The writers were free to express their views by, suppressing their identities., Till the end of the 18th century, England had a large number of newspaper reading rooms with up, to four score papers. Coffee cum newsroom were opened by many people. Through it, the, number of readers far exceeded the number of newspaper purchasers. Press became a more, active instrument of propaganda than a platform for the writers and journalists. William Coblett, was among the earliest to use this medium to build up a radical mass opinion. The newspapers in, this century were more synonymous to political bribery and journalistic slanderous., Activity 2:, Make a list of all the periodicals started in the 17th and 18th century in Europe and America., th, , 1.4, , Status of Printing and Press in 19 century, , A number of important technological advancements took place in the beginning of 19th century., The most important advancement was the systematic reporting of various speeches and debates., The process of shorthand in form of typewriter was developed. It led to a universal system of, journalism. It separated the correspondent from the reporter. It started satisfying readers, demands. The newspapers of the mid of the 19th century mainly consisted of shorthand reports of, speeches of various kinds. The reporter served as the medium. The editor was considered as the, boss. Previously, he was just considered as subordinate to the printer. The man who led to the, way to modern editorship was James Perry, editor of the Morning Chronicle. He made, , Page 6 of 173
Page 12 :
newspaper an organization presided over by a man skilled in delegation, arrangement and, judgements of various kinds about the world., After it, there was discovery of telegraph and telegram. Reporting from different places became, easy but expensive. It stepped towards the creation of a global village. News agencies came into, the scene and speed up the process of supply of news from all parts of the world. The leaders in, the field of news agencies were Thomas Phelippes, Charles Havas and Paul Julius Reuter. As the, news agencies supplied news, the requirement of a routine shorthand became less important., Lobby correspondents reported from the Parliament. The importance of a story became, important in a newspaper office. The Times was started in 1784 from England., The decade of 1880 and 1890 were considered as the golden age of journalism in England,, Europe and U.S.A. The importance of public opinion increased. The first American newspaper, was printed in Boston on April 24, 1704 by John Campbell named ‗Boston Newsletter‘. On, September3, 1833, ‗New York Sun‘ was started which was printed on four pages, each about, two-thirds of the area of the modern tabloid page. The front page was three columns wide and, devoid of any display. The stories were mainly local happenings. Within six months, it had the, circulation of 8000., In 1851, the world‘s greatest newspaper ‗The New York Times‘ was started. The price of the, paper was a penny and since its beginning, it was the paper of the masses. Joseph Pulitzer, a, famous publisher has been called as the American editor of modern times. He had immense, energy and highly developed journalistic skills which enabled him to adopt and to develop in his, own way the publishing concepts and techniques of his time. He considered it to be a day of loss, if his paper did not have one distinctive feature or a big exclusive story., Before 1860‘s, newspapers were being produced through single stamped sheets and in that year, rolls of paper were used successfully to make printing easier. Four thousand copies reeled off the, machine without interruption from rolls of paper three and a half miles in length. The first, version of the rotary press was developed by Richard Hoe in 1840 which he sold to a paris, newspaper. He found a simple way to fit the printed type round a cylinder which was then inked, by automatic rollers, while four smaller cylinders brought the sheets of paper in contact to it., More cylinders were added later meant a greater number of copies could roll down the rotary., , Page 7 of 173
Page 13 :
The problem of printing continuously and simultaneously was solved by Hippolyte Marinioni, who demonstrated his advanced rotary press in the Paris Exhibition in 1869. It enabled, successive sheets of paper of large or small size to be printed on both sides and then cut and, folded into piles of completed newspapers at a great speed., Activity 3:, Make a list of the major changes made in printing in the 19th century., , 1.5, , Early newspapers of Europe and USA, , The following table gives a list of popular papers of Europe and USA in a chronological order:, Year of publication, , Name of the Paper, , Place of publication, , Publisher, , 1655, , Oxford Gazette, , London, , Royal Authority, , 1702, , Daily Courant, , London, , E.Mallet, , 1704, , Boston Newsletter, , Boston, , John Campbell, , 1783, , Pennysylvania, Evening Post, , Philadelphia, , Benjamin Towne, , 1784, , The Times, , London, , John Walter, , 1833, , Sun, , New York, , Benjamin H. Day, , 1851, , New York Times, , New York, , H.J.Raymond &, G.Jones, , Self Assessment Questions, 1. What were the main stages through which publication of news passed in Europe?, Answer …………………………………………………………………………., ………………………………………………………………………………….., …………………………………………………………………………………, , Page 8 of 173
Page 14 :
2. Which were the early newspapers started in America?, Answer ……………………………………………………………………………., ………………………………………………………………………………………, ………………………………………………………………………………………, Answer Key, Answer 1. In the words of Anthony Smith, publication of news passed through four stages in, Europe. They were as follows:, 1. Relation/ Relacionn : It was the publication of a single story which was written after a, long time of the occurrence of an event., 2. Coranto: It was a series of Relations and its invention was of primary importance as it, provided an account of the entire world affairs., 3. Diurnal: It gave a weekly account of the occurrences of successive days. Robert Coles, and Samuel Pecke were the most prominent publishers of Diurnal in English. They, mainly covered Parliament affairs., 4. Mercury: It was the forth and the final stage. It was a news book which was written by a, journalist in order to grab reader‘s attention. It was more like a book which was published, section by section., Answer 2. A number of newspapers were stated in America during 18th and 19th century., It includes a number of popular papers like Boston Newsletter in 1704, Sun in 1833 and, Newyork Times in 1851., , 1.6 18th and 19th century press in India, Newspapers were started in India during the British rule. In the early years it was confined to the, interests of the ruling class only. The East India Company was always suspicious of journalists, and intolerant of criticism. The press in India controlled by Englishmen drew its strength from, the power of the press in England. Hicky, Buckingham, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, etc were the, , Page 9 of 173
Page 15 :
pioneers of newspapers in India. Their contribution to the field of press was commendable and, they set new standards for new journalists. They started many famous newspapers which were, used for protest against the alien rule. So, they had to face atrocities of the British rulers., , 1.7 Pioneers in Indian Journalism, The following were the pioneers of early newspapers in India:, 1. James Augustus Hicky : The credit for launching the first newspaper in India goes to, James Augustus Hicky. His paper ‗Bengal Gazette‘ was launched on January 29, 1780 in, Calcutta as a two sheet weekly. It was popular as a weekly political and commercial, paper open to all parties but influenced by none. It mainly included printed items from, English newspapers, letters from local readers and scandal of interest to the European, Community. It also had a column through which Hicky used to talk to his readers, directly. It soon became a witty paper which was disliked by Warren Hastings, the, Governor General. His fortunes began to decline when a rival appeared i.e. Indian, Gazette in the same year. It was a much better newspaper with four pages, each 16, inches long with three columns and well printed. He was very disappointed when postal, facilities were denied to him but granted to his rival paper. He was not popular with, officials and merchants. He used to hit people whom he disliked through his paper., Warren Hastings finally took action against him for defamation in June 1781. He was, convicted and sentenced to a year‘s imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 2000. When he, was in prison, Bengal Gazette continued to appear regularly and his column too. The, paper had greater public support. Another action was taken against him in March, 1782., As a result, the types for printing the paper were seized and it led to the end of Bengal, Gazette which was popularly known as Hicky‘s Gazette., This paper was the forerunner of many other journals and newspapers which were, started in Calcutta and other parts of the country. It includes Madras Courier, Hurkaru,, Bombay Herald, Indian Herald, Bombay Gazette, The Courier, etc., 2. James Silk Buckingham :, , James Silk Buckingham was another pioneer in Indian, , press. He was born in England in 1786 and was popular as a man of principles in the country., , Page 10 of 173
Page 16 :
Jawahar Lal Nehru described him as the earliest champions of the freedom of press in India . He, came to India in 1818 as the editor of the Calcutta Chronicle. He was a versatile editor and made, his paper a mixture of political, commercial and literary news and views. He was a scholar in, anthropology and literature. He was a keen observer of the customs and habits of the people, among whom he lived. He introduced to his readers Byron and Walter Scott and Washington, Irving., He laid emphasis on news of local conditions rather than fashions, the life of the people rather, than the social around and criticism rather than invective. He focused on the omissions and, commissions of the government‘s policy in his editorials. He also condemned social customs like, sati. He gave prominence to the news and views in Bengali and Persian journals and published a, summary in his paper. He was truly the father of Indian Journalism. With his advent, press, started discussing questions of public interest. He considered a well conducted press essential to, promote knowledge and dispel ignorance. He had revolutionary views about the press. The, Calcutta Journal under his guidance was considered to be the best produced newspaper in content, and presentation. His first encounter with the authorities came when he criticized the suppression, of Col. Rubison of the 20th regiment of the East India Company. Objections were raised to the, publication and prosecution was started against him., His example of courage set a tradition and was met with the government‘s alternate policy of, repression and liberalism. In England, Buckingham started the ‗Orient Herald‘ in which he, continued to expose the administration in India. He also advocated an elected Indian legislature, composed of an equal number of Indians and Englishmen, and recruitment to the Indian Civil, Service by open competition instead of by nomination. The main contribution of Buckingham to, Indian Journalism is that he made newspaper the mirror of the people. He was one of those, journalists who were born rather than made., 3. Raja Ram Mohan Roy : He was considered as the father of Indian Press by Nehru. He, was a linguist, scholar, social reformer and liberal thinker. He was also the champion of, the freedom of the press. He used print media as a vehicle for propagating his liberal, ideas. He launched a campaign against sati and other social evils like caste system, idol, worship, animal sacrifice from the Hindu society. He published Brahmanical Magazine in, English (1821), Sambad Kaumudi in Bengali (1821) and Mirat-ul-Akhbar in Persian, (1822). Brahmanical Magazine ceased to exist after few issues. On the other hand,, , Page 11 of 173
Page 17 :
Sambad Kaumudi was a news weekly dealing with political, social and religious subjects., It encouraged liberal outlook and became a great champion of civil liberty and rule of, law. It stood against the racial discrimination on the part of the Britishers. The paper was, of the view that education was for social betterment and awakening and favoured spread, of western medical science, technical and women education. It became bi weekly in, January 1830 and continued for 33 years. He started Mirat-ul-Akhbar with a purpose to, create social improvements but ceased its publication in protest of the Press Ordinance of, 1823. He encouraged other journalists for social awakening as his own direct interest was, opposed by many people. He was totally against the deportation of James Silk, Buckingham., He stood for a free press. He said that Indians should be told of the good institutions of, English. He favoured a policy of Judicious Colonisation of India by Europeans with, education and capital in order to expand India‘s contacts with the West and obtain their, technical knowledge. His high standards of political leadership and writing became the, intellectual basis of later political activity. He founded no political party but his political, doctrines were the keystones of liberalism and individualism in the 19th century. As a, social reformer, his aim was to provide a synthesis between the new liberal world of the, West and Hinduism. He also founded Brahmo Samaj. He encouraged language, journalism. Language Journals in Bengal carried articles and views on Hindu social, customs, government, need for medical education and market prices., 4. Dyal Singh Majithia : Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia was the founder of The Tribune. He, was the son of a family that had played a very important part in the history of the Sikh, state founded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. For three generations the family had provided, generals to the Maharaja‘s forces, and Dyal Singh‘s father was the head of the kingdom‘s, ordnance. A great advocate of Western education, he was largely responsible for the, setting up of Panjab University., Dyal Singh was a great philanthropist. He gave much in charity. It is significant that he decided, on the amount to be given away to charities in advance, depending upon the earnings in the, previous month. And this amount, once fixed, was not to be exceeded. He was accessible to all, , Page 12 of 173
Page 18 :
those who were seekers after truth. He rendered financial assistance to the needy, irrespective of, their religious beliefs. He was the most important Brahmo leader of Punjab and the principal, financier of the Brahmo Samaj. He was made a trustee of the Brahmo Samaj Mandir in Calcutta., Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable pioneers who led India, out of the darkness of ignorance to the enlightenment of modernity. He did for North India what, Raja Rammohun Roy had done for Bengal three quarters of a century earlier., He had come to the conclusion well before 1880 that India‘s salvation lay in the education of the, masses. He insisted on spreading English education, and established a college of the most, modern kind. The establishment of The Tribune was another noteworthy contribution by him., The aim of the newspaper was to spread the doctrine of Indian nationalism and to bring about, unity in a society that was afflicted by differences on questions of religion, caste, language and, region. His nationalism was also reflected in his strong support for the foundation of the Indian, National Congress., 5. Kalinath Ray : Kalinath Ray was the former editor of a popular daily The Tribune. He was, a fearless writer who bravely faced the risks involved in fighting an alien government. He, emerged as an undisputed leader for the press in Punjab. So when he was sent to jail for, two years in 1919, the whole of the Punjab and its people rose as one man in protest of, his imprisonment. In the face of determined opposition, he was released after three, months., For him, Gandhiji said, ― Long live Kalinath Ray. His articles now-a-days on the communal, problem and on joint electorates for Harijans bear witness to his deep knowledge and wide, experience.‖ He had his differences with Gandhi as he did not believe in non violence and the, methods adopted by Gandhi to achieve freedom. According to Amolok Ram, a former editor,, ―Ray, who edited The Tribune for 28 years was known for his uprightness, integrity, sobriety and, independence. He did not allow his judgement to be influenced by personal or sectarian, considerations.‖, , Page 13 of 173
Page 19 :
Although The Tribune was an uncompromising critic of British rule, Ray commanded great, respect even among the British bureaucrats of the day. He maintained the highest journalist, standards. He did not indulge in character assassination, nor in hitting below the belt., Ray emerged with chronic asthma from prison and passed away in 1943. The Tribune passed, through many ups and downs until the final calamity in 1947 when on the eve of independence,, two of its staff members were stabbed and the publication in Lahore was suspended., Activity 3:, Make a list of pioneer publications in India during the 18th and 19th century., , 1.8 M Summary, The present printing technology has undergone a large number of changes before coming to its, present colourful and attractive printing. It had passed from a number of stages like block, printing to movable type to rotary press. Most of the papers pioneered their publications in the, 18th and the 19th century. They adopted the latest technological advancements in a very, appropriate manner and developed new standards for the present journalistic styles. The pioneers, of press in India were Hicky, Buckingham, Dyal Singh Majithia, Kalinath Ray, etc., , 1.9, , Model Questions, , 1. Who were the pioneers of printing in the field of journalism?, 2. Throw light on the various technological advancements which took place in priting in the 18th, century., 3. Write a note on the pioneer publications of Europe., 4. Give an account of the various stages through which the printing press has undergone to its, present status., , 1.10 Glossary, 1. Diurnals -, , Daily reports of local news., , 2. Movable Type Printing - Printing and typography using movable pieces of metal type., , Page 14 of 173
Page 20 :
3. Letterpress Printing - Movable type is locked into a bed of press and inked and paper is, pressed against it., 4. Offset Printing – The inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket., 5. Rotary Printing – A technique in which images to be printed are curved around a cylinder., , 1.11, , Suggested Readings, , 1., , Rangaswami Parthasarthy, , 2., , B.N.Ahuja, , 3. Keval J Kumar, 4. Helmut Kipphan, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Theory and Practice of Journalism (Surjeet Publications), Mass Communication in India, Handbook of Print Media :Technologies and Production Methods, , 1.12 References, 1. Natarajan, S., A History of the Press in India, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1962., 2. Emery, Edwin & Emery, Michael, The Press and the America, Prentice Hall, Englewood, Cliffs (N.J.)1978., 3. Newspaper History: From the 17th century to the Present Day. Edited by George Boyce,, James Currant and Paul Wingate, Constable, London, 1978., 4. Partasarthy, Rangaswamy, Journalism in India, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., , Page 15 of 173
Page 21 :
Lesson 2 Important Personalities and Birth of Indian Language Press, , Structure:, 2.0 Objectives, 2.1 Introduction, 2.2 Important Personalities in Indian Journalism, 2.3 Beginning of Language press, 2.4 Contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, 2.5 Restrictions on language press, 2. 6 Summary, 2.7 Model Questions, , 2.8 Glossary, 2.9 Suggested Readings, 2.10 References, 2.0 Objectives, The main objective of this lesson is throw light on the contributions made by some important, personalities in Indian Journalism. It includes the works of S.N. Banerjee, Sadhu Singh, Hamdard, etc. Besides it, the other objective of this chapter is to know the history of language, press in the country. It also provides a brief reference to the issues before language press as well, as the restrictions imposed by the British government on the regional papers. The contribution of, Raja Ram Mohan Roy is also discussed in this chapter as he fought for the freedom of press in, India., , Page 16 of 173
Page 22 :
2.1 Introduction, The language press has gained a great position in Indian Journalism. The number of newspapers, and magazines in regional languages are increasing day by day. They are also getting popular at, the national level. It has contributed a lot in the process of National Development. A number of, supplements have also been added to the language press in order to make it more popular. These, papers have achieved new heights in the recent past., , 2.2 Important Personalities in Indian Journalism, 1. S.N.Bannerjee : S N Banerjee was one of the earliest politicians in the pre independence era, of India. He established Indian National Association which was later merged with Indian, National Congress. At a very young age, he cleared the British instituted ICS examinations, but, was dismissed due to racial discrimination. He whipped up a strong protest against this. Later on,, Banerjee became a senior member of the Indian National Congress. Born on 10 November 1848, at Calcutta in West Bengal, Surendranath Banerjee was intensely swayed by the liberal,, progressive thinking of his father, Durga Charan Banerjee., In the time to come, Banerjee went on to launch 'The Bengali' newspaper and the Indian National, Association in 1876. He employed these forums to address political and social issues like the, age-limit for Indian students appearing for ICS. He rebuked the racial discrimination practiced, by the British officers through public speeches all over the country, which made him very, popular. After the Congress was set up in 1885 at Bombay, Banerjee merged his Indian National, Association with it owing to their common agenda. He served as Congress President in 1898 and, 1904., 2. Sadhu Singh Hamdard: Sadhu Singh Hamdard was a double barreled journalist who, excelled in both urdu and Punjabi. He was also an innovative poet. In 1944, Sadhu Singh, entered the field of journalism. He took up editorship of the Daily Ajit (Urdu) and, retained this position until 1957. In 1955, he also became chief editor of' the Punjabi Ajit., The birth of the Ajit was an entirely new phenomenon in Punjabi journalism. It marked a, new era of change and experimentation. In Sadhu Singh's hands, Punjabi journalism, , Page 17 of 173
Page 23 :
matured and reached new heights. The Ajit and Sadhu Singh Hamdard became, synonymous terms as he had nurtured the paper very lovingly. Sadhu Singh set its, permanent seal on Punjabi journalism. He created a new taste in Punjabi writing and, introduced several new techniques. His services to Punjabi journalism, to what he did to, give it a new face and format, were widely acknowledged., In 1963, the Punjab Government honoured him with the title of Shiromani Pattarkar (the, journalist of the year). He was chairman of the reception committee of All India Newspapers, Editors Conference held at Jalandhar in 1973. He also edited two monthly magazines Tasvir and, Drishti. Within his lifetime, he converted all his property and assets into a public trust for the, advancement of Punjabi culture and letters., As a poet, Sadhu Singh Hamdard will be especially remembered for popularizing the ghazal, form in Punjabi. His collection of Punjabi poems in this genre, entitled Ghazal, won him a first., prize from the Punjab Government in 1963. He also wrote some novels built around heroic, episodes from Sikh history as well as some short stories. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,, awarded him the Ph.D. degree for his thesis on "Origin and Development of the Punjabi Ghazal.", He was a fellow of GNDU and a member of its Syndicate. He was also a member of the, Advisory Committee of the Languages Department and Press Advisory Committee of the Punjab, Government, and of the Indian Academy of Letters (1973-1978). He was also president of the, Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha (luring 1972-79 and founder-president of Bazm-i-Adab (Urdu)., Activity 1:, Make a list of the contributions made by Sadhu Singh Hamdard to Indian Journalism., , 2.3, , Beginning of Language press, , The first periodical in an Indian language was ‗Dig Darshan‘ started in April 1818 in Bengali. It, covered a large number of subjects like economics, politics, science, history, trade, etc. A weekly, paper ―Samachar Darpan‖ was also started in 1818, both in English and Bengali and survived, till 1890. Both these papers were started by the Baptist Mission at Calcutta for religious, propaganda. These papers focused on women education also., , Page 18 of 173
Page 24 :
Afterwards, a number of newspapers came into existence in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.At, that time, Bombay was a busy commercial centre and merchants were mainly from Gujrat who, were eager to know news about the rate of commodities and shipping intelligence. So, the, English newspapers started publishing advertisements in Gujrati from 1797. Another paper,, Bombay Samachar, which was a Gujrati weekly with news of commercial interest was started by, Marzban in 1822. It is considered to be the oldest living Indian language newspaper of India. So,, the birth of Indian Journalism could be traced to the second and third decades of the 19th century., Most of the journals and papers were in Bengali and Gujrati., The language press in its initial years focused on two fronts, i.e. Social reform and political, progress. With the entry of Gandhi in the Indian political scenario, language papers sprang up all, over the country. Due to lack of facilities, they suffered a lot in the hands of the alien rulers., Many papers tried to survive because of their courage and sacrifices by their leaders. In the, beginning, Hindi press focused more on social and religious questions. The earliest Hindi, newspaper was ‗Oodunt Martand‘ by Jooghul Kishore Sookool from Calcutta in 1826. He was, denied postal facilities by the government. The first daily Hindi newspaper was ‗Samachar, Subha Varshan‖ in 1854 with Shyam Sunder Sen as its editor. Other popular Hindi papers were, Benaras Akhbar, Sudhakar, Tathwa Bodhini, etc. A paper named AJ was started from Benaras in, 1920 and it played an important role in the freedom struggle. By 1924, there were around 102, Hindi newspapers., Urdu newspapers like Fawaid-ul-Nazarin, Kiran-us-Sadai and Akmal-ul-Akhbar were also very, popular at that time. Al Hilal marked a turning point in the history of Urdu Journalism and, achieved news heights within a short spam of time., The credit for language journalism in India goes to Bengali papers. Many of the popular, journalists were also from Bengal. It includes S.N.Bannerjee, Aurobindo Ghosh, Bipin Chandra, Pal etc. The Bengali papers suffered a lot after the Mutiny of 1857. The most popular Bengali, papers were Samachar Darpan, Sambad Kaumudi, Banga Dharshan, etc. Another important, paper in the history of Bengali Journalism was Ananda Bazar Patrika., Malayalam papers like Malayala Manorama was not only involved in the freedom struggle but it, also fought against autocracy in a princely state. Due to this, its publication was stopped for nine, , Page 19 of 173
Page 25 :
long years. The Marathi and Gujrati papers were also very active in the latter half of the 19th, century. It includes Dynan Prakash (1849), Kesari and Lokmanya (1920). Sakal, a Marathi paper, which was published from Pune, occupied a place of pride. The Hitechu was the first Gujrati, daily which emerged in 1873., Similarly, Kannada Journalism is over 140 years old. The first Kannada newspaper was, Mangaloora Samachara started in 1843 from Mangalore. Tilak exercised a great influence on the, Kannada Press in the fisrt two decades of the 20th century. The most widely circulated Kannada, daily is Prajavani started in 1948 as a sister concern of the Deccan Herald. In Telgu, the first, news weekly was Andhra Prakasika in 1885 and it acted as a supporter of the National Congress., As compared to other languages, Tamil Journalism was a little bit slow towards the end of the, 19th century. The first Tamil paper was Swadeshamitran which was stated in 1882., Activity 2:, Make a list of the pioneer newspapers launched in various languages of India., , 2.4 Contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Raja Ram Mohan Roy was considered as the father of Indian Press by Nehru. He was a, linguist, scholar, social reformer and liberal thinker. He was also the champion of the, freedom of the press. He used print media as a vehicle for propagating his liberal ideas., He launched a campaign against sati and other social evils like caste system, idol, worship, animal sacrifice from the Hindu society. He published Brahmanical Magazine in, English (1821), Sambad Kaumudi in Bengali (1821) and Mirat-ul-Akhbar in Persian, (1822). Brahmanical Magazine ceased to exist after few issues. On the other hand,, Sambad Kaumudi was a news weekly dealing with political, social and religious subjects., It encouraged liberal outlook and became a great champion of civil liberty and rule of, law. It stood against the racial discrimination on the part of the Britishers. The paper was, of the view that education was for social betterment and awakening and favoured spread, of western medical science, technical and women education. It became bi weekly in, January 1830 and continued for 33 years. He started Mirat-ul-Akhbar with a purpose to, , Page 20 of 173
Page 26 :
create social improvements but ceased its publication in protest of the Press Ordinance of, 1823. He encouraged other journalists for social awakening as his own direct interest was, opposed by many people. He was totally against the deportation of James Silk, Buckingham., He stood for a free press. He said that Indians should be told of the good institutions of, English. He favoured a policy of Judicious Colonisation of India by Europeans with, education and capital in order to expand India‘s contacts with the West and obtain their, technical knowledge. His high standards of political leadership and writing became the, intellectual basis of later political activity. He founded no political party but his political, doctrines were the keystones of liberalism and individualism in the 19th century. As a, social reformer, his aim was to provide a synthesis between the new liberal world of the, West and Hinduism. He also founded Brahmo Samaj. He encouraged language, journalism. Language Journals in Bengal carried articles and views on Hindu social, customs, government, need for medical education and market prices., Self Assessment Questions, 1. What were the major contributions made by Raja Rammohan Roy during the 19th, century?, Answer ……………………………………………................................................, ……………………………………………………………………………………., ……………………………………………………………………………………., , 2. What were the early papers started in language press in India., Answer …………………………………………………………………….., ………………………………………………………………………………, ………………………………………………………………………………, , Page 21 of 173
Page 27 :
Answer Key, 1., , Raja Ram Mohan Roy was considered as the father of Indian Press by Nehru. He, , was also the champion of the freedom of the press. He published Brahmanical Magazine, in English (1821), Sambad Kaumudi in Bengali (1821) and Mirat-ul-Akhbar in Persian, (1822). Brahmanical Magazine ceased to exist after few issues. On the other hand,, Sambad Kaumudi was a news weekly dealing with political, social and religious subjects., It encouraged liberal outlook and became a great champion of civil liberty and rule of, law. It became bi weekly in January 1830 and continued for 33 years. He started Miratul-Akhbar with a purpose to create social improvements but ceased its publication in, protest of the Press Ordinance of 1823. He encouraged other journalists for social, awakening as his own direct interest was opposed by many people. He was totally against, the deportation of James Silk Buckingham., He stood for a free press. He said that Indians should be told of the good institutions of, English. He founded no political party but his political doctrines were the keystones of, liberalism and individualism in the 19th century. As a social reformer, his aim was to, provide a synthesis between the new liberal world of the West and Hinduism. He also, founded Brahmo Samaj. He encouraged language journalism. Language Journals in, Bengal carried articles and views on Hindu social customs, government, need for medical, education and market prices., 2. The first periodical in an Indian language was ‗Dig Darshan‘ started in April 1818 in, Bengali. A weekly paper ―Samachar Darpan‖ was also started in 1818, both in, English and Bengali and survived till 1890. Both these papers were started by the, Baptist Mission at Calcutta for religious propaganda., Afterwards, a number of newspapers came into existence in Bombay, Calcutta and, Madras. Another paper, Bombay Samachar, which was a Gujrati weekly with news of, commercial interest was started by Marzban in 1822. It is considered to be the oldest, living Indian language newspaper of India. So, the birth of Indian Journalism could, be traced to the second and third decades of the 19th century. Most of the journals and, papers were in Bengali and Gujrati., , Page 22 of 173
Page 28 :
The earliest Hindi newspaper was ‗Oodunt Martand‘ by Jooghul Kishore Sookool from, Calcutta in 1826. He was denied postal facilities by the government. The first daily Hindi, newspaper was ‗Samachar Subha Varshan‖ in 1854 with Shyam Sunder Sen as its editor. Other, popular Hindi papers were Benaras Akhbar, Sudhakar, Tathwa Bodhini, etc. A paper named AJ, was started from Benaras in 1920 and it played an important role in the freedom struggle. By, 1924, there were around 102 Hindi newspapers., Urdu newspapers like Fawaid-ul-Nazarin, Kiran-us-Sadai and Akmal-ul-Akhbar were also very, popular at that time. Al Hilal marked a turning point in the history of Urdu Journalism and, achieved news heights within a short spam of time., The most popular Bengali papers were Samachar Darpan, Sambad Kaumudi, Banga Dharshan,, etc. Another important paper in the history of Bengali Journalism was Ananda Bazar Patrika., Malayalam papers like Malayala Manorama was not only involved in the freedom struggle but it, also fought against autocracy in a princely state. The Marathi and Gujrati papers were also very, active in the latter half of the 19th century. It includes Dynan Prakash (1849), Kesari and, Lokmanya (1920). Sakal, a Marathi paper which was published from Pune, occupied a place of, pride. The Hitechu was the first Gujrati daily which emerged in 1873., The first Kannada newspaper was Mangaloora Samachara started in 1843 from Mangalore., Tilak exercised a great influence on the Kannada Press in the fisrt two decades of the 20th, century. The most widely circulated Kannada daily is Prajavani started in 1948 as a sister, concern of the Deccan Herald. In Telgu, the first news weekly was Andhra Prakasika in 1885, and it acted as a supporter of the National Congress. The first Tamil paper was Swadeshamitran, which was stated in 1882., , 2.5, , Restrictions on language press, , The freedom of Indian press was in trouble since the early years of the 19th century. The first, such restriction was imposed on May 13, 1799 when Wellesley issued guidelines for the papers, published in Calcutta that every printer had to print his name at the bottom of the paper and precensorship of the papers. The penalty was immediate deportation., , Page 23 of 173
Page 29 :
More strict regulations were issued in 1823 by John Adam, the acting Governor General. It, provided for obtaining a licence before printing or publishing anything. In his view, freedom of, press was a threat to country‘s rule. It also provided that a licence could be attached by, government and disposed of in the case of offending newspapers. There was a great criticism of, these press laws till Sir Charles Metcalfe revised, , them. He realized the importance of a, , reasonably unrestricted press fulfilling the functions of providing information along with healthy, criticism of government policies. He was a whole time servant of the East India Company. He, provided freedom to the Indian press and also made English the official language. He helped, Lord Bentick in formulating a policy of tolerance towards the press., Metcalfe succeeded Bentick for a short period of time. During that time, he got an opportunity to, revise the press laws in response to a memorandum received from the profession. He repealed, the clause of pre-publication licensing and substituted it by registration under which an, individual was free to print without permission. In case, the published content was seditious, he, would be liable for punishment. Due to his attitude towards the press, the title of ―Liberator of, Indian Press‖ was given to him., The liberties granted by Metcalfe remained in force till 1856 and he earned the disapproval of the, Board of Directors at home who charged him with going back on past directives. He did not, relented and thereby lost the chance of being the Governor General permanently. His regulations, can be summarized in the following points:, 1. He said that printer and publisher should make a declaration about the name and the place, of their residence and of the printing press., 2. If there is any change in the name and address, a fresh declaration is to be made., 3. For non-filing of declaration, a punishment of Rs.5000 plus two years imprisonment was, decided., 4. Press could be closed by anyone by simply making a declaration., 5. These restrictions were limited only to the commissioned servants., , Page 24 of 173
Page 30 :
Due to liberated policies of Metcalfe regarding press, there was a considerable increase in, the circulation and the number of newspapers in Indian and English languages. He, surpassed Raja Ram Mohan Roy as well as James Silk Buckingham in case of freedom of, press., At the time of the first war of independence in 1857, the Governor-General Lord, Canning, formulated the Gagging Act. This act reintroduced Adam‘s restrictions and, regulations of 1823 and required the printing presses to obtain a license for publishing., The government was empowered to ban the publication or circulation of any newspaper,, book or printed matter. These restrictions were on all the papers. It operated for one year., Due to it, many newspapers were prosecuted. It continued till June 13, 1858 when the, Indian administration passed into the hands of Queen Victoria., Another major restriction on Indian Press was made in the form of the Vernacular Press, Act in 1878. According to this act, the printers and the Indian publishers of language, newspapers were required to execute a bond that they would not publish anything that, would increase the feelings of disaffection against the alien government. Under it, any, district magistrate or police commissioner was empowered to force the printer and, publisher of a newspaper to agree not to publish certain kind of material, to demand, security and to confiscate any printed matter it found objectionable. This Act was the, greatest blow to the freedom of the Press in India and the Indian language papers suffered, the most because of this law., Activity 2:, Make a list of the various press laws passed in India since 1857., , Self Assessment Questions, 1. What were the major restrictions made on language press by the British Government?, Answer ……………………………………………………………………………….., ………………………………………………………………………………………., ………………………………………………………………………………………, , Page 25 of 173
Page 31 :
2. Make a summary of the regulations made by Metcalfe for the language press., Answer……………………………………………………………………………, ……………………………………………………………………………………., ……………………………………………………………………………………., Answer Key, 1. A number of restrictions and obstacles were made on Language press by the ruling, government. It includes, , , Every printer had to print his name at the bottom of the paper and precensorship of the papers. The penalty was immediate deportation., , , , Obtaining a licence before printing or publishing anything., , , , A licence could be attached by government and disposed of in the case of, offending newspapers., , 2. The regulations made by Metcalfe for the language press can be summarized in the, following points:, , , He said that printer and publisher should make a declaration about the name, and the place of their residence and of the printing press., , , , If there is any change in the name and address, a fresh declaration is to be, made., , , , For non-filing of declaration, a punishment of Rs.5000 plus two years, imprisonment was decided., , , , Press could be closed by anyone by simply making a declaration., , , , These restrictions were limited only to the commissioned servants., , 2. 6 Summary, The language press in India started in the 18th century and had undergone a number of changes to, attain its present status. It contributed a lot in the freedom movement of the country. Various, , Page 26 of 173
Page 32 :
famous writers and journalists were the part of this language press. It had to face a large number, of atrocities of the alien rulers as well as the various press restrictions but it surpassed everything, to attain political freedom as well as the freedom of press in the country., , 2.7 Model Questions, 1. Write a note on the birth of the Indian language press., 2. What were the various press laws passed during the British regime in India?, 3. Throw light on the contribution of Raja Ram Mohan Roy to language press., 4. Elaborate the role of Bengali press in Indian journalism., 5. Discuss the role played by regional papers in the freedom struggle of the country., , 2. 8 Glossary, 1. Dig Darshan : It was the first paper started in a regional language in India., 2. Oodunt Martand: It was one of the earliest newspaper started in Hindi language., 3. Raja Rammohan Roy : Father of Indian Journalism, 4. Swadeshamitran : It was the first paper started in tamil language in India., , 2.9, , Suggested Readings, , 1., , Rangaswami Parthasarathy, , 2., , B.N.Ahuja, , 3. Helmut Kipphan, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Theory and Practice of Journalism (Surjeet Publications), , Handbook of Print Media :Technologies and Production Methods, , 2.10 References, 1. Emery, Edwin & Emery, Michael, The Press and the America, Prentice Hall, Englewood, Cliffs (N.J.)1978., , Page 27 of 173
Page 33 :
2. Newspaper History: From the 17th century to the Present Day. Edited by George Boyce,, James Currant and Paul Wingate, Constable, London, 1978., 3. Partasarthy, Rangaswamy, Journalism in India, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.I, 4. Krishnamurthi, Nadig, Indian Journalism, University of Mysore, Mysore, 1966., , Page 28 of 173
Page 34 :
Lesson 3, Birth of Indian News Agencies, , Structure:, 3.0 Objectives, 3.1 Introduction, 3.2 Indian News Agencies, (i) PTI, (ii) UNI, 3.3 Other News Agencies, 3.4 Status of News Agencies during emergency, 3. 5 Summary, 3.6 Model Questions, 3.7 Glossary, 3.8 Suggested Readings, 3.9 References, , 3.0 Objective, The main objective of this lesson is to provide information regarding the various news agencies, working in India. It also includes a reference to their ownership as well as their working, , Page 29 of 173
Page 35 :
environment. Various global and national news agencies are discussed in detail with special, reference to their historical development as well as present scenario., , 3.1, , Introduction, , A news agency is an organization which deals with news coverage along with the interpretation, of the important political and economic events. According to UNESCO, a news agency is, ―an, undertaking of which the principle objective, whatever its legal form, is to gather news and news, material of which the sole purpose is to express or present facts, and to distribute this to a group, of news enterprises, and in exceptional circumstances to private individuals with a view to, providing them with as complete and impartial a news service as possible against payment, and, under conditions compatible with business laws and usage.‖, Therefore, news agencies were classically defined as ‗wholesale media‘ gathering news for the, purpose of distributing it to other ‗retail media‘, mainly newspapers and broadcasters, who, packaged news agency news for their own distinctive readers and audiences. It plays an, important role in shaping public opinion on crucial important national and international news., These agencies do not directly deal with the public but works through other media like TV,, Radio and Press., News agencies can be said to have been among the highly visible manifestations of, ‗globalization‘ in the 19th century, a process of the interlinking of different national economics, through the activities of transnational economic and financial trade. Its identity has a variety of, geographical markets. They gather news independently from most countries of the world and, sent it to its clients in most countries, each of these has a long established national identity. Most, celebrated global print news agencies are AFP, AP and Reuters. The USA became the only, country to have two global news agencies in the world‘s market. Of these three big news, agencies, Reuters has become spectacularly wealthy as a result of a 1970‘s redirection of core, business towards computer used information and transaction services for financial markets. The, other two major agencies, AP and AFP, control substantial worldwide human resource and, communication assets, but they do not typically generate substantial revenues in excess of, operating expenditures, nor have they been constituted for that purpose. Both these agencies, derive the largest share of their revenues from their domestic markets. A brief profile of these, international agencies are as follows:, , Page 30 of 173
Page 36 :
(i) Reuters : Its first bureau was opened at Royal Exchange, London, in 1851. Reuters, Economic Service is the largest International Commerce and business news service., Reuters is the largest international multi-media news agency, reporting extensively, from around the world on topics ranging from financial markets to general and, political news. The world relies on Reuters journalists to provide accurate, clearly, sourced accounts of events as they occur, wherever they occur, so that individuals,, organizations and governments can make their own decisions based on the facts., (ii) Associated Press (AP) : It was founded in 1848 as a co-operative, non-profit making cooperation and its entire source of revenue is subscription by members. It is the only, agency which has laid down its rules that it should not enter into any bidding deals, with and government or government institutions, for fear of having its services, utilized for propaganda purposes. Control of AP is vested solely in its members. It, gives the same type of service to its members in America and abroad. It makes, available to Reuters‘ its news at New York; Reuters‘ make it available to London but, neither AP nor Reuters has access to the other‘s international file. It also has a strong, digital network offering 1000 photos a day worldwide, and a 24- hour continuously, updated online news service., (iii) Agence France Presse (AFP) : It was founded in 1835, under the name of Agence Havas, in Paris. In 1857, Havas signed a contract for distribution of news with the Associated, Press of America. Earlier, it signed contracts with Wolff and Reuters also. Its website, in August 2000 claimed that the agency had bureaus in 165 countries, and employed a, full time staff of around 2000. It distributes 2 million words, 250 photos and 80, graphics each day in six languages and claims to serve a total of 10000 media clients, either directly or through national agencies., Activity 1:, Make a list of famous global news agencies along with the areas covered by them., , 3.2, , Indian News Agencies, , Page 31 of 173
Page 37 :
National news agencies are often the largest domestic news gathering organizations, connecting, central and peripheral media in a network with the national agency at its centre, collecting news, from the different provinces, compiling a service of national and regional news for national, dissemination. The global agencies supply their international news services to national agencies., Media members of a national news agency co-operative increasingly find themselves subsumed, within larger international corporations that have little sensitivity or respect for local news, markets, needs or customs, and have a strong interest in cost reduction and profit maximization., , In India, news agencies were started with a purpose to support newspapers in order to cover a, wide variety of subjects. Initially the agencies were meant to provide the news items only to the, newspapers but with the passage of time, the rapidly developing modern mediums such as the, radio, television and Internet too adapted the services of news agencies. When India became free,, the Associated Press of India, a subsidiary of Reuters, dominated the news agency scene to a, extent where it could insist that no subscriber of API take any other news agency service. That, was the power which the API used to force the Free Press news agency out of business. The Free, Press News Agency, like the United Press of India, was formed by Indian nationalists who were, dissatisfied at the meager coverage given by API to the national struggle for independence. The, UPI, which do not have tele printers in a year after independence, never posed a challenge to, API., All the news agencies like API, PTI, FPA, UPI and UNI were English language news agencies., Indian language newspapers subscribed to their service, translated and edited the copy and, published it in their respective languages. The concept of an Indian language news agency was, still a distant dream. It was K.C. Roy who established the API. The credit for setting up the first, Indian language news agency- Hindustan Samachar goes to S.S.Apte. In the beginning, its, operations were limited to distribution of news through Devanagari telegrams. With the, introduction of Devenagari teleprinters, it began supplying news to its Hindi and Marathi, newspapers subscribers through teleprinters. The second Indian language news agency,, Samachar Bharti, was founded in 1966. Several State Governments contributed to its share, capital and at one time, held more than 50% of its shares., , Page 32 of 173
Page 38 :
During national emergency in 1975, all the four agencies- PTI, UNI, Hindustan Samachar and, Samachar Bharti- were merged into one agency which was named Samachar. The process of, integration was still underway when in the Lok Sabha election of 1977, the Janta Party was, returned to power. Though a committee appointed by the Janta Government recommended that, there should be two agencies, the government decided to restore the status quo as existed before, Samachar was formed. So, all the four news agencies thus began operating as separate units from, 1978 onwards. Introduction of higher pay scale had imposed a heavy financial burden on the, agencies. The government agreed at the time of the break-up of Samachar to bear the burden of, the extra expenditure for a few years. After this period, the agencies were expected to absorb it, themselves. While PTI and UNI were able to do so, Hindustan Samachar and Samachar Bharti, could not. Within a few years, they were in a worse plight than even before and their operations, came to a standstill., Following are the major news agencies of India:, 1. Press Trust of India :, K.C. Roy , Father of Indian news agency journalism, was the, first ho decided to have an Indian news agency. The Associated Press of India was, acquired by Reuters in 1915 and was established as a limited company in 1946. In 1948,, Indian press formed the Press Trust of India; a co-operative, non-profit making news, trust. PTI concluded an agreement with Reuters in September 1948, under which it took, over the interest of API entirely. Simultaneously, PTI became a partner in Reuters trust, buying 12,500 of Reuters 90,000 ordinary shares. For the first three years PTI paid, 30,000 pounds as its contribution towards the general expenses in the collection and, distribution of news. Functioning for three years as a partner of Reuters, PTI annulled the, partnership in 1953., It is the largest news agency in India which is a non-profit sharing co-operative owned by the, newspapers of India. Its purpose is to provide efficient and unbiased news to its subscribers., It took over the operations of the Associated Press from Reuters soon after India's, independence on August 15, 1947. It provides news coverage and information of the region, in both English and Hindi. Its corporate office is located at Sansad Marg, New Delhi and, registered office in D N Road, Mumbai. It makes no dividend and no material benefits accrue, to the shareholders except the services of the agency. The small newspapers being larger in, , Page 33 of 173
Page 39 :
number, it is difficult for bigger newspapers to control the agency. Since the newspapers, being both the subscribers and owners of the agencies there is a tendency in their part to pay, less for the services but demand a full and satisfactory service. They decide what the rates, should be. The newspapers which were using 60 to 70 percent of news supplied by news, agencies did not pay even two to three percent of their revenue to the agencies., It exchanges information and news with various news agencies of the world. It had a staff, of more than 1600 including 400 journalists. It has over 100 bureaus across the country, and 10 bureaus abroad. It has more than 300 stringers around the various parts of the, country. The news services are provided by satellite, data channels and ticker lines. It has, divided the country into 4 regions. There are different bureaus for political, economic and, sports coverage., Historical development of PTI, The agency was registered in 1948 but began its operations in February, 1949. The, teleprinter lines extended to 30000 km throughout the country. It had almost doubled to, 55000 km by 1975 indicating the continuous growth of the service. It had 30 bureaus in, 1949 which were doubled by 1975. During the 50‘s and 60‘s, a period of political, stability and growth in different spheres of life, it became popular. The Reuters service, which it continued to provide to the Indian Subscribers was no longer an exclusive affair., PTI had exchange arrangements with a number of international and national news, agencies and their news messages also became available to the Indian newspapers., Its earning capacity remained unequal to its needs. The subscription by the newspapers,, many of which were its shareholders, and therefore, controlled agency‘s fortunes, did not, rise in proportion to its expenses of news gathering. The subscription of the national, broadcasting network of AIR was a sizable one but not considered adequate to the, services provided by the agency to the network for whom news came next only to music, as one of its major programme components. PTI felt that the payment made to it for, services rendered was insufficient and while the number of radio licenses grew fast and, the network expanded the receipts of the agency did not rise proportionately., , Page 34 of 173
Page 40 :
Year, , Event, , 1910, , First Indian news agency, Associated Press of India was established, , 1919, , Reuters took over operations of API, , 1947, , PTI incorporated in Madras, , 1949, , PTI started its news service, , 1953, , It became independent of Reuters, , 1976, , It started its economic service, , 1976, , Four news agencies merged into one during emergency, , 1978, , All the four agencies again started independent services., , 1980, , It started its feature service, , 1981, , It started its science service, , 1982, , PTI launched scan and on screen news display service, , 1984, , It started services for subscribers in USA, , 1985, , It started services for subscribers in UK, , 1986, , PTI –TV launched, , 1986, , It launched Bhasha, a hindi language news agency, , 1987, , It launched stockscan, , 1987, , PTI photo service launched, , Page 35 of 173
Page 41 :
1997, , It introduced photo dial facility, , 2003, , It started internet delivery of its news and services, , Present Scenario:, PTI has the largest news network. Its subscribers include 450 newspapers in India and, scores abroad. All major TV/ radio channels in India and abroad receive the PTI service., Overall it has 2800 subscribers. With a staff of over 1600 including 400 journalists, PTI, has over 100 bureaus across the country and foreign correspondents in major cities of the, world. It also distributes news and photo services to subscribers in USA, UK, UAE and, Australia. It exchanges news with nearly 100 news agencies of the world as part of, bilateral and multilateral arrangements, including Non- Alligned News Agencies Pool, and the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies., Over the year, it has developed its news service, modernized and computerized its, operations in a gradual manner, introduced news services for the newspapers like a daily, photo service of eight pictures a day. Stockscan is one of the television services of PTI, for commercial subscribers which brings them the share market rates from five principal, stock exchanges. The other TV service is News scan on TV monitors which adorn the, desks of senior staff of dailies and the lobbies of hotels and the concourses of airports, where the curious can scan through the headlines the changing Indian and World scene., PTI Features service providing article written by specialists and journalists on a variety of, subjects of Indian interest, both in English and Hindi, and of the Data India Service, which it has taken over from the Press Institute of India. Bhasha, a Hindi service of this, agency, was launched in 1986. It has several bureaus in Hindi speaking states., It was the first news organization in India to have TV service of its own, from supplying, TV news clips to the national network. PTI TV has contributed significantly to the, emerging TV scene in India., , Page 36 of 173
Page 42 :
PTI news service in English is available in two forms. The Core service covers major, developments while segmented service allows papers to pick up additional inputs from, segments of their choice. The Core service puts out about 40000 words and the full, segmented service over 100000 words per day., PTI is a redistribution centre for this part of the world for news exchange among news, agencies of the non aligned countries. There is a grouping of about 30 news agencies of, the Asian-Pacific region which includes PTI and UNI of India., 2. United News of India : UNI is another popular news agency of India. It was born from, the ashes of the defunct United Press of India(UPI) on March 21, 1961 after UPI closed, down. The teleprinters against which an advance was made by the government of West, Bengal were taken over by the government, but the big newspapers in Calcutta, Madras, and Delhi decided to have another news agency so that the spirit of competition gets, better performance out of PTI and newspapers would have chance of qualitative choice., Funds came from newspapers and UNI got the teleprinter facilities of the old UPI. The, UNI was registered on November 10, 1959. The first Press Commission also stressed the, need for India having a second news agency., Historical Development, It began its operations in an extremely modest fashion from a room in the IENS, now INS, building in Delhi but soon spread its wings all over the country. From just 13 subscribers, in the first year of its operations in 1961, it grew to serve 50 newspapers and others by, 1964, 109 by 1967 and as many as 223 as it completed the first decade of its work in, 1971. By that time, it was operating from 43 centres and had 249 teleprinters of its own., , Year, , Event, , 1982, , UNI became bi-lingual and launched UNIVARTA, , 2011, , It launched UNI internet news service, , 2013, , It launched its Urdu website, , Page 37 of 173
Page 43 :
Its pioneering Gulf news operations were launched in 1980 and covers UAE, Bahrain,, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Now its services are available in Singapore and, Mauritius also., Present Scenario, Presently, it has the largest news agency teleprinter networks in the developing world. It, has around 1100 subscribers connected with it through teleprinters. It has more than 325, staff journalists and 250 stringers around the city. In addition, UNI has many foreign, correspondents in major cities of the world including Washington, London, Dubai, New, York, etc. It has collaboration with Reuters, DPA and UPI besides news exchange, agreements with XINHUA (China), UNB (Bangladesh), Gulf News Agencies (Bahrain),, WAM (UAE), KUNA (Kuwait), ONA (OMAN) and QUA (Quatar)., UNI‘s expansion programmes included the setting up of its Hindi service, Univarta, from, May in 1982. The modernization programmes focused on the use of computers which, were first employed in covering the election results in 1980 and 1984 and later in the, transmission of news. Its news agency service is subscribed by 313 newspapers in, English and Univarta has 219 subscribers. There are 208 non subscribers to the two, services taken together. There are besides 22 subscribers to UNI‘s Urdu computerized, service, a unique feature in as much as the newspapers are spared the tedious task of, translating the stories from English into Urdu. So, it is the first agency to start a Hindi, wing and then a special service in Urdu. It had a large number of other services like photo, sevice, Unifin and Unistock., The TV wing of the news agency provides news, features, clips and documentaries for, DD and other organizations. It has a number of mailer services, the oldest of them being, backgrounders. They come out weekly in both English and Hindi which has been widely, used by fellow journalists, researchers and writers on current affairs. It was the first, agency to have a full time science correspondent, an Agricultural service and a general, feature service. It also provides news service to subscribers in Gulf countries, besides, Singapore and Mauritius. It has full time or part-time correspondents in several world, capitals and news exchange arrangements, apart from AP, UPI, Reuters and DPA, with, several national news agencies like IPS in Rome and Tass-Star of Russia., , Page 38 of 173
Page 44 :
The initiative for setting up a competitive news agency was taken by the the Chief, Minister of West Bengal. It was sponsored by eight of the major newspapers. Its services, are currently available in three languages, i.e. Hindi, English and Urdu., It proved to be a formidable rival of PTI. Their competition resulted in better quality, and speedy coverage of news., Self Assessment Questions, 1. Write a brief history of Press Trust of India., Answer………………………………………………………………………….., ……………………………………………………………………………………, ……………………………………………………………………………………, 2. How ‗Samachar‘ was formed?, Answer………………………………………………………………………….., ……………………………………………………………………………………, ……………………………………………………………………………………, 3. Discuss in brief the origin of global news agencies., Answer …………………………………………………………………………., ……………………………………………………………………………………, ……………………………………………………………………………………, Answer Key, 1. Press Trust of India was registered in 1948 but began its operations in February, 1949., The teleprinter lines extended to 30000 km throughout the country. It had almost doubled, to 55000 km by 1975 indicating the continuous growth of the service. It had 30 bureaus, in 1949 which were doubled by 1975. During the 50‘s and 60‘s, a period of political, stability and growth in different spheres of life, it became popular. The Reuters service, which it continued to provide to the Indian Subscribers was no longer an exclusive affair., PTI had exchange arrangements with a number of international and national news, agencies and their news messages also became available to the Indian newspapers., Its earning capacity remained unequal to its needs. The subscription by the newspapers,, many of which were its shareholders, and therefore, controlled agency‘s fortunes, did not, rise in proportion to its expenses of news gathering. The subscription of the national, broadcasting network of AIR was a sizable one but not considered adequate to the, , Page 39 of 173
Page 45 :
services provided by the agency to the network for whom news came next only to music, as one of its major programme components. PTI felt that the payment made to it for, services rendered was insufficient and while the number of radio licenses grew fast and, the network expanded the receipts of the agency did not rise proportionately., 2.During national emergency in 1975, all the four agencies- PTI, UNI, Hindustan Samachar, and Samachar Bharti- were merged into one agency which was named Samachar. The, process of integration was still underway when in the Lok Sabha election of 1977, the Janta, Party was returned to power. Though a committee appointed by the Janta Government, recommended that there should be two agencies, the government decided to restore the status, quo as existed before Samachar was formed. So, all the four news agencies thus began, operating as separate units from 1978 onwards. Introduction of higher pay scale had imposed, a heavy financial burden on the agencies. The government agreed at the time of the break-up, of Samachar to bear the burden of the extra expenditure for a few years. After this period, the, agencies were expected to absorb it themselves. While PTI and UNI were able to do so,, Hindustan Samachar and Samachar Bharti could not. Within a few years, they were in a, worse plight than even before and their operations came to a standstill., 3. News agencies can be said to have been among the highly visible manifestations of, ‗globalization‘ in the 19th century, a process of the interlinking of different national, economics through the activities of transnational economic and financial trade. Its identity, has a variety of geographical markets. They gather news independently from most countries, of the world and sent it to its clients in most countries, each of these has a long established, national identity. Most celebrated global print news agencies are AFP, AP and Reuters. Of, these three big news agencies, Reuters has become spectacularly wealthy as a result of a, 1970‘s redirection of core business towards computer used information and transaction, services for financial markets. The other two major agencies, AP and AFP, control, substantial worldwide human resource and communication assets, but they do not typically, generate substantial revenues in excess of operating expenditures, nor have they been, constituted for that purpose. Both these agencies derive the largest share of their revenues, from their domestic markets., , Page 40 of 173
Page 46 :
3.3 Other News Agencies, 1. Hindustan Samachar : It was set up in 1948 as a multilingual private news agency by, S.S.Apte. It offered services in ten languages. It was subscribed by the Government of, Bihar in 1951. One year after the emergency, it was merged into Samachar along with, other news agencies of that time. The main objective of this agency was to educate the, masses to participate in national development and to strive for national integration, through the promotion of all Indian languages., , 2. Samachar Bharti : It came into existence on October 2, 1966 and started its operations, in 1967. The state government of Bihar, Gujrat, Rajasthan and Karnataka held more than, 50 % of its shares. For some years, Jay Prakash Narayan was its chairman. Lack of, finance proved to be a big handicap for this news agency., Both these agencies were later merged and PTI was given the responsibility of running, the Hindi agency which was named ―Bhasha‖., 3. Asian News International : ANI grew out of India‘s greatest documentary film production, company, Asian Films. It was launched in the year 1975 by Mr. Prem Prakash, South, Asia‘s pioneering TV journalist. Today it is among the best professionally managed, corporate media entities of the world. It is present all over the South Asia. It has over, fifty camera crews and journalists dotting the entire region that encompasses over a, billion people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan,, Maladives and Burma. It also facilitates coverage in a remote area in South Asia where, you cannot afford to bring your own TV crew. Subscribers of ANI TV News service get, this facility at a discounted rate. ANI‘s TV subscribers everyday receive twelve to fifteen, video news clips, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This service supplies well edited, stories with natural quality audio to meet the editorial needs of the clients spread all over, the globe. Each story is ninety to one hundred and twenty seconds. Most TV stations, subscribe to ANI wire service as back-up data to the TV news moves some 16000 to, 20000 words every day or some forty news items. The hallmark of ANI News service is, its flexibility. It enables newspapers to request a unique tailor made package, made to, their editorial needs. Once the parameters are laid ANI seeks to meet those keep the, , Page 41 of 173
Page 47 :
subscriber ready. It has news exchange arrangement with several other news agencies. Its, service is delivered with speed, round the clock through teleprinter, online, fax or email., Activity 2:, Make a collection of different news stories of various agencies pubished in any daily, newspaper for a week., , 3.4, , Status of News Agencies during emergency, , The period of emergency in 1975 was the worst period in the long years of growth of news, agency journalism in India. All the four agencies were merged into one agency known as, ―Samachar‖. Many opposition leaders consider it as an extension of Press Information Bureau, (PIB) only. With the coming of the Janta Party government, the unified agency was again split, and the two agencies started working independently again. From nineties, UNI is losing its, subscribers., , 3. 5 Summary, News Agency Journalism is dominated by UNI and PTI in India. Although many other news, agencies also came into existence but their life was very short as compared to these agencies., Most of the newspapers had subscribed to both these agencies for various types of news, coverage. But they also had to suffer during the time of emergency in the country., , 3.6 Model Questions, 1. Write the historical development of PTI., 2. Compare the present status of Indian news agencies with that of four major international, agencies., 3. Write a note on Hindi news agencies., 4. How did emergency affected the growth of Indian news agencies?, 5. What role does news agencies play in a media organization?, , 3.7 Glossary, , Page 42 of 173
Page 48 :
1. Syndicate, , A company that distributes editorial material to newspapers., , 2. UPI, United Press International, a worldwide news gathering organization that is, privately owned., 3. Backgrounder A news story that explains the background or origins of an issue or situation., 4. AP, The Associated Press, a worldwide news gathering co-operative owned by its, subscribers., , 3.8 Suggested Readings, 1., , Rangaswami Parthasarathy, , 2., , Vir Bala Aggarwal, , 3. Vir Bala Aggarwal and V.S. Gupta, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Essentials of Practical Journalism, Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication, , 3.9 References, 1. A Manual for News Agency Reporters, New Delhi: Indian Institute of Mass Communication,, 1978., 2. Joseph, M.K., Outline of Reporing, New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 1997., 3. Kamath, M.V., Professional Journalism, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 2000., 4. Michael Kunezik, Concept of Journalism, Bonn: Friedrick-Ebert-Stiftring, 1986., , Page 43 of 173
Page 49 :
UNIT – 2, Press in India before Independence, Lesson 4 : Indian press and freedom movement, Lesson 5 : Mahatma Gandhi and his journalism, Lesson 6 : Historical Development of Print Media in English, , Page 44 of 173
Page 50 :
Lesson 4, , Indian press and freedom movement, , Structure:, 4.0 Objectives, 4.1 Introduction, 4.2 Press and freedom movement in 19th century, 4.3 Newspapers for freedom movement, 4.4 Gandhi and Role of his newspapers, 4.5, , Vernacular press and freedom movement, , 4.6 Issues before Independence and Indian Press, , 4.7 Issues and their impact, 4.8 Summary, 4.9 Model Questions, 4.10 Suggested Reading, 4.11 References, , 4.0 Objective, The main objective of this lesson is to describe the role of press in the freedom, struggle of India. A brief reference to various freedom fighters who contributed, with their writings in one or the other form is also discussed. It will help in, providing information regarding various newspapers and magazines which were, , Page 45 of 173
Page 51 :
started to support the freedom movement. Various issues before independence and, their impact on Indian press are also discussed in the chapter., , 4.1 Introduction, The role of the Indian press in strengthening and espousing the cause of freedom, movement is one of the glorious chapters in the growth and development of the, Indian press. It started with the establishment of the Indian National Congress in, 1885. Most prominent members of the Congress were eminent journalists and, editors of newspapers. The language press was particularly strong in expressing its, views against the government as well as for the cause of social reforms., Leaders like Aurobindo Ghosh, Annie Besant, Lajpat Rai, S.N.Banerjee,, Mahatma Gandhi, etc. used press for the purpose of freedom struggle. Tilak used, his papers for popular education and public agitation. The press in India started in, the 18th century with Bengal Gazette. It was quite different from the present, scenario in print media. It started as a mission for the freedom of the country. Most, of the journalists were associated with politics and other social organizations. They, used press as a tool to raise voice against the British government. It was not a field, for any commercial activity. That was the main reason why alien government, opposed it and passed the Indian Press Act, 1910. It had to face a number of, challenges in social, political and economic scenario., , 4.2, , Press and freedom movement in 19th century, , The introduction of printing press in India was an event of revolutionary, significance in the life of Indian people. The awakening and growth of national, consciousness among them gave rise to the nationalist press., , Page 46 of 173
Page 52 :
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the nationalist press in India. Though a, few papers had been started by others before him, his Sambad-Kaumudi in Bengali, published in 1821, and Mirat-Ul-Akbar in Persian published in 1822, were the first, publication in India with a distinct nationalist and democratic progressive, orientation. He stood for a free press. The newspapers which he sponsored or, which followed him propagated his political philosophy. The first Indian-owned, English daily, the Bengal Gazette was published by Gangadhar Bhattachaya, a, teacher who was influenced by Ram Mohan Roy‘s teachings., Raja Ram Mohan Roy started Mirat -Ul-Akhbar for the benefits of Indians not, conversant with English or Bengali. He also brought out a religious periodical, the, Brahminical Magazine, to counteract the missionaries‘ propaganda. His campaign, against Sati which provoked Hindu orthodoxy into opposition gave a fillip to, language journalism which sprang up during this period were shortlived. Language, journals in Bengal carried editorials against rival newspapers, criticism of, government and ventilation of public grievances. Upto 1816, there were no Indian, proprietors and editors of newspapers. Between 1816-1820, there was only one, Indian-owned weekly in Calcutta. The Europeans controlled the press during the, first 40 years of its existence., Two famous journalists in Bengal in the latter half of the 19th century who, revolutionized politics and were the torch-bearers of Indian nationalism were, Surindranath Bannerjee and Bipin Chandra Pal. Bannerjee was the founder and, editor of the daily Bengalee which exercised great influence on nationalist opinion., Pal founded New India and Vande Mataram which acted as vehicles for his fiery, outpourings and revolutionary thought. According to them, the Vernacular Press, Act of 1878 was the immediate cause of the awakening of political consciousness, and the genesis of the national movement on a country wide scale., , Page 47 of 173
Page 53 :
Pal started his political career with the birth of Indian National Congress in 1885., Many prominent members of the Congress were eminent journalists and editors of, newspapers. These included such towering personalities as Dadabhai Naoroji,, Ranade Narendranath Sen, etc. With Aurobindo Ghosh, Tilak and Lajpat Rai, Pal, formed a powerful extremist group in the Congress which was to dominate the, political scene until the advent of Mahatma Gandhi and the launching of the noncooperation movement. Pal could not subscribe to Gandhi‘s policy and methods, Activity 1:, , and had to resign from Pandit Motilal Nehru‘s paper, Independent of which he had, Make a chronological list of all the important papers before the freedom struggle., , been editor, in 1921., , 4.3, , Newspapers for freedom movement, , Before the formation of Congress, the Indian Press had espoused the cause of selfgovernment for India. In 1870, the Amrita Bazar Patrika demanded the constitution, of a Parliament for India. From the beginning, the Anglo-Indian press, with the, exception of the Statesman, showed no sympathy to the Congress., In September 1905, Lord Curzon announced the partition of Bengal in the teeth of, popular opposition and paved the way for a country wide agitation which might be, said to be the beginning of the freedom movement. The Anglo-Indian press, which, was usually in favor of government policies, parted ways with Curzon on the issue, of partition. Papers like Sandhya, Nagasakhti and Yugantar were the champions of, revolution in Calcutta. The mission of Yugantar was to preach revolution as a, religion even more than a political movement., The two famous journals by Tilak also contributed in the freedom struggle. The, Kesari (Marathi) and Mahratta (English) in 1881 became an immediate success., The Kesari became by the end of 1882 the largest circulated language paper in the, , Page 48 of 173
Page 54 :
country and the Mahratta was acknowledged as the leading mouthpiece of Indian, political thinking in western India. He was an editor-philosopher who had a, message to give to his readers ., , 4.4, , Gandhi and Role of his newspapers, , Before independence, the revolution in thought and deed came with the arrival of, Gandhi on the political scene. And with him also came a sudden accretion to the, strength of the Indian press. There was a spurt in newspapers, especially language, papers in all provinces and they posed a serious challenge to the alien rulers for, their tone and action were different from those they had been accustomed to from, the Indian press of an earlier period., In 1903, in South Africa, Gandhi started a weekly newspaper, Indian Opinion (16, pages tabloid), issued every Saturday in 4 languages. Three years later Gandhi, dropped two of those languages for the want of competent editors, but he himself, edited the paper in the other two languages and issued the paper on time until he, left South Africa in 1914., From India, Gandhi continued supporting Indian Opinion all his life by providing, regular editorial materials and moral and financial support. In 1919, Gandhi started, two weeklies in India, Young India and Navjivan. He issued these newspapers, regularly all his life except for the durations during which the government ceased, the press. In 1933, Gandhi ji added a third weekly, Harijan (which means ‗the, children of God‘) and ran it all his life except when the press was ceased. Gandhi, described the objects of a newspaper in these words: ―One of the objects of a, newspaper is to understand the popular feeling and give expression to it; another is, to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments; the third is fearlessly to, expose popular defects.‖, , Page 49 of 173
Page 55 :
As an editor, Gandhi laid down strict standards for himself which was difficult, for others to follow. He would not accept advertisements and he believed that a, newspaper or journal had to survive on the revenue from subscribers. He would not, accept any restrictions on the paper and he would rather close it down than submit, to the government‘s invasion of the liberty of the press. He was not happy editing, an English weekly. He was forced to do it, he wrote, as a concession to the nonHindi knowing youth, ― I frankly confess that to me editing a newspaper in English, is no pleasure.‖ His fears about Young India proved groundless for its circulation, very soon jumped to 45000 and his articles in it were freely reproduced in the, newspapers all over the country. His writings had the widest circulation of any, single individual in the country. He believed that dissemination of ideas to the, farthest corner of the country was the important thing and if it was not possible to, do so through the printing press, then it should be done through hand written, copies.‖, Gandhiji as editor had to face a rebuff when his editorial colleagues at Ahmedabad, refused to publish certain portions of his written prayer speech, which he had, dispatched in February 1947 from Naokhali with instructions for immediate, publication in The Harijan. Gandhiji wired back to assure them that he was, prepared to take the entire responsibility for publishing the full text of his speech., But it was never published. Two of the trustees of Harijan resigned. Gandhiji wrote, to one of the trustees: "I fully realise Harijan does not belong to me. It really, belongs to you who are conducting it with such diligence. Whatever authority I, exercise is moral.", Gandhiji‘s work in journalism had a strong influence not only on every newspaper, in India but also on the entire literary world of every language in India., , Page 50 of 173
Page 56 :
The variety of subjects he dealt with provoked public discussions. In the pages of, ‗Young India‘ and ‗Harijan‘, he described ‗The India of my dreams‘. There were, many stoppages in the working of Young India according to changes in the, political scenario. He asked some of his lieutenants to edit the paper when he was, in prison and they included C.Rajagopalachari., He was a born journalist and writing was in his blood. He started ‗Harijan‘ in, 1932 while in prison which was intended to promote his campaign against, untouchability and for temple entry for the untouchables whom he called, ‗Harijans‘. After some time, this paper became the Bible of the Congressmen. It, became the biggest news source for the newspapers. Every Saturday, he used to, write something which became the headline for other papers. He was very, particular for the deadline and never missed anyone., He organized three major campaigns between 1920 and 1946 of which Salt, Satyagraha became the biggest. In this campaign, Gandhi‘s nationalist press played, a memorable role. The battle for freedom of the press started in 1920 and gained, momentum in 1930 when the press ordinance was issued. By July 1930, over 130, papers had been called upon to pay heavy securities out of them, 9 had to suspend, publication., The Hindustan Times was inaugurated by Gandhi and the first issue contained, articles by Motilal Nehru, J.L.Nehru and Mahomed Ali. Because it was the only, English newspaper in the capital, it attracted wide notice from the beginning. It, also suffered during the Stayagraha movements for supporting the congress and put, up a brave fight against the restrictions imposed by the government. The message, of Gandhi was carried bravely by papers like Hindustan Standard and Sind, Observer., , Page 51 of 173
Page 57 :
When Gandhi launched his individual satyagraha movement after the break of, Second World War, the government issued a notification under Rule 41 of the, Defence India Rules prohibiting the printing by any printer, publisher or editor in, British India of any matter relating to the holding of meetings or the making of, speeches. The above notification was withdrawn after a few months as a result of, an understanding reached between the government and a conference of newspaper, editors later constituted into the All India Newspaper Editors‘ Conference. The, Press Advisory system introduced by the government elicited consultations with, the committee of editors nominated by the government on the recommendations of, AINEC at the Centre and in the State Capitals. This system worked in a haphazard, manner until the Quit India Resolution was moved by the Congress in August 1942, which made the government issue a fresh notification. The notification suppressed, all news relating to Congress activities. Gandhiji called upon newspapers to stop, publication instead of working under such a restriction and becoming a party to, dissemination of false news. It was withdrawn after an assurance by the AINEC, that the newspapers would observe certain voluntary restraints., The agreement did not work as many nationalist newspapers refused to associate, themselves with AINEC‘s stand. Many newspapers suspended publication in, protest following the call by Mahatma Gandhi. However, a few unauthorized, cyclostyled newspapers continued to be published to help the Quit India, Movement. This situation developed as many printers refused to print antigovernment materials published by the editors, although some patriotic ones faced, the risk of confiscation of their press, type and machinery. Gandhi called upon the, printers and publishers not to deposit securities but allow the presses to be, confiscated., Activity 2:, Write a essay on Gandhi as a journalist., , Page 52 of 173
Page 58 :
4.5, , Vernacular press and freedom movement, , The Indian language press has played a historic role not only in the development of, Indian Journalism but also in the struggle for freedom. It had been always the, vicious target to the British rulers who employed every means at their disposal to, crush it. Their repressive legislation against the press was directed much more, against the language papers and it led to the formation of Vernacular Press Act of, 1878., The language press started from Calcutta and Bombay and was used as a means for, social reforms and political progress. Gandhi popularized the papers in every nook, and corner of the country. They faced many problems because of lack of resources., In the initial years, Hindi press was used for social and religious questions. When, racial discrimination became rampant, the Hindi press began to switch over to, political questions which culminated the demand for self-government. The earliest, Hindi newspaper ―Oodunt Martand‖ started in 1826 in Calcutta. Its editor Jooghul, Kishore needed postal facilities to dispatch it to readers outside Bengal and the, government when approached refused to grant him postal concessions. He was, unable to face the high postal rates and had to close down the paper within a year., Other popular vernacular papers were Smachar Subha Darshan, Benares Akhbar,, Sudhakar, Tathwa Bodhini, Patrika and Sathya., The World War of 1914 saw the birth of many hindi newspapers like Bharat Mitra, and Calcutta Samachar. In 1920, AJ was started in Banaras and it was to play a, very notable part in the freedom struggle. It was a half anna paper which became a, national institution and was compared to the Times of London. Its main purpose, was to spread the message of freedom to the Hindi speaking masses of UP, MP and, Nepal. In Patna, Desh was an influential journal and the mouthpiece of the, , Page 53 of 173
Page 59 :
Congress. In 1924, there were 102 Hindi newspapers and out of them four were, dailies., As freedom came to India, one of the important Hindi dailies was Hindustan, sister, newspaper of the Hindustan Times, started in 1936. Wide news coverage and a, variety of special features marked the Hindustan. Its high circulation figure, testifies to its popularity. The Nav Bharat Times and Amrit Patrika were another, famous papers of this time. Urdu newspapers also became the target of the alien, government. Six urdu newspapers were published from Delhi in 1860‘s and all of, them were owned by the loyalists. Al Hilal was one of the notable urdu journal., Urdu nationalist papers had their share of persecution at the hands of the alien, government during the freedom struggle and there were many who made great, sacrifices in the patriotic movements. One of them was Milap of Lahore, a daily, started in 1923 by the Arya Samaj., Some of the greatest journalists of India like Bannerjee and Pal were born in, Bengal. The Bengali press was a terror to the British administration and all the, drastic press laws were particularly aimed against them. It had powerful editors, who fought against injustice, racial discrimination and maladministration. They, were the earliest to demand self government in India. Papers like Sambad Kaumudi, and Samachar Darpan belonged to the Bengali press. The Bengali papers suffered, after the partition in 1947 because they lost a good slice of their readers in the new, East Pakistan., Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi were the popular papers of the Malayalam, press. Similarly, the Marathi and the Gujrati press also played an important role in, the freedom struggle was compared to the Bengali press. Lokmanya and Sandesh, were the popular Marathi dailies., , Page 54 of 173
Page 60 :
Self Assessment Questions, 1. Elaborate the role of Gandhi as a journalist in the freedom struggle., , Answer………………………………………………………………………, ………, ………………………………………………………………………………, ………, ………………………………………………………………………………, ………, 2. What role was played by press in the freedom struggle during the 19, , th, , century?, Answer………………………………………………………………………, …….., ………………………………………………………………………………, ………, ………………………………………………………………………………, ………., 3. What was the contribution of Language press in the freedom struggle?, , Answer………………………………………………………………………, ………, ………………………………………………………………………………, ………., ………………………………………………………………………………, ………, Answers, 1. Gandhi was instrumental in launching, Indian Opinion, in 1903 in South, , Africa. From India, He continued supporting Indian Opinion all his life, , Page 55 of 173
Page 61 :
by providing regular editorial materials and moral and financial support., In 1919, Gandhi started two weeklies in India, Young India and Navjivan., He issued these newspapers regularly all his life except for the durations, during which the government ceased the press. In 1933, Gandhi ji added, a third weekly, Harijan (which means ‗the children of God‘) and ran it all, his life except when the press was ceased. As an editor, Gandhi laid, down strict standards for himself which was difficult for others to follow., He would not accept advertisements and he believed that a newspaper or, journal had to survive on the revenue from subscribers. He would not, accept any restrictions on the paper and he would rather close it down, than submit to the government‘s invasion of the liberty of the press. He, was not happy editing an English weekly. Gandhi ji as editor had to face, a rebuff when his editorial colleagues at Ahmedabad refused to publish, certain portions of his written prayer speech, which he had dispatched in, February 1947 from Naokhali with instructions for immediate publication, in The Harijan. Gandhiji wired back to assure them that he was prepared, to take the entire responsibility for publishing the full text of his speech., But it was never published. Two of the trustees of Harijan resigned., He organized three major campaigns between 1920 and 1946 of which, Salt Satyagraha became the biggest. In this campaign, Gandhi‘s, nationalist press played a memorable role. The Hindustan Times was, inaugurated by Gandhi and the first issue contained articles by Motilal, Nehru, J.L.Nehru and Mahomed Ali., 2. During the 19, , papers., , th, , century, Raja Ram Mohan Roy started a number of, , His Sambad-Kaumudi in Bengali was published in 1821,, , and Mirat-Ul-Akbar in Persian published in 1822, were the first, , Page 56 of 173
Page 62 :
publication in India with a distinct nationalist and democratic progressive, orientation. He stood for a free press. The newspapers which he, sponsored or which followed him propagated his political philosophy., The first Indian-owned English daily, the Bengal Gazette was published, by Gangadhar Bhattachaya, a teacher who was influenced by Ram, Mohan Roy‘s teachings. He started Mirat -Ul-Akhbar for the benefits of, Indians not conversant with English or Bengali. He also brought out a, religious periodical, the Brahminical Magazine, to counteract the, missionaries‘ propaganda. His campaign against Sati which provoked, Hindu orthodoxy into opposition gave a fillip to language journalism, which sprang up during this period were shortlived. Language journals in, Bengal carried editorials against rival newspapers, criticism of, government and ventilation of public grievances. Upto 1816, there were, no Indian proprietors and editors of newspapers. Between 1816-1820,, there was only one Indian-owned weekly in Calcutta. The Europeans, controlled the press during the first 40 years of its existence., Two famous journalists in Bengal in the latter half of the 19 th century, who revolutionized politics and were the torch-bearers of Indian, nationalism were Surindranath Bannerjee and Bipin Chandra Pal., Bannerjee was the founder and editor of the daily Bengalee which, exercised great influence on nationalist opinion. Pal founded New India, and Vande Mataram which acted as vehicles for his fiery outpourings and, revolutionary thought. According to them, the Vernacular Press Act of, 1878 was the immediate cause of the awakening of political, consciousness and the genesis of the national movement on a country, wide scale. Many prominent members of the Congress were eminent, , Page 57 of 173
Page 63 :
journalists and editors of newspapers. These included such towering, personalities as Dadabhai Naoroji, Ranade Narendranath Sen, etc. With, Aurobindo Ghosh, Tilak and Lajpat Rai, Pal formed a powerful extremist, group in the Congress which was to dominate the political scene until the, advent of Mahatma Gandhi and the launching of the non-cooperation, movement. Pal could not subscribe to Gandhi‘s policy and methods and, had to resign from Pandit Motilal Nehru‘s paper, Independent of which, he had been editor, in 1921., 3. Language Press had been always the vicious target to the British rulers, , who employed every means at their disposal to crush it. Their repressive, legislation against the press was directed much more against the language, papers which led to the formation of Vernacular Press Act of 1878. It was, started from Calcutta and Bombay and was used as a means for social, reforms and political progress. Gandhi popularized the papers in every, nook and corner of the country. They faced many problems because of, lack of resources. In the initial years, Hindi press was used for social and, religious questions. When racial discrimination became rampant, the, Hindi press began to switch over to political questions which culminated, the demand for self-government. The earliest Hindi newspaper ―Oodunt, Martand‖ started in 1826 in Calcutta. Its editor Jooghul Kishore needed, postal facilities to dispatch it to readers outside Bengal and the, government when approached refused to grant him postal concessions., Other popular vernacular papers were Smachar Subha Darshan, Benares, Akhbar, Sudhakar, Tathwa Bodhini, Patrika and Sathya., Many hindi newspapers like Bharat Mitra and Calcutta Samachar were, started during the World War of 1914 . In 1920, AJ was started in Banaras and it, , Page 58 of 173
Page 64 :
was to play a very notable part in the freedom struggle. It was a half anna paper, which became a national institution and was compared to the Times of London. Its, main purpose was to spread the message of freedom to the Hindi speaking masses, of UP, MP and Nepal. In Patna, Desh was an influential journal and the, mouthpiece of the Congress. In 1924, there were 102 Hindi newspapers and out of, them four were dailies., As freedom came to India, one of the important Hindi dailies was Hindustan, sister, newspaper of the Hindustan Times, started in 1936. Wide news coverage and a, variety of special features marked the Hindustan. Its high circulation figure, testifies to its popularity. The Nav Bharat Times and Amrit Patrika were another, famous papers of this time. Urdu newspapers also became the target of the alien, government. Six urdu newspapers were published from Delhi in 1860‘s and all of, them were owned by the loyalists. Al Hilal was one of the notable urdu journal., Urdu nationalist papers had their share of persecution at the hands of the alien, government during the freedom struggle and there were many who made great, sacrifices in the patriotic movements. One of them was Milap of Lahore, a daily, started in 1923 by the Arya Samaj., Malayala Manorama and Mathrubhumi were the popular papers of the Malayalam, press. Similarly, the Marathi and the Gujrati press also played an important role in, the freedom struggle was compared to the Bengali press. Lokmanya and Sandesh, were the popular Marathi dailies., , 4.6, , Issues before Independence and Indian Press, , There were a number of issues which India faced before breaking the shackles of, British rule. These issues can be broadly categorized into three main categories i.e., , Page 59 of 173
Page 65 :
social issues, political issues and economic issues. These issues are elaborated in, the subsequent paragraphs., 4.6.1 Social Issues, Before independence, Indian society has to face many issues like untouchability,, racial discrimination, caste issues, poverty, etc. Indian press had played a very, important role in raising voice against these issues amongst the masses. Various, such issues are as follows:, 1. Untouchability : Before independence, many people belonging to lower, caste were considered as untouchable and their entry into temples was, banned. This was a very serious problem as the society was not giving any, recognition to these people. In order to protest against this custom, Mahatma, Gandhi started a paper named ‗Harijan‘. It soon became the bible of, congressmen and the masses who were led by him. It became the biggest, source for the newspapers and its articles became the front stories of other, leading papers., 2. Racial Discrimination : The problem of racial discrimination was another, important social issue faced by the country men. There was a lot of, restrictions on public on the basis of their caste and color. They were not, given proper and high post jobs. Education in good institutions was also, denied to them. All these problems were highlighted by various language, papers in their regions so that awareness and protest can be raised against, such practices., 3. Denial of basic rights : The basic rights of the people were denied by the, government before independence. It includes freedom of speech and, expression, right to liberty, etc. People were forced to follow the rules, , Page 60 of 173
Page 66 :
framed by the Britishers. Many newspapers of that time discussed these, issues in their editorials. Various movements were also started by the, freedom fighters which were fully supported by the press., Activity 3:, Make a list of the newspapers which were started to order to protest against the social, issues., , 4.6.2 Political Issues, Before independence, Indian National Congress was the only Indian owned, political party. Besides it, various groups like moderates and the extremists, were working for the cause of freedom from alien government. The major, political issues before independence are as follows:, 1. Political freedom: There were a number of restrictions on various, organizations and groups working for independence. They were, suppressed by the British government in one or the other form., Moreover, they were not given any representation in the government., 2. Suppression of thoughts and revolutions: The British government was, always in favor of suppression of thought and any kind of revolt by the, political leaders. They were not free to express their feelings through, press and other media. Pre-censorship was posed on all media to control, revolutionary content., 3. No say in the policy formulation: All the policies were formulated by the, British officers and none of the Indian leader had any say in these, policies. They were at the mercy of the British rule., , Page 61 of 173
Page 67 :
Indian Press played a very active role in creating awareness regarding, the need of political freedom. Most of the leaders were associated with, print media in one or the other form. They started many papers like, Young India, Navjivan, Kesari, etc., 4.6.3 Economic Issues, The country faced many economic problems before independence. The, Britishers entered Indian economy through East India Company and, affected it a lot. Various economic issues are as follows:, 1. Lack of Industrialisation: Indian market was used as a place for raw, material and consumers of finished goods. None of the industry was, developed in the country by the alien government. Gandhi's Swadeshi, movement was a protest against the economic policies of the alien, government., 2. Lack of economic liberalization: There was lack of economic, liberalization for the traders as they had to get license for every type, of activity. If they affects the government negatively, then such firm‘s, licenses were cancelled. There was no free trade policy., 3. Lack of economic growth: The country was in a severe economic, condition due to lack of growth. The value of rupee was declining due, to the harsh policies of the British government., , Activity 4:, Compare the economic issues before independence with the present economic scenario., , Page 62 of 173
Page 68 :
4.7 Issues and their impact, The above mentioned social, political and economic issues had a long, lasting impact on the growth of the press. Most of the people, criticized the British government on the basis of these basic problems., This impact can be summarized in the following points:, 1. Print media became more aggressive and revolutionary because of, the policies of the British government., 2. All type of leaders used press as a means to communicate their, emotions and sentiments for their country ., 3. The deteriorating economic condition also had its impact on the, press and due to lack of resources, many papers were shut down., 4. Due to various social problems, press was used by a number of, editors and leaders for the purpose of social reforms., 5. The law and order situation in favor of the Britishers also forced, the press to raise voice against various kinds of inequalities faced, by them., 6. Due to these issues, press has to face a number of atrocities of the, alien government., 7. Various freedom movements gained popularity through press., , 4.8, , Summary, Print media has contributed a lot in the freedom movements, through its various papers and journals. People were made aware, of the British rule and its policies through these papers only. Not, , Page 63 of 173
Page 69 :
only English dailies but the language press also had its share in the, freedom struggle of the country. Journalism was used as a tool by, the politicians to popularize their ideas and sentiments amongst the, masses. The Indian press was a mission before independence. It, was used as a vehicle by leaders, journalists and social activists to, raise their voice against the rulers. Various types of social, political, and economic issues were faced by the people and press played an, active role in providing solution to these issues., , 4.9 Model Questions, 1. Discuss the role of Gandhi‘s papers in the freedom struggle., 2. Throw light on the role played by the vernacular press before independence., 3. Which were the popular dailies in Hindi before independence?, 4. Throw light on the status of press before independence., 5. What were the political issues before independence and how press dealt with, them?, 6. What was the economic condition of India prior to freedom?, , 4.10 Suggested Reading, 1. Robert Payne, , The Life and Death of Mahatma Gandhi, , 2. RNI, , The Press in India, 1984, , 3. D.V.Tahmankar, , Lokmanya Tilak, , 4. Nadig Krishnamurthi, , Indian Journalism( University of Mysore), , 5. S.Natarajan, , A History of Press in India( Asia Publishing House), , Page 64 of 173
Page 70 :
4.11 References, 1. Krishna Murthy, N. (1966). Indian Journalism. Mysore: Mysore University, Press., 2. Jeffrey, R. (2003). India‘s Newspaper Revolution: Capitalism, Politics and the, Indian Language Press (Second edition), New Delhi: Oxford University Press., 3. Nandy Pritish, (1994b). ‗Goodbye Editors, Hello Marketeers‘, Deccan, Chronicle, March 12., , Page 65 of 173
Page 71 :
LESSON : 5, , Mahatma Gandhi and Journalism, , Structure:, 5.0 Objectives, 5.1 Introduction, 5.2 Gandhi and Press, 5.3 Gandhi’s style of writing, 5.4 Gandhi and Freedom struggle, 5.5 Gandhi and Role of newspapers, 5.6 Gandhian Journalism and Ethics, 5.7, , Advertising and Gandhi’s Press, , 5.8 Summary, 5.9 Model Questions, 5.10 Suggested Reading, 5.11 References, , 5.0 Objective, The main objective of this lesson is to provide an in depth knowledge about Mahatma Gandhi, and the role played by him in the field of Journalism. Various journals and newspapers started by, him are discussed in this chapter., , 5.1 Introduction, , Page 66 of 173
Page 72 :
Journalism was one of the important factor that transformed Gandhi into Mahatma Gandhi., Everyone knows that Mahatma Gandhi was a political leader, but he was also journalist to the, core. His dedication for running the weekly papers helped him a lot in getting the title of, Mahatma. The nationalist press marched shoulder to shoulder with the Satyagrahis in the nonviolent struggle for freedom. It was the finest hour of Indian Journalism and the golden era of the, Indian newspapers. In 1888, Gandhi went to London for the study of Bar-at-Law and during his, stay in London he spent hours reading the columns of Daily Telegraph, the Daily News and the, Pal Mal Gazette. He found newspapers informative and entertaining and had a desire to see his, name and article in print. Encouraged by Alfred Hills, Chairman of the Thames Iron Works,, London and persuaded by Josiah Old Field, the editor of a magazine, the Vegetarian, Gandhi, wrote nine articles on diet, customs, festivals, etc. of the Indians between February and April, 1891. During a brief spell in India, from the middle of 1896 to November 1896, he was touring, in India to enlist the support, among others, editors, for South African Indian cause. He came, into contact with G.Pillay, editor of the Madras Standard, who provided an opportunity for, Gandhi to edit the newspaper and subsequently , Gandhi published his famous Green Pamphlet,, wherein he highlighted the grievances of his countrymen in Africa. His association with editors, and working closely with the editorial staff of the newspapers helped Gandhi in acquiring some, inside knowledge of the working of these papers. This bolstered him to start one journal in, South Africa., , 5.2 Gandhi and Press, Before independence, the revolution in thought and deed came with the arrival of Gandhi on the, political scene. And with him also came a sudden accretion to the strength of the Indian press., There was a spurt in newspapers, especially language papers in all provinces and they posed a, serious challenge to the alien rulers for their tone and action were different from those they had, been accustomed to from the Indian press of an earlier period., In 1903, in South Africa, Gandhi started a weekly newspaper, Indian Opinion (16 pages tabloid),, issued every Saturday in 4 languages- English, Hindi, Tamil and Gujarati with an intention to, serve all Indians in South Africa. Three years later Gandhi dropped two of those languages for, , Page 67 of 173
Page 73 :
the want of competent editors, but he himself edited the paper in the other two languages and, issued the paper on time until he left South Africa in 1914., Two close associates of Gandhi, Madanjit Vyavaharik and Manshukal Hiralal Nazar launched, Indian Opinion on June 4, 1903. From India, Gandhi continued supporting Indian Opinion all his, life by providing regular editorial materials and moral and financial support. The intention of the, Journal was to act as a voice of the Indian community, in order to improve their lot, and thus the, journal did not have any commercial learnings. As the two gentlemen could not run the journal,, the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Gandhi, who took over the journal in October 1904., His friend, Albert West gave up his business to act as a printer in manging the paper and Gandhi,, himself, was editing the Journal with the sole intention of educating and mobilizing Indians, through the weekly columns on various aspects of life. The fool-scaped sized, three- column, journal published news and views of Indians in South Africa. It was known for its moderate, policy and sound news. It carried two or more editorials and a small correspondence column, which reproduced articles on Indian problems from other journals. He outlined three objectives, of the journal. They were:, 1. To make Indian grievances known to the Governments in South Africa and Britain and to, the people of India., 2. To make Indians in South Africa aware of their shortcomings and try to overcome them, 3. To eliminate the prevailing distinctions between Hindus and Muslims and among, Gujratis and Tamils and others., He penned the first editorial, ―Ourselves‖ for the inaugural issue. Since, the journal, incurred losses, so its size was reduced from 16 to 8 pages, and was brought out on, Wednesday instead of Saturday. After Gandhi returned to India in January 9, 1913,, Indian Opinion lost its sheen. At that time, journalism was still in its nascent stage, and, yet to establish itself as profession except the Anglo-Indian press in India. Newspaers had, to depend on sales and monetary help from individuals. Highly popular Indian, newspapers did not match the technical superior Anglo-Indian press in news coverage., As soon as he returned from South Africa in 1915, Gandhi started his political life., However, he launched three newspapers during 1919-20 defying the Indian Press Act., , Page 68 of 173
Page 74 :
In 1919, Gandhi started two weeklies in India, Young India and Navjivan. He issued these, newspapers regularly all his life except for the durations during which the government ceased the, press. He did not accept advertisements and believed that the newspapers should survive on the, revenue from subscribers. The circulation of Young India went upto 45000 copies and his, articles were effective. However, the paper was closed in 1932, owing to repressive acts of the, British administration., The thought of having another weekly was lingering in Gandhi‘s mind when he was in prison in, Pune on account of Civil Disobedience Movement. Though he was in prison, he established, Harijan Sevak Sangh and in 1933, Gandhi ji added a third weekly, Harijan (which means ‗the, children of God‘) and ran it all his life except when the press was ceased. It carried Gandhi‘s, views on untouchability, village sanitation, rural reconstruction through village industries,, women‘s rehabilitation, basic education and the upliftment of all through employment for every, able bodied person.Gandhi described the objects of a newspaper in these words: ―One of the, objects of a newspaper is to understand the popular feeling and give expression to it; another is, to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments; the third is fearlessly to expose popular, defects.‖ It was priced at one anna (six paise) and was devoted to the cause of Harijans and, excluded politics. The English edition came out first followed by the Hindi. With such educative, contents, the print order of the weekly was 10000. However, in response to the censorship, imposed on the newspapers, Gandhi suspended the publication of Harijan in November 1940, with an article, ―good-bye‖, and within a gap of one year, he resumed the publication in January, 1942 and immediately the administration closed down the weekly. Again, after a lapse of three, and a half years on February 10, 1946, it again resumed its publication., Though Gandhi viewed that the duty of the newspapers was only to serve the people, he used, Young India to resist the Britishers boldly in not compromising with any aspect related to the, freedom of India, and also the freedom of the press. The government brought it in the Press Act, of 1910, which imposed heavy security deposit to open a printing press. However, Gandhi stood, firmly for the freedom of the press and he argued his cases related to contempt of court and, sedition in which he accepted eventually to go to jail., , Page 69 of 173
Page 75 :
As an editor, Gandhi laid down strict standards for himself which was difficult for others to, follow. He would not accept advertisements and he believed that a newspaper or journal had to, survive on the revenue from subscribers. He would not accept any restrictions on the paper and, he would rather close it down than submit to the government‘s invasion of the liberty of the, press. He was not happy editing an English weekly. He was forced to do it, he wrote, as a, concession to the non-Hindi knowing youth, ― I frankly confess that to me editing a newspaper in, English is no pleasure.‖ His fears about Young India proved groundless for its circulation very, soon jumped to 45000 and his articles in it were freely reproduced in the newspapers all over the, country. His writings had the widest circulation of any single individual in the country. He, believed that dissemination of ideas to the farthest corner of the country was the important thing, and if it was not possible to do so through the printing press, then it should be done through hand, written copies.‖, Gandhiji as editor had to face a rebuff when his editorial colleagues at Ahmedabad refused to, publish certain portions of his written prayer speech, which he had dispatched in February 1947, from Naokhali with instructions for immediate publication in The Harijan. Gandhiji wired back, to assure them that he was prepared to take the entire responsibility for publishing the full text of, his speech. But it was never published. Two of the trustees of Harijan resigned. Gandhiji wrote, to one of the trustees: "I fully realise Harijan does not belong to me. It really belongs to you who, are conducting it with such diligence. Whatever authority I exercise is moral.", Gandhiji‘s work in journalism had a strong influence not only on every newspaper in India but, also on the entire literary world of every language in India., , 5.3, , Gandhi’s style of writing, , Gandhian journalism evolved from the values and philosophy practiced and propagated by, him in his life and through his publications viz., Indian Opinion, Harijan and Young India. With, courage of conviction, Gandhi applied the principles in his life and also in journalism and could, , Page 70 of 173
Page 76 :
bravely write his quest for truth in the modern era narrating his experiences while boldly facing, the poignant situations to achieve his goals., As a journalist, Gandhi‘s style of writing was simple but effective. He used simple words and, sentences to drive his message home. He chose his words with precision and there was no, ambiguity or confusion in what he wrote. He opened out his heart and shared his innermost, thoughts and feelings with his reader which evoked an emotional respone. Millions of people all, over the country eagerly waited every week to read in their newspaper what he had written and, what his message was for them. He wrote on a variety of topics not confined to politics. He, emphasized on four different criteria for news namely; culture, probity in life, peace and, development. He did not explicitly speak of these news values, however, he laid emphasis on, them because of his personal experience derived from his philosophy of non-violence (ahimsa),, self-reliance (swadeshi), self rule (swaraj) and truth force (satyagraha)., (i) Culture: Gandhi favored preservation of Indian culture and had shown the world the, ‗Indianness‘ in his physical countenance and through his personal conduct., (ii) Probity in Public Life: He outlined that the basic purpose of newspapers was public, service. Almost in all his writings, Gandhi aimed at moral transformation of the, individual while reinforcing moral conduct in him. Through his writings in Young, India and Harijan, he emphasized on prayer as one of the means to purge himself, from the wrong doing and advised all readers to chant Ram., (iii) Peace: In relation to promotion of peace, Gandhi emphasized on conflict reduction, and, worked towards that end. He advocated peace through his publications and advised, both parties invoved in a conflict to find an amicable solution., (iv) Development: He gave importance to rural development and emphasized that it will play, an important role in national development. Further, Gandhi continually focused on, the necessity for identification with the villagers, who represented the masses of India, and that their attitudes might be understood and their needs be met., He was a diligent correspondent who replied to every letter written to him. His compassion,, humility, nobility and his concern for the poorest of the poor breathed through his writings. He, , Page 71 of 173
Page 77 :
was prosecuted for sedition in March 1922, on the basis of three articles written in Young India., He exercised tremendous influence on the Indian press and entered into argument with the, editors of other papers. He also led to increase the growth rate of regional journalism in India., The variety of subjects he dealt with provoked public discussions. In the pages of ‗Young India‘, and ‗Harijan‘, he described ‗The India of my dreams‘. There were many stoppages in the, working of Young India according to changes in the political scenario. He asked some of his, lieutenants to edit the paper when he was in prison and they included C.Rajagopalachari., He was a born journalist and writing was in his blood. He started ‗Harijan‘ in 1932 while in, prison which was intended to promote his campaign against untouchability and for temple entry, for the untouchables whom he called ‗Harijans‘. After some time, this paper became the Bible of, the Congressmen. It became the biggest news source for the newspapers. Every Saturday, he, used to write something which became the headline for other papers. He was very particular for, the deadline and never missed anyone., He set an example to the journalists in practicing development journalism with an intention to, reform the society. He wrote a series of articles on birth control in Young India and Harijan in, 1925, as he was against the use of contraceptives to control the population., Self Assessment Questions, 1. Write a note on Gandhi‘s Indian Opinion‖., 2. Which were the popular papers of Gandhi?, 3. Throw light on Gandhi‘s style of writing., Answers, Answer 1., , Indian Opinion was launched by two, , close associates of Gandhi, Madanjit, , Vyavaharik and Manshukal Hiralal Nazar on June 4, 1903. From India, Gandhi continued, supporting Indian Opinion all his life by providing regular editorial materials and moral and, financial support. The intention of the Journal was to act as a voice of the Indian community, in, order to improve their lot, and thus the journal did not have any commercial learnings. As the, two gentlemen could not run the journal, the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Gandhi, who, , Page 72 of 173
Page 78 :
took over the journal in October 1904. His friend, Albert West gave up his business to act as a, printer in manging the paper and Gandhi, himself, was editing the Journal with the sole intention, of educating and mobilizing Indians through the weekly columns on various aspects of life. The, fool-scaped sized, three- column journal published news and views of Indians in South Africa. It, was known for its moderate policy and sound news. It carried two or more editorials and a small, correspondence column which reproduced articles on Indian problems from other journals. He, outlined three objectives of the journal. They were:, 1. To make Indian grievances known to the Governments in South Africa and Britain and to, the people of India., 2. To make Indians in South Africa aware of their shortcomings and try to overcome them, 3. To eliminate the prevailing distinctions between Hindus and Muslims and among, Gujratis and Tamils and others., He penned the first editorial, ―Ourselves‖ for the inaugural issue. Since, the journal, incurred losses, so its size was reduced from 16 to 8 pages, and was brought out on, Wednesday instead of Saturday., Answer 2 : Gandhi‘s popular papers were Indian Opinion, Young India and Harijan., Indian Opinion was a fool-scaped sized, three- column journal published news and views, of Indians in South Africa. It was known for its moderate policy and sound news. It, carried two or more editorials and a small correspondence column which reproduced, articles on Indian problems from other journals., Gandhi started two weeklies in India, Young India and Navjivan in 1919 . He issued these, newspapers regularly all his life except for the durations during which the government ceased the, press. He did not accept advertisements and believed that the newspapers should survive on the, revenue from subscribers. The circulation of Young India went upto 45000 copies and his, articles were effective. However, the paper was closed in 1932, owing to repressive acts of the, British administration. Though Gandhi viewed that the duty of the newspapers was only to serve, the people, he used Young India to resist the Britishers boldly in not compromising with any, aspect related to the freedom of India, and also the freedom of the press. The government, , Page 73 of 173
Page 79 :
brought it in the Press Act of 1910, which imposed heavy security deposit to open a printing, press. However, Gandhi stood firmly for the freedom of the press and he argued his cases related, to contempt of court and sedition in which he accepted eventually to go to jail., , Answer 3: Gandhi‘s style of writing was simple but effective. He used simple words and, sentences to drive his message home. He chose his words with precision and there was no, ambiguity or confusion in what he wrote. He opened out his heart and shared his innermost, thoughts and feelings with his reader which evoked an emotional respone. Millions of people all, over the country eagerly waited every week to read in their newspaper what he had written and, what his message was for them. He wrote on a variety of topics not confined to politics. He, emphasized on four different criteria for news namely; culture, probity in life, peace and, development. He did not explicitly speak of these news values, however, he laid emphasis on, them because of his personal experience derived from his philosophy of non-violence (ahimsa),, self-reliance (swadeshi), self rule (swaraj) and truth force (satyagraha)., (i) Culture: Gandhi favored preservation of Indian culture and had shown the world the, ‗Indianness‘ in his physical countenance and through his personal conduct., (ii) Probity in Public Life: He outlined that the basic purpose of newspapers was public, service. Almost in all his writings, Gandhi aimed at moral transformation of the, individual while reinforcing moral conduct in him., (iii) Peace: In relation to promotion of peace, Gandhi emphasized on conflict reduction, and, worked towards that end. He advocated peace through his publications and advised, both parties invoved in a conflict to find an amicable solution., (iv) Development: He gave importance to rural development and emphasized that it will play, an important role in national development., , Page 74 of 173
Page 80 :
5.4, , Gandhi and freedom struggle, , He organized three major campaigns between 1920 and 1946 of which Salt Satyagraha became, the biggest. In this campaign, Gandhi‘s nationalist press played a memorable role. The battle for, freedom of the press started in 1920 and gained momentum in 1930 when the press ordinance, was issued. By July 1930, over 130 papers had been called upon to pay heavy securities out of, them, 9 had to suspend publication., The Hindustan Times was inaugurated by Gandhi and the first issue contained articles by, Motilal Nehru, J.L.Nehru and Mahomed Ali. Because it was the only English newspaper in the, capital, it attracted wide notice from the beginning. It also suffered during the Stayagraha, movements for supporting the congress and put up a brave fight against the restrictions imposed, by the government. The message of Gandhi was carried bravely by papers like Hindustan, Standard and Sind Observer., When Gandhi launched his individual satyagraha movement after the break of Second World, War, the government issued a notification under Rule 41 of the Defence India Rules prohibiting, the printing by any printer, publisher or editor in British India of any matter relating to the, holding of meetings or the making of speeches. The above notification was withdrawn after a, few months as a result of an understanding reached between the government and a conference of, newspaper editors later constituted into the All India Newspaper Editors‘ Conference. The Press, Advisory system introduced by the government elicited consultations with the committee of, editors nominated by the government on the recommendations of AINEC at the Centre and in the, State Capitals. This system worked in a haphazard manner until the Quit India Resolution was, moved by the Congress in August 1942 which made the government issue a fresh notification., The notification suppressed all news relating to Congress activities. Gandhiji called upon, newspapers to stop publication instead of working under such a restriction and becoming a party, to dissemination of false news. It was withdrawn after an assurance by the AINEC that the, newspapers would observe certain voluntary restraints., The agreement did not work as many nationalist newspapers refused to associate themselves, with AINEC‘s stand. Many newspapers suspended publication in protest following the call by, Mahatma Gandhi. However, a few unauthorized cyclostyled newspapers continued to be, , Page 75 of 173
Page 81 :
published to help the Quit India Movement. This situation developed as many printers refused to, print anti-government materials published by the editors, although some patriotic ones faced the, risk of confiscation of their press, type and machinery. Gandhi called upon the printers and, publishers not to deposit securities but allow the presses to be confiscated., , 5.5 Gandhi and Role of newspapers, It will be pertinent to point out as to what Mahatma Gandhi considered to be the role of, newspapers. He wrote: In my humble opinion, it is wrong to use a newspaper as a means of, earning a living. There are certain spheres of work which are of such consequence and have, such bearing on public welfare that to undertake them for earning one's livelihood will defeat, the primary aim behind them. When, further a newspaper is treated as a means of making, profits, the result is likely to be serious malpractices. It is not necessary to prove to those who, have some experience of journalism that such malpractices do prevail on a large scale. He was, of the opinion, 'Newspapers are meant primarily to educate the people. They make the latter, familiar with contemporary history. This is a work of no mean responsibility. It is a fact,, however, that readers cannot always trust newspapers. Often facts are found to be quite the, opposite of what has been reported. If newspapers realized that it was their duty to educate the, people, they could not but wait to check a report before publishing it. It is true that often they, have to work under difficult conditions. They have to sift the true from the false in a short, time and can only guess at the truth. Even then, I am of the opinion that it is better not to, publish a report at all if it ahs not been found possible to verify it.', The eminent journalist and freedom fighter Salien Chatterjee who covered Mahatma Gandhi,, his actions and programmes for a number of years died a few months back. In an article,, 'Reporting Mahatma', he had written for the special issue of Vidura on, Gandhi as a Journalist,, (Jan-March, 1998) he said:, "I joined journalism in 1942. Reporting Mahatma Gandhi and my tours with him were the, best and most memorable period of my journalistic career. Gandhi himself was a journalist., During my tours with him, he often told me how he worked day and night to produce his, journal 'Indian Opinion' in Natal, South Africa. He described 'Indian Opinion' as the most, useful weapon in his struggle in South Africa. He always stressed the importance of, , Page 76 of 173
Page 82 :
newspapers in educating the people. Gandhi always believed and always emphasized that the, sole aim of journalism should be service, service of the people and the country., In 'Young India' Gandhi once gave a glimpse of the exacting code he had set up for himself., "To be true to my faith, I may not write in anger or malice. I may not write idly. I may not, write merely to excite passion. The reader can have no idea of the restraint I have to exercise, from week to week in the choice of topics and my vocabulary. It is training for me. It enables, me to peek into myself and to make discoveries of my weaknesses. Often my vanity dictates a, smart expression or my anger a harsh adjective. It is a terrible ordeal but a fine exercise to, remove these weeds.", Activity 2:, Write an essay on Gandhi as a journalist., , 5.6 Gandhian Journalism and Ethics, Gandhi was a man of principles and ethics. His arguments on various occasions showed that they, underlined the values of journalism which are valid even today. His views of freedom of press,, use of language, public service of journalism and others can be found to have their relevance., (i) Freedom of Press : As journalist, Gandhi had distinct views on the freedom of press. He, was all for press liberty, excepting the liberty to commit a crime. Service and not, responsibility should be the motive behind papers., (ii) Language : He advised the newspapers to give importance to the language being used in, them. Both people and individuals must cultivate the habit of speaking their minds., Newspapers are in a position to impart such training to them., (iii) Objectivity and Truth Telling : It is defined as an impartial coverage of an event by, taking into consideration different shades of opinion. He noticed that lack of balance, or loss of objectivity would be a feature in the new journalism and advised the then, journalists to practice objectivity in the face of difficulties., , Page 77 of 173
Page 83 :
(iv) Public Service vs. Profits: Gandhi‘s view was that newspapers were meant for public, service, they should not compromise on their role in society, and the concept of, profits should be relegated to the background. He appealed to the readers of Young, India to support the weekly with their subscriptions in order to avoid advertisements., (v) Facts vs. Comment: He differentiated between ―news and journalist‘s impression of, coming events. He would not like interpretative news, which to him, was journalistic, kite flying. He would advice journalists to print authentic news with no fear of, contradictions. He would ask them to withhold news as long as it could not be, verified. But for journalists it was not easy to listen to his advice.‖, , 5.7, , Advertising and Gandhi’s Press, , On receiving Advertisement support for running a newspaper Mahatma Gandhi wrote: It is, now an established practice with newspapers to depend for revenues mainly on, advertisements rather than on subscriptions. The result has been deplorable. The very, newspaper which writes against the drink evil publishes advertisements in praise of drinks. In, the same issue, we read of the harmful effects of tobacco as also from where to buy it. Or we, shall find the same issue of a paper carrying a long advertisement for a certain play and, denouncing that play as well. Medical advertisements are the largest source of revenue though, they have done, and are still doing incalculable harm to the people. These medical, advertisements almost wholly offset the services rendered by the newspapers. I have been, eyewitness to the harm done by them. Many people are lured into buying harmful medicines., Many of these promote immorality. Such advertisements find a place even in papers run to, further the cause of religion. This practice has come entirely from the West. No matter at, what cost or effort we must put an end to this undesirable practice or at least reform. It is the, duty of every newspaper to exercise some restraint in the matter of advertisements., Today, when there is widespread concern over the growing influence of market forces on, media, and regret over journalism being no longer a social service, Gandhi's views on values, of journalism bring to bear on the profession of journalism the force of ethics and morality. In, this context he had said, 'It is often observed that newspapers published any matter that they, have, just to fill in space. The reason is that most newspapers have their eyes on profits......, , Page 78 of 173
Page 84 :
There are newspapers in the west which are so full of trash that it will be a sin even to touch, them. At times, they produce bitterness and strife even between different families and, communities. Thus, newspapers cannot escape criticism merely because they serve the, people.', The true function of journalism is to educate the public mind, not to stock it with wanted and, unwanted impressions. – Mahatma Gandhi, , 5.8, , Summary, , Gandhi was not only a political leader but an excellent journalist as well as a scholar and, thinker. He started many newspapers and journals in order to support the freedom movement. He, used his papers as a tool of service for the society. His papers ‗Young India and Harijan‘ were, very popular amongst the readers of those times. He gave journalism a new form in his era. An, increasing use of modern machinery marked the development of the Indian press in the Gandhian, era. The rotary was replacing the flat bed for printing newspapers and the more prosperous, newspapers were expanding their press and equipping them for better production and increased, circulation., , 5.9, , Model Questions, , 1. Throw light on Gandhi as a journalist., 2. What were the famous publications of Mahatma Gandhi?, 3. How did Gandhi used his press for freedom struggle?, 4. What were the views of Gandhi on Journalism?, 5. What were the major achievements of Gandhi as a journalist?, , 5.10 Suggested Reading, 1. Ambika Charan Majumdar, , Indian National Evolution, , 2. Michael Edwards, Sidgwick & Jackson, , History of British India, , 3. M.K. Gandhi, , Young India, , Page 79 of 173
Page 85 :
4. Philip Woodruff, Jonathan, , The Men Who Ruled India, , 5.11 References, 1. Bhattacharyya, S.N. (1965). Mahatma Gandhi the Journalist, Bombay: Asia Publishing House., 2. Singh, K.J. (1979). ‗Gandhi and Mao as Mass Communicators.‘ Journal of Communication, 24:94-101., 3. Murthy, D.V.R. & Ramdas, Y.D. , Gandhi and Journalism, Kanishka Publishers., , Page 80 of 173
Page 86 :
Lesson 6, , Historical Development of Print Media in English, , Structure:, 6.0 Objectives, 6.1 Introduction, 6.2 Historical Development of Important Newspapers, 6.2.1 The Times of India, 6.2.2 The Tribune, 6.2.3 The Statesman, 6.2.4 Indian Express, 6.2.5 Hindustan Times, 6.2.6 The Hindu, 6.3 Historical Development of Important Magazines, 6.3.1 India Today, 6.3.2 Frontline, 6.3.3 Outlook, 6.3.4 IIlustrated weekly of India, 6.4, , Summary, , 6.5, , Model Questions, , 6.6 Suggested Reading, 6.7 References, , Page 81 of 173
Page 87 :
6.0 Objectives, The main objective of this lesson is to provide an in depth knowledge about the historical, development of various important newspapers and magazines in English. The contribution of, these papers in the freedom struggle as well as the opposition of their content by the alien, government is also discussed in the chapter., , 6.1 Introduction, The newspapers came to India as an alien product. In the early years, it was confined to the, interests of the ruling race. The East India Company was not favorably disposed to the press and, its officials were from the beginning suspicious of journalists and newspapers and intolerant of, criticism. The press in India was controlled by Englishmen and the power was in England. A, number of newspapers were started in English in the 18th and 19th century. The Indian print, media has achieved remarkable growth in numbers and circulation. Language papers dominated, the scene with the English media coming second., The English media is undergoing a technological revolution which has made it better and more, attractive newspapers and periodicals. Colour has appeared in their pages in advertisements and, photographs. Most of the English dailies are computerized both in the editorial and the printing, departments., , 6.2, , Historical development of Important Newspapers, , 6.2.1 The Times of India, The Times of India had a nationalist outlook on Indian affairs which dates back from the days of, Sir Stanley Reed whose editorship shed great luster on the paper. It has always been very ably, edited since the Second World War when editorials became a class by themselves. It belonged to, the class of British-owned newspapers which was described by one historian as those, newspapers which were not ―a model of sobriety and good manners. Their slighting and, supercilious tone towards educated Indians wounded and alienated sensitive people.‖, , Page 82 of 173
Page 88 :
It is the oldest English daily in India. It was founded on November 3, 1838 as ―The Bombay, Times‖ and ―Journal of Commerce‖ which were bi-weekly papers. It contained news from the, Indian subcontinent, Britain as well as the rest of the world. The daily editions of the paper were, started from 1850. It was renamed, , as The Times of India after amalgamation of three more, , newspapers (Bombay Times, The Courier and The Standard) in 1861. The Bombay Times had, many shareholders from 1850 to 1859 when it was bought by Robert Knight (1825–1892). He, was the principal founder and the first editor of the Times. He fought for a press free of prior, restraint or intimidation, frequently resisting the attempts by governments, business interests, and, cultural spokesmen. Under the editorship of Thomas J. Bennett, who later became the sole, proprietor of the Times of India, the paper maintained close relations with Indians many of, whom contributed to its columns. Bennett vastly improved the paper by bringing talented people, from England among whom was a master printer, F. M. Coleman, who had wide experience of, daily newspaper producton., It was the earliest newspaper to subscribe to Reuter‘s news agency. In 1890, it was the first, daily to publish 3000 copies every day. The number of Indian subscribers was small due to free, public libraries. The Times of India in 1870 asked its readers to contribute through their writings, and the regular contributors will be given, , free copy of the paper. Bennett and Coleman, , combined and formed a company called Bennett-Coleman Company which continues even today, although it has changed into Indian hands. During the partition of Bengal, there was a spurt of, violence and the British-owned press screamed for strong government action. It set itself to be a, defender of the government and its technique was to snipe at Indians, both extremists and, moderates. Its favourite target in the early years of the century was Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, the, Congress leader in Bombay., The paper was hauled up for contempt of court during the trial of Tilak for sedition in 1897. One, of the previous sub editor of the paper, K. Rama Rao wrote in 1920, ― subject to the natural, limitations of a European owned institution, there was freedom from race prejudice, certainly on, the editorial side.‖ According to him, it was a complete paper carrying the highest prestige in, particular for its sports and commercial coverage. It worked on two principles, i.e. The King‘s, Government must be carried on and the political susceptibilities of the Indian people must be, respected. It has touched new heights under the editorship of Sir Francis Low., , Page 83 of 173
Page 89 :
The paper passed into Indian hands in 1946 with Frank Moraes becoming its first Indian editor., It also had a sister journal, The Illustrated Weekly of India, which was started in 1888. The, Economic Times was also started by the group in 1916 which was the first daily dealing with, financial and economic news to be published in India. It occupies a premier position and has the, second largest circulation among English dailies, according to Press in India, 1984., , 6.2.2 The Tribune, It was started as a weekly paper on 2nd February, 1881 in Lahore by Sardar Dayal Singh, Majithia. Its main aim was to fairly and temperately advocate the cause of the masses. It, condemned the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the atrocities of martial law regime in 1919. The, editor of the paper, Kalinath Ray was tried for seditious writings. He was a fearless writer who, bravely faced the risks involved in fighting an alien government. He was known for his, uprightness, integrity, sobriety and independence.He did not believe in non-violence and the, methods adopted by Gandhi to achieve freedom but he was a good Congressman and took an, active part in the freedom struggle. He was sent to rigorous imprisonment for two years in 1919, but due to high opposition, the government had to release him after 3 months. Although the, paper was an uncompromising critic of the British rule, Ray commanded great respect even, among the British bureaucrats of the day. Ray emerged with chronic asthma from prison and, never recovered. He passed away in 1943 and the Tribune passed through many ups and downs, until the final calamity in 1947, when on the eve of independence, two of its staff members were, stabbed and the publication of the paper in Lahore was suspended., The Tribune is a trust managed newspaper. Its main policy is to be liberal in politics, secular, in outlook, balanced and objective in reporting. Religious controversies shall be avoided in the, columns of the paper and an attitude of strict neutrality shall be maintained in regard to all castes, and religions. Since, its inception, it succeeded in making itself a recognized mouth piece of, public opinion. It often clashed with the British rulers who were determined to suppress the, freedom movement but it stood like a rock and earned the reputation of being a fearless, champion of the cause of the people and freedom. It was one of the three papers blacklisted by, the government and denied advertisements and facilities during emergency in 1975., , Page 84 of 173
Page 90 :
The Tribune moved to its present home in Chandigarh in 1969. The paper, whose editor, Madhavan Nair, got into trouble with the Government of India during the Emergency in 1975. It, was one of the three papers blacklisted by the government and denied advertisements and other, facilities. Its sisters concerns, Dainik Tribune and Punjabi Tribune were started in 1978 and were, an instant success., , 6.2.3 The Statesman, The Statesman was founded in 1875. It is a direct descendant of two newspapers, The, Englishman and The Friend of India, both published in Kolkata. The newspaper was founded by, Robert Knight for the purpose of critical review of the government‘s actions and policies. He, was very happy with the formation of Indian National Congress in 1885. He passed away in, 1890. It was described as the Manchester Guardian of the East and had to face many atrocities of, the British government. It represented the rightist point of view in 1920s as it was both, conservative as well as liberal. Malcolm Muggeridge came to India as an assistant editor of this, paper but he was not happy. He was of the view that Bitish would have to go back one day., During the turbulent days of 1930 and later when the freedom struggle was at its height, the, Statesman came under fire from the nationalists., Arthur Moore and Ian Stephens were the two great editors of this paper who earned the, admiration and gratitude of the Indian people by their sympathy and support for their political, aspirations. Stephens exposed the horrors of Bengal famine in 1946 through revealing pictures, and gruesome stories which made him unpopular in the government. He resigned in 1951 as he, disagreed with the Kashmir policy of the government. The paper progressively changed into, Indian hands and is a fully Indian owned and edited newspaper. It was one of the papers which, suffered during the emergency for its anti-government postures. Presently, it‘s a vigorous, independent paper fearlessly voicing its views on all questions affecting the common man and, some of its investigative stories have achieved national prominence., , 6.2.4 Indian Express, It was established by Ramnath Goenka in Madras (now Chennai) in 1937. It has played an active, role in the freedom of press and against repression during emergency in 1975. It was on the, firing line once again when its offices in 12 centres across the country were raided, , Page 85 of 173
Page 91 :
simultaneously in September 1987. It has emerged as the most powerful opposition to the Rajiv, Gandhi government. It was accused of evading customs duties and violating FERA regulations., Frank Moraes and Arun Shourie were the two most well known editors of the Indian Express,, known for their sturdy independence. Moreas was a fearless critic of the government regardless, of the personalities involved. Arun Shourie exposed emergency excesses and abuse of authority, of Indira Gandhi; uncovered the misuse of official authority by a chief minister to collect funds, and tackled several other issues like prison reforms, bonded labour, etc., , 6.2.5 Hindustan Times, It was founded in 1924 by Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, Founder father of Shiromani Akali Dal in, Punjab. K. M. Panikkar was its first editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of Mahatma Gandhi) on the, editor's panel. The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatma Gandhi on 26 September, 1924. The first issue was published from Naya Bazar, Delhi (now Swami Sharda Nand Marg). It, contained writings and articles from C. F. Andrews, St. Nihal Singh, Maulana Mohammad, Ali, Dr. C.R. Reddy, T. L. Vaswani, Ruchi Ram Sahni, Bernard Haton, Harinder Nath, Chattopadhyaya, Dr Saifuddin Kichlu and Rubi Waston etc., Panikkar launched the Hindustan Times as a serious nationalist newspaper. As a historian, and, litterateur, he must have hoped to make his paper eventually more than an Akali sheet. He, became the editor and funds flowed freely from activist Akali patrons. He exerted himself, strenuously, but the paper made very little headway. In two years Panikkar could not take the, print order any higher than 3,000. By then the Akali movement appeared to lose steam and funds, dried up. The paper was saved from an untimely demise when Pandit Malaviya stepped in to, realise his vision of a newspaper in Delhi., Malaviya raised 50,000 rupees to acquire the Hindustan Times along with the help of nationalist, leaders Lajpat Rai and M. R. Jayakar and industrialist G. D. Birla, who paid most of the cash., Birla took full control of the paper in 1933. The paper continues to be owned by the Birla family., It has its roots in the Indian independence movement of the first half of the twentieth century and, even faced the noted "Hindustan Times Contempt Case (August–November, 1941)" at Allahabad, High Court. It was edited at times by many important people in India, including Devdas, Gandhi and Khushwant Singh. Sanjoy Narayan, has been appointed the editor in chief of the, , Page 86 of 173
Page 92 :
paper and was due to take over in August 2008. Recently the editorial page has seen a major, makeover and has been named "comment" to bring in more flexibility and some-what less, seriousness to the page., , 6.2.6 The Hindu, It started as a weekly paper in 1878 and became daily in 1889. It was previously known as, the Triplicane Six consisting of 4 law students and 2 teachers. The main reason for starting the, paper was the criticism by British owned newspapers for appointing T. Muthuswami Aiyer as, judge of the Madras High Court. About 80 copies of the inaugural issue were printed at Srinidhi, Press, Georgetown on one rupee and twelve annas of borrowed money. Subramania Iyer became, the first editor and Veeraraghavachariar, the first managing director of the newspaper., The Hindu and its editor, Subramania Aiyer, were from beginning closely associated with the, congress. He used the columns of his paper to propagate views regarding social reforms. The, Hindu changed hands in 1905 when s. Kasturiranga Iyengar, a lawyer, bought it and became its, editor. He changed the makeup of the paper within a year and made it a commercial proposition., After 1887, when the annual session of Indian National Congress was held in Madras, the paper's, coverage of national news increased significantly, and led to the paper becoming an evening, daily starting 1 April 1889., A.Rangaswami Iyengar became the editor of this paper in 1928 and worked both as editor, as well as a Congressman. The Hindu was the first Indian newspaper to have its own plane, service for distribution to far flung areas. It came up with a sports weekly ―Sportstar‖ in 1978, followed by ―‖Frontline‖ a fortnightly news magazine in 1984. It follows three basic principles., i.e. :, 1) Press must keep its own house clean and exercise reasonable restraints on its functioning., 2) Response of authority for the smooth functioning of the press., 3) Positive attitude of the society as a whole., Activity:, Make a list of all the newspapers in India before independence in a chronological order and, the name of the movements with which they were associated., , Page 87 of 173
Page 93 :
Self Assessment Questions, 1. Elaborate the historical development of the Times of India till its present status., Answer……………………………………………………………………………, ……………………………………………………………………………………., ……………………………………………………………………………………., 2. Discuss the role played by Kalinath Ray in the growth and development of The Tribune., Answer……………………………………………………………………………, ………………………………………………………………………………………, ………………………………………………………………………………………, 3. What was the contribution of The Statesman in the freedom struggle?, ……………………………………………………………………………………., ……………………………………………………………………………………., ……………………………………………………………………………………., Answers to Self Assessment Questions, 1. The Times of India is the oldest English daily in India. It was founded on November, 3, 1838 as ―The Bombay Times‖ and ―Journal of Commerce‖ which were bi-weekly, papers. It contained news from the Indian subcontinent, Britain as well as the rest of, the world. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850. It was renamed, as The Times of India after amalgamation of three more newspapers (Bombay Times,, The Courier and The Standard) in 1861. The Bombay Times had many shareholders, from 1850 to 1859 when it was bought by Robert Knight (1825–1892). He was the, principal founder and the first editor of the Times. He fought for a press free of prior, restraint or intimidation, frequently resisting the attempts by governments, business, interests, and cultural spokesmen. t was the earliest newspaper to subscribe to, Reuter‘s news agency. In 1890, it was the first daily to publish 3000 copies every day., The number of Indian subscribers was small due to free public libraries. Bennett and, Coleman combined and formed a company called Bennett-Coleman Company which, continues even today although it has changed into Indian hands. During the partition, of Bengal, there was a spurt of violence and the British-owned press screamed for, strong government action. It set itself to be a defender of the government and its, technique was to snipe at Indians, both extremists and moderates. The paper was, , Page 88 of 173
Page 94 :
hauled up for contempt of court during the trial of Tilak for sedition in 1897. The, paper passed into Indian hands in 1946 with Frank Moraes becoming its first Indian, editor. It also had a sister journal, The Illustrated Weekly of India, which was started, in 1888. The Economic Times was also started by the group in 1916 which was the, first daily dealing with financial and economic news to be published in India. It, occupies a premier position and has the second largest circulation among English, dailies, according to Press in India, 1984., 2. As an editor of the paper, Kalinath Ray was a fearless writer who bravely faced the, risks involved in fighting the strongly entrenched alien government. He was tried for, seditious writings. He was known for his uprightness, integrity, sobriety and, independence. He did not believe in non-violence and the methods adopted by, Gandhi to achieve freedom but he was a good Congressman and took an active part in, the freedom struggle. He was sent to rigorous imprisonment for two years in 1919, but due to high opposition, the government had to release him after 3 months., Although the paper was an uncompromising critic of the British rule, Ray, commanded great respect even among the British bureaucrats of the day. He, maintained the highest journalist standards. He did not indulge in character, assassination, nor in hitting below the belt. Ray emerged with chronic asthma from, prison and never recovered. He passed away in 1943 and the Tribune passed through, many ups and downs until the final calamity in 1947, when on the eve of, independence, two of its staff members were stabbed and the publication of the paper, in Lahore was suspended., 3. The paper was founded by Robert Knight in 1875. It followed the policy of critical, review of the government‘s actions which gave it a distinct position apart from the, British controlled papers. It was described as the Manchester Guardian of the East., There were many occasions when it got into trouble with the government. It had, published a secret minute of Lord Curzon on the partition of Bengal and the Home, department withdrew from it government advertisements and other privileges as a, punishment. It was criticized by the nationalists during 1930‘s. It represented the, rightist point of view in 1920s as it was both conservative as well as liberal. Malcolm, , Page 89 of 173
Page 95 :
Muggeridge came to India as an assistant editor of this paper but he was not happy., He was of the view that Bitish would have to go back one day., , 6.3 Historical Development of Important Magazines, 6.3.1 India Today, India Today is, , an Indian English-language weekly magazine. It was established in 1975 by Vidya, , Vilas Purie (owner of Thompson Press), with his daughter Madhu Trehan as its editor and his, son Aroon Purie as its publisher. At present, India Today is published in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil,, and Malayalam., History, It was launched in 1975 with a starting circulation of 5000 copies.The success of this magazine, lies in the fact that the founder and the editor-in-chief Aroon Purie is still with it. He plays an, important role in shaping public opinion about important issues., India Today Group, This group has 13 magazines, 2 TV channels, 3 radio stations and one newspaper under it.It also, has a license to publish brands of reputed global media like Cosmopolitan, Reader‘s Digest,, Good housekeeping amongst others published in 5 languages- Hindi, Tamil, Telgu, Malayalam, and Bengali., Target Audience, It is targeted at educated class comprising of people who believe in making an informed, decision. Primary target audience includes corporate executives and businessmen. Secondary, target audience includes people who would further analyze the events of the week . The audience, is well read and aware of their surroundings., Content, Following are the regular features in the magazine:, (i) Mail of the week, (ii) Indiascope, , Page 90 of 173
Page 96 :
(iii) Sportswatch, (iv) Eyecatchers, Mainly the content is political in nature as compared to any other area., Style of Writing, The style of writing is simple, lucid and easy. The writing is supplemented by graphs, which makes the analysis easy to understand. Pull quotes and blurbs are effectively, used to convey the essence of the article. Vocabulary is easy and there is no use of, jargon and makes it easy for readers to read across sections., Reach, It reaches to almost 35 million individuals with a weekly circulation of around 1.1, million. It is popular in various zones like New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad,, Chennai, Kolkata, etc., , 6.3.2 Frontline, Frontline is a fortnightly English language magazine published by The Hindu Group of, publications from Chennai, India. Narasimhan Ram is the editor-in-chief of the magazine. As a, current affairs magazine, it covers domestic and International news. Frontline gives a prominent, place to various issues of development and hindrances in the Indian states. Apart from topics of, politics and political economy, it also covers a wide range of topics including Arts, books,, cinema, Science and English language., History, This magazine was originally intended to be a newspaper when started by founders Dr. Biswadip, Mitra (the current head of Texas Instruments India) and Gautham Seth (a Frankfurt-based, investor). The founders later had differences in opinion regarding the content and intent of the, publication and the magazine was sold to PL Investments Ltd, which later sold it to The Hindu, Group., Contributors, Its regular contributors include known left-wing writers such as C. P. Chandrasekhar, Praful, Bidwai, R.K. Raghavan, Jayati Ghosh and Bhaskar Ghose. Aijaz Ahmad, a Marxist literary critic, and political analyst, also contributes occasional essays on various topics. Vijay Prashad, the, , Page 91 of 173
Page 97 :
Marxist historian, writes a regular "Letter from America" for the magazine, as well as reports on, American issues., Frontline is noted for its serious coverage of issues. The magazine has made it a point to analyse, issues related to the working classes the unorganized sectors, tribal regions, etc. in India., Since, 1991, the magazine has opposed the economic reforms of successive governments, comprising divestment in state owned corporations, opening of areas like telecom and insurance, to private and foreign players among others, , 6.3.3 Outlook, Outlook is an independent weekly general interest English News magazine published in India. It, features contents from politics, sports, cinema, and stories of broad interests. It was first issued in, October, 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the Editor in Chief., History, It was started by Hathway Pvt Ltd in 1995. It is a preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in, India and sells more than 11.2 million copies every year., Magazines under Outlook, Outlook is providing six magazines. They are as follows:, (i), , Outlook ( news weekly magazine) : It includes national and international, political, sports and current affair news. It also covers stock markets and books, information., , (ii), , Outlook (Profit) : It describes the national and international share market., , (iii), , Outlook (Business) : It describes the business news all over the world., , (iv), , Outlook (Money): It describes investments, banking, job and careers, etc., , (v), , Outlook (Traveller): It acts as a travel guide in all the directions., , (vi), , Outlook (Marie Claire): It focuses on the fashion world., , Page 92 of 173
Page 98 :
It quickly carved a niche for itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth,, investigative reporting and its stylish visual format.It has shaken the establishments, on the events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to Cricket. It is one of the India‘s four, top selling English weekly news magazines., , 6.3.4 IIlustrated Weekly of India, The Illustrated Weekly of India was an English language weekly newsmagazine publication in, India. It started publication in 1880 (as Times of India Weekly Edition, later renamed as The, Illustrated Weekly of India in 1923) and ceasing publication in 1993. Also simply known as, Weekly by its readership, The Illustrated Weekly of India was considered to be an important, English language publication in India for over a century. The magazine was edited by A.S., Raman, Khushwant Singh, M. V. Kamath, and Pritish Nandy. A.S. Raman was the first Indian, editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India, succeeding Sean Mandy. Khushwant Singh who was, then a sub-editor of the magazine took over as editor upon Raman‘s departure. Cartoons in the, latter half of the magazine were by R. K. Laxman and Mario. It is now defunct. Many young, students of English used it as a regular reading and guide for honing., , 6.4, , Summary, , So, during the 18th and 19th century a number of newspapers and magazines came into existence., These forms of print media played an important role in the freedom struggle of this country., Many of them are still in existence and have made a great success in their respective areas. The, circulation of these papers have increased a lot after the computer revolution. Besides the above, mentioned magazines, other popular ones are Femina, Science Today, Business Today, etc., , 6.5, , Model Questions, , 1. Write about the historical development of The Tribune., 2. Throw light on the role played by magazines in Indian freedom struggle., 3. What were the popular magazines in India in the 19th century., 4. What is the role played by print media in society?, , Page 93 of 173
Page 99 :
6.6, , Suggested Reading, , 1. Nadig Krishnamurthi, , Indian Journalism( University of Mysore), , 2. S.Natarajan, , A History of Press in India( Asia, Publishing House), , 3., , Rangaswami Parthasarthy, , 4., , B.N.Ahuja, , 5. Keval J Kumar, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Theory and Practice of Journalism (Surjeet Publications), Mass Communication in India, , 6.7 References, 1. The Newspaper- An International History, Anthony Smith, Thames and Hudson, London, 1979., 2. The Press in India, 1984, Registrar of Newspapers, Delhi, 1984., 3. Day to Day with Gandhi, Mahadev Desai, Sarvo Seva Sangh, Varanasi, 1968., , Page 94 of 173
Page 100 :
UNIT – 3, Press in India after Independence, Lesson 7 : Important personalities in Indian journalism, Lesson 8 : Overview of important newspapers and magazines in India, Lesson 9: Press in India after independence, , Page 95 of 173
Page 101 :
LESSON: 7 Important personalities in Indian Journalism, , Structure:, 7.0 Objectives, 7.1 Introduction, 7.2 James Silk Buckhingham, 7.3, , Kalinath Ray, , 7.4, , Dayal Singh Majithia, , 7.5, , Surinder Nath Banerjee, , 7.6, , Sadhu Singh Hamdard, , 7.7, , Lala Jagat Narayan, , 7.8, , Narinder Mohan, , 7.9, , Summary, , 7.10 Model Questions, 7.11 Suggested Reading, 7.12 References, , 7.0 Objective, In this chapter, an overview of the pioneers of Indian journalism is discussed along with, their contribution in the field of print media. The objective of this chapter is to provide an, indepth knowledge to the readers about important personalities who contributed a lot to this, field. It includes James Silk Buckimgham, Kalinath Ray, S N Banerjee, etc., , Page 96 of 173
Page 102 :
7.1 Introduction, The press in India was started with the efforts of many famous personalities in India. The, first newspaper ―Bengal Gazette‖ was brought out by James Augustus Hicky on January, 20,1780. But his paper got tough competition from the rival paper ‗Indian Gazette‘ which, appeared in the same year. He was a fighter who was not interested in money but had the, courage to face the consequences of his writings and actions. After Hicky, many other heroes of, Indian journalism came. Some of them are discussed in the following part of this chapter., , 7.2, , James Silk Buckingham, James Silk Buckingham was one of the pioneer in Indian press. He was born in England in, , 1786 and was popular as a man of principles in the country. Jawahar Lal Nehru described him as, the earliest champions of the freedom of press in India . He came to India in 1818 as the editor of, the Calcutta Chronicle. He was a versatile editor and made his paper a mixture of political,, commercial and literary news and views. He was a scholar in anthropology and literature. He, was a keen observer of the customs and habits of the people among whom he lived. He, introduced to his readers Byron and Walter Scott and Washington Irving. He brought a breath of, fresh air to an atmosphere polluted by the intrigue, scandal-mongering, flippancy and easy going, life of the European community. He was a keen observer of the customs and habits of the people, among whom he lived. He was a progressive thinker and writer whose achievement belongs to, the early 19th century. He was a redoubtable champion of freedom of expression as well as quick, to see the importance of the voices of the Indian freedom struggle asserting themselves in the, field of journalism and intellectual expression., He laid emphasis on news of local conditions rather than fashions, the life of the people rather, than the social around and criticism rather than invective. He focused on the omissions and, commissions of the government‘s policy in his editorials. He also condemned social customs like, sati. He gave prominence to the news and views in Bengali and Persian journals and published a, summary in his paper. He was a friend of the native press and defended its right to exist and, voice the opinion of the Indian people. He was the inspiration behind the growth of Indian, Journalism., , He was truly the father of Indian Journalism. With his advent, press started, , Page 97 of 173
Page 103 :
discussing questions of public interest. He considered a well conducted press essential to, promote knowledge and dispel ignorance. He had revolutionary views about the press. The, Calcutta Journal under his guidance was considered to be the best produced newspaper in content, and presentation. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was greatly impressed by his gifts as an editor and, Buckingham himself saw in Ram Mohan Roy a kindered spirit. His first encounter with the, authorities came when he criticized the suppression of Col. Rubison of the 20th regiment of the, East India Company. Objections were raised to the publication and prosecution was started, against him. His only crime was that he came too close to topics that touched the very roots of, the administration. His repeated disclosures of official malpractices and his success in securing, redressal of grievances proved a danger to the East India Company and its reputation. The, government passed an order prohibiting the publication or selling of any newspaper or journal of, which the governor might disapprove., His example of courage set a tradition and was met with the government‘s alternate policy of, repression and liberalism. In England, Buckingham started the ‗Orient Herald‘ in which he, continued to expose the administration in India. He also advocated an elected Indian legislature, composed of an equal number of Indians and Englishmen, and recruitment to the Indian Civil, Service by open competition instead of by nomination. The main contribution of Buckingham to, Indian Journalism is that he made newspaper the mirror of the people. He was one of those, journalists who are born rather than made., Activity 1:, Make a list of the contributions made by James Silk Buckingham to Indian Journalism., , 7.3 Kalinath Ray, Kalinath Ray was the former editor of a popular daily The Tribune. He was a fearless writer, who bravely faced the risks involved in fighting an alien government. He emerged as an, undisputed leader for the press in Punjab. So when he was sent to jail for two years in 1919, the, whole of the Punjab and its people rose as one man in protest of his imprisonment. In the face of, determined opposition, he was released after three months., For him, Gandhiji said, ― Long live Kalinath Ray. His articles now-a-days on the communal, problem and on joint electorates for Harijans bear witness to his deep knowledge and wide, , Page 98 of 173
Page 104 :
experience.‖ He had his differences with Gandhi as he did not believe in non violence and the, methods adopted by Gandhi to achieve freedom. According to Amolok Ram, a former editor,, ―Ray, who edited The Tribune for 28 years was known for his uprightness, integrity, sobriety and, independence. He did not allow his judgement to be influenced by personal or sectarian, considerations.‖, Although The Tribune was an uncompromising critic of British rule, Ray commanded great, respect even among the British bureaucrats of the day. He maintained the highest journalist, standards. He did not indulge in character assassination, nor in hitting below the belt., Ray emerged with chronic asthma from prison and passed away in 1943. The Tribune passed, through many ups and downs until the final calamity in 1947 when on the eve of independence,, two of its staff members were stabbed and the publication in Lahore was suspended., , 7.4, , Dyal Singh Majithia, , Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia was the founder of The Tribune. He was the son of a family that, had played a very important part in the history of the Sikh state founded by Maharaja Ranjit, Singh. For three generations the family had provided generals to the Maharaja‘s forces, and Dyal, Singh‘s father was the head of the kingdom‘s ordnance. A great advocate of Western education,, he was largely responsible for the setting up of Panjab University., Dyal Singh was a great philanthropist. He gave much in charity. It is significant that he decided, on the amount to be given away to charities in advance, depending upon the earnings in the, previous month. And this amount, once fixed, was not to be exceeded. He was accessible to all, those who were seekers after truth. He rendered financial assistance to the needy, irrespective of, their religious beliefs. He was the most important Brahmo leader of Punjab and the principal, financier of the Brahmo Samaj. He was made a trustee of the Brahmo Samaj Mandir in Calcutta., Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable pioneers who led India, out of the darkness of ignorance to the enlightenment of modernity. He did for North India what, Raja Rammohun Roy had done for Bengal three quarters of a century earlier., , Page 99 of 173
Page 105 :
He had come to the conclusion well before 1880 that India‘s salvation lay in the education of the, masses. He insisted on spreading English education, and established a college of the most, modern kind. The establishment of The Tribune was another noteworthy contribution by him., The aim of the newspaper was to spread the doctrine of Indian nationalism and to bring about, unity in a society that was afflicted by differences on questions of religion, caste, language and, region. His nationalism was also reflected in his strong support for the foundation of the Indian, National Congress., Dyal Singh Majithia had a lively and questioning mind. He had influential social connections, which gave him entree into every political and intellectual sphere partaking fully in the life, around him. The whole story of Sardar Majithia cannot be reconstructed without recourse to, conjecture and imagination as the documentary evidence helpful for some parts of his life is, almost wholly lacking for others., The Tribune became a success within a short time so much so that when Dennis Fitzpatrick was, the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab a civilian wrote to The Pioneer of Lucknow that Punjab was, ruled by the Lieutenant-Governor and The Tribune. It remained Dyal Singh‘s cardinal principle, not to interfere in the working and management of the paper, and he left complete freedom to the, Editor to use his discretion in running the paper. He emphasised in his Will that the paper should, remain entirely free from any taint of communalism which was vitiating the atmosphere in, Punjab., Dyal Singh was a reserved and taciturn person. He was a man of few words. Not a profound, thinker, ideologue or scholar of the library, he possessed immense Punjabi commonsense of, seeing the reality of things. He disdained controversies. This does not mean that he kept himself, aloof when important issues of national interest were involved., The exposure of public wrongs once led to a famous defamation case, filed in 1890, by a, Superintendent of Police against Dyal Singh and the Editor of The Tribune. One of the factors, mentioned by the Superintendent of Police was that Dyal Singh was a nationalist and had, allowed the compound of his baronial mansion in Amritsar to be used for a lecture by a Congress, agitator named Allah Ram., , Page 100 of 173
Page 106 :
7.5 Surinder Nath Banerjee, S N Banerjee was one of the earliest politicians in the pre independence era of India. He, established Indian National Association which was later merged with Indian National Congress., At a very young age, he cleared the British instituted ICS examinations, but was dismissed due, to racial discrimination. He whipped up a strong protest against this. Later on, Banerjee became a, senior member of the Indian National Congress. Born on 10 November 1848 at Calcutta in West, Bengal, Surendranath Banerjee was intensely swayed by the liberal, progressive thinking of his, father, Durga Charan Banerjee., In the time to come, Banerjee went on to launch 'The Bengali' newspaper and the Indian National, Association in 1876. He employed these forums to address political and social issues like the, age-limit for Indian students appearing for ICS. He rebuked the racial discrimination practiced, by the British officers through public speeches all over the country, which made him very, popular. After the Congress was set up in 1885 at Bombay, Banerjee merged his Indian National, Association with it owing to their common agenda. He served as Congress President in 1898 and, 1904., He had reached the climax of his political career in 1906, and then set in the decline. The, cleavage between the Moderates and the Extremists led to the steady decline of the Moderate, Party of which Surendranath was the strongest pillar. The Home Rule League and the emergence, of Gandhiji made the people lose faith in the programme of the Moderate Party, and the, publication of the Montagu Chelmsford Report was the signal of war between the Moderates and, the rest. The Moderates went down, and when they walked out of the Congress in 1918,, Surendranath along with them practically walked out of the history of India‘s struggle for, freedom., Surendranath was an educationst. He was a great journalist and the Bengalee, edited by him,, occupied a very high place in Indian journalism and made a conspicuous contribution to the, growth of nationalism in India. In 1909 he attended the Press Conference in London. He was a, member of the Calcutta Corporation (1876-99) and resigned as a protest against Lord Curzon‘s, , Page 101 of 173
Page 107 :
policy of effectively destroying its popular character. But as a Minister he had the consolation of, restoring its democratic character., He was a member of the Indian Legislative Council for many years and did good work in that, body. He had very liberal social and religious ideas. He advocated widow remarriage and raising, the marriageable age of girls, and presided over the Provincial Social Conference., Activity 2:, Compare and contrast the role of Kalinath Ray with that of S N Banerjee as a journalist., , Self Assessment Questions, 1. Who were the pioneers of The Tribune? Discuss in detail., Answer…………………………………………………………………………………., ………………………………………………………………………………………….., ………………………………………………………………………………………….., 2. Write a note on the contribution made by S.N.Bannerjee in the field of Indian journalism., Answer..................................................................................................................................., ………………………………………………………………………………………………, ………………………………………………………………………………………………, 3. Who was the father of Indian Journalim?, Answer…………………………………………………………………………………….., …………………………………………………………………………………………….., ………………………………………………………………………………………………, , Page 102 of 173
Page 108 :
Answers to Self Assessment Questions, 1. The credit for making The Tribune a successful and popular paper goes to its two, pioneers, Dayal Singh Majithia and Kalinath Ray. The former was the founder of the, paper while the latter was the former editor. Dyal Singh was a great philanthropist. He, gave much in charity.. He rendered financial assistance to the needy, irrespective of their, religious beliefs. He was the most important Brahmo leader of Punjab and the principal, financier of the Brahmo Samaj. He was made a trustee of the Brahmo Samaj Mandir in, Calcutta.He was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable pioneers who led India out of, the darkness of ignorance to the enlightenment of modernity. He did for North India what, Raja Rammohun Roy had done for Bengal three quarters of a century earlier. He had, come to the conclusion well before 1880 that India‘s salvation lay in the education of the, masses. He insisted on spreading English education, and established a college of the most, modern kind. The establishment of The Tribune was another noteworthy contribution by, him. The aim of the newspaper was to spread the doctrine of Indian nationalism and to, bring about unity in a society that was afflicted by differences on questions of religion,, caste, language and region. . He had influential social connections which gave, him entree into every political and intellectual sphere partaking fully in the life around, him. The whole story of Sardar Majithia cannot be reconstructed without recourse to, conjecture and imagination as the documentary evidence helpful for some parts of his life, is almost wholly lacking for others. Dyal Singh was a reserved and taciturn person. He, was a man of few words. Not a profound thinker, ideologue or scholar of the library, he, possessed immense Punjabi commonsense of seeing the reality of things. He disdained, controversies. This does not mean that he kept himself aloof when important issues of, national interest were involved., On the other hand, Kalinath Ray was a fearless writer who bravely faced the risks, involved in fighting an alien government. He emerged as an undisputed leader for the, press in Punjab. So when he was sent to jail for two years in 1919, the whole of the, Punjab and its people rose as one man in protest of his imprisonment. In the face of, determined opposition, he was released after three months. He had his differences with, Gandhi as he did not believe in non violence and the methods adopted by Gandhi to, , Page 103 of 173
Page 109 :
achieve freedom. Ray commanded great respect even among the British bureaucrats of, the day. He maintained the highest journalist standards. He did not indulge in character, assassination, nor in hitting below the belt., 2. S N Banerjee established Indian National Association which was later merged with, , Indian National Congress. At a very young age, he cleared the British instituted ICS, examinations, but was dismissed due to racial discrimination. He whipped up a strong, protest against this. Later on, he became a senior member of the Indian National, Congress. Born on 10 November 1848 at Calcutta in West Bengal, Surendranath, Banerjee was intensely swayed by the liberal, progressive thinking of his father, Durga, Charan Banerjee. In the time to come, Banerjee went on to launch 'The Bengali', newspaper and the Indian National Association in 1876. He employed these forums to, address political and social issues like the age-limit for Indian students appearing for ICS., He rebuked the racial discrimination practiced by the British officers through public, speeches all over the country, which made him very popular. After the Congress was set, up in 1885 at Bombay, Banerjee merged his Indian National Association with it owing to, their common agenda. He served as Congress President in 1898 and 1904. He had, reached the climax of his political career in 1906, and then set in the decline. He was an, educationst. He was a great journalist and the Bengalee, edited by him, occupied a very, high place in Indian journalism and made a conspicuous contribution to the growth of, nationalism in India. In 1909 he attended the Press Conference in London. He was a, member of the Calcutta Corporation (1876-99) and resigned as a protest against Lord, Curzon‘s policy of effectively destroying its popular character. But as a Minister he had, the consolation of restoring its democratic character. He was a member of the Indian, Legislative Council for many years and did good work in that body. He had very liberal, social and religious ideas. He advocated widow remarriage and raising the marriageable, age of girls, and presided over the Provincial Social Conference., 3. James Silk Buckingham was truly the father of Indian Journalism. With his advent, press, started discussing questions of public interest. He considered a well conducted press, essential to promote knowledge and dispel ignorance. He had revolutionary views about, the press. The Calcutta Journal under his guidance was considered to be the best, , Page 104 of 173
Page 110 :
produced newspaper in content and presentation. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was greatly, impressed by his gifts as an editor and Buckingham himself saw in Ram Mohan Roy a, kindered spirit. His first encounter with the authorities came when he criticized the, suppression of Col. Rubison of the 20th regiment of the East India Company. Objections, were raised to the publication and prosecution was started against him., , His example, , of courage set a tradition and was met with the government‘s alternate policy of, repression and liberalism. In England, Buckingham started the ‗Orient Herald‘ in which, he continued to expose the administration in India. He also advocated an elected Indian, legislature composed of an equal number of Indians and Englishmen, and recruitment to, the Indian Civil Service by open competition instead of by nomination. The main, contribution of Buckingham to Indian Journalism is that he made newspaper the mirror of, the people. He was one of those journalists who are born rather than made., , 7.6 Sadhu Singh Hamdard, Sadhu Singh Hamdard was a double barreled journalist who excelled in both urdu and Punjabi., He was also an innovative poet who was born in a peasant family of moderate means living at, the village of Paddi Matvali, near Banga, in Jalandhar district o£ the Punjab. in 1918. As a high, school student, he was active in Chaudhri Sher Jang's group of the radicals in the Yug Paltau, Dal, party to impart a radical turn to the age. The Dal was formed in 1939-40 by Giani Harbans, Singh of Sarhala Khurd in Hoshiarpur district. The Dal ceased to exist after the arrest and, execution of its founder. He then joined the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee taking, over its publicity wing., In 1944, Sadhu Singh entered the field of journalism. He took up editorship of the Daily Ajit, (Urdu) and retained this position until 1957. In 1955, he also became chief editor of' the Punjabi, Ajit. The birth of the Ajit was an entirely new phenomenon in Punjabi journalism. It marked a, new era of change and experimentation. In Sadhu Singh's hands, Punjabi journalism matured and, reached new heights. The Ajit and Sadhu Singh Hamdard became synonymous terms as he had, nursed the paper very lovingly. Sadhu Singh set its permanent seal on Punjabi journalism. He, created a new taste in Punjabi writing and introduced several new techniques. His services to, Punjabi journalism, to what he did to give it a new face and format, were widely acknowledged., , Page 105 of 173
Page 111 :
In 1963, the Punjab Government honoured him with the title of Shiromani Pattarkar (the, journalist of the year). He was chairman of the reception committee of All India Newspapers, Editors Conference held at Jalandhar in 1973. He also edited two monthly magazines Tasvir and, Drishti. Within his lifetime, he converted all his property and assets into a public trust for the, advancement of Punjabi culture and letters., As a poet, Sadhu Singh Hamdard will be especially remembered for popularizing the ghhazal, form in Punjabi. His collection of Punajbi poems in this genre, entitled Ghazal, won him a first., prize from the Punjab Government in 1963. He also wrote some novels built around heroic, episodes from Sikh history as well as some short stories. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar,, awarded him the Ph.D. degree for his thesis on "Origin and Development of the Punjabi Ghazal.", He was a fellow of that University and a member of its Syndicate. He was also a member of the, Advisory Committee of the Languages Department and Press Advisory Committee of the Punjab, Government, and of the Indian Academy of Letters (1973-1978). He was also president of the, Kendri Punjabi Lekhak Sabha (luring 1972-79 and founder-president of Bazm-i-Adab (Urdu)., Dr Sadhu Singh Hamdard was also awarded the title of Padma Shri by the Central Government, in January 1984, but he surrendered the honour in protest against the army action in the precincts, of Golden Temple, Amritsar, in June 1984. Sadhu Singh Hamdard died at Jalandhar on 29 July, 1984., , 7.7 Lala Jagat Narain, Lala Jagat Narain was the founder of the Hind Samachar group. He was born at Wazirabad,, District Gujranwala (now in Pakistan) in 1889. He graduated from D.A.V. College, Lahore in, 1919, and joined the Law College, Lahore. He left his studies in 1920 at the call of Mahatma, Gandhi to join the non-cooperation movement. He was sentenced in two and a half years, imprisonment. While in jail, he acted as Lala Lajpat Rai's Personal Secretary. In 1924 he became, the editor of Bhai Parmanand's Weekly Hindi Paper Akashvani. He participated in all the, Satyagraha movement and was in jail for about nine years on different occasions. His wife was, in jail for six months. His eldest son, Ramesh Chandra, was arrested during the Quit India, movement., , Page 106 of 173
Page 112 :
Lala Jagat Narain held various posts like President of the Lahore City Congress Committee for, seven years, leader of the Congress Party in the Lahore Corporation, a member of the Punjab, Provincial Congress Committee for more than thirty years and member of the All-India Congress, Committee for about 30 years., He was a prominent critic of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was shot dead on September 9,, 1981, near Amaltas Motel on the national highway while returning to Jalandhar from Patiala.The, White Paper issued by the government of India, mentioned that Lala was murdered because of, his criticism of murders of Nirankaris in Amritsar. He was present during the clash that occurred, between Nirankaris and Akhand Kirtni Jatha Members, and stood witness at the Karnal Trial, in, favour of the accused. Thirteen Sikhs and Two Nirankaris were killed in the clash. The, Nirankaris fired from their guns and were acquitted by court on grounds of self defence. Both the, Government and Surjeet Jalandhari, project the murder as the murder of a person deeply, involved in criminal cases in Punjab., In 1981, Bhindranwale barricaded himself inside the fortified Gurudwara Gurdarshan Parkash at, Mehta Chowk, but was persuaded to surrender on September 20, 1981. For 25 days, violence, exploded all over Punjab, while Bhindranwale was jailed in a Circuit House. India‘s then Home, Minister, Giani Zail Singh, announced to Parliament that there was no evidence that, Bhindranwale was involved in Lala Jagat Narain‘s murder, and was released in Oct. 15, 1981., A chair in the name of Lala Jagat Narain was established at Kurukshetra University in 1998., , 7.8 Narendra Mohan, Narendra Mohan was an industrialist and chairman of Jagran Prakashan Group. He was, renowned for his dedicated journalism and deep simplicity and sincerity and was champion in, steering the business to its unsurpassable position today — 30 editions, a massive 19 odd million, readers, apart from being one of the most influential newspapers in the country. He was a person, of low profile but entered politics as BJP MP. From his humble beginnings when in early 1940s,, as a youngster in Kanpur, he didn't have enough money to buy a bicycle and, therefore, had to, rely on traditional public transport in the district — the bullock-cart. His determination, vision, and foresight mixed with diligence and hard-work that he took Jagran group to a meteoric rise., The group's founder was Mohan's father, the late Puran Chand Gupta, who never faltered in his, determination to become a newspaper baron. The paper started from Jhansi. He made full use of, the technological advances in the newspaper industry to boost the Dainik Jagran's circulation. It, , Page 107 of 173
Page 113 :
was one of the first to switch to colour and printing satellite editions. The newspaper employs, about 2,000 journalists and even introduced the concept of 'mohalla' correspondents., During his heyday, Mr. Mohan was an extremely hands-on editor and wrote editorials, a column, and one poem each week in Dainik Jagran. He could fluently dictate an editorial over the phone, without notes — never pausing for a moment. He toured U.S.A., and almost all countries of the, world for getting first hand knowledge of working and other socio-economic conditions of, newspapers and other industries., He was awarded Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Award in 1986 and Matrushree Award in 1989 for, outstanding contribution to Journalism. He was an avid reader and writer and wrote thousands of, articles on different subjects/ He was author of numerous poems and short stories in Hindi/ He, also authored and got published three anthologies of poems titled, , , Amrit Ki Oar, , , , Dasatva Se Ubaaro, , , , Thumara Sangeet, , He authored four books, , , Dharm Aur Sampradayikta, , , , Aaj Ki Rajniti aur Bhrashtachar, , , , Bharatiya Sanskriti, , , , Hindutva., , Self Assessment Questions, 1. Who were the pioneers of language journalism in India?, Answer…………………………………………………………………………….., …………………………………………………………………………………….., ……………………………………………………………………………………., Answer to Self Assessment Questions, 1. A number of persons had contributed in starting language papers in India. It, includes, Sadhu Singh Hamdard, Lala Jagat Narain and Narender Mohan. Sadhu, , Page 108 of 173
Page 114 :
Singh entered the field of journalism in 1944. He was a double barreled journalist, who excelled in both urdu and Punjabi. He was also an innovative poet who was, born in a peasant family of moderate means living at the village of Paddi Matvali,, near Banga, in Jalandhar district o£ the Punjab. in 1918. As a high school student,, he was active in Chaudhri Sher Jang's group of the radicals in the Yug Paltau Dal,, party to impart a radical turn to the age. He took up editorship of the Daily Ajit, (Urdu) and retained this position until 1957. In 1955, he also became chief editor, of' the Punjabi Ajit. The birth of the Ajit was an entirely new phenomenon in, Punjabi journalism. It marked a new era of change and experimentation. Lala, Jagat Narain was the founder of the Hind Samachar group. In 1924 he became the, editor of Bhai Parmanand's Weekly Hindi Paper Akashvani. He participated in all, the Satyagraha movement and was in jail for about nine years on different, occasions. He was a prominent critic of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was shot, dead on September 9, 1981., Narendra Mohan was an industrialist and chairman of Jagran Prakashan Group., He was renowned for his dedicated journalism and deep simplicity and sincerity, and was champion in steering the business to its unsurpassable position today —, 30 editions, a massive 19 odd million readers, apart from being one of the most, influential newspapers in the country. He was a person of low profile but entered, politics as BJP MP. During his heyday, Mr. Mohan was an extremely hands-on, editor and wrote editorials, a column and one poem each week in Dainik Jagran., He could fluently dictate an editorial over the phone without notes — never, pausing for a moment. He was awarded Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Award in 1986, and Matrushree Award in 1989 for outstanding contribution to Journalism. He, was an avid reader and writer and wrote thousands of articles on different, subjects/ He was author of numerous poems and short stories in Hindi., , 7.9 Summary, A number of eminent scholars contributed in making Indian journalism a great success. They, played an active role in making press the mirror of society and helping the freedom fighters in, propagating their views amongst the masses. All the personalities discussed in this lesson led to, , Page 109 of 173
Page 115 :
the foundation of one or the other famous newspaper like The Tribune, Dainik Jagran, Punjab, Kesari, etc. All of them gave a concrete shape to the profession of journalism in India., , 7.10 Model Questions, 1. Throw light on the achievements of Kalinath Ray as an editor., 2. Write a note on S N Banerjee as a journalist., 3. Elaborate the contribution of Buckingham to Indian Journalism., 4. Write about the role of Lala Jagat Narain in Indian freedom struggle., 5. Discuss the achievements of Narendra Mohan in journalism., , 7 .11 Suggested Reading, 1., , Rangaswami Parthasarthy, , 2., , B.N.Ahuja, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Theory and Practice of Journalism (Surjeet Publications), , 3. Keval J Kumar, , Mass Communication in India, , 4., , A History of Press in India, , S. Natarajan, , 7. 12 References, 1. Ramakrishna, C. (2002). Historical perspective of press freedom in India, Visakhapatnam:, Andhra University Press., 2. Partasarthy, R. (1991). History of Journalism in India. New Delhi: sterling Publishers., 3. Murthy, D.V.R. (2010). Gandhian Journalism, Is it Relevant Today? New Delhi: Kanishka, Publishers., , Page 110 of 173
Page 116 :
LESSON : 8, , Overview of Important Newspapers and, Magazines in India, , Structure:, 8.0 Objectives, 8.1 Introduction, 8.2 The Times of India, 8.3, , Amrit Bazar Patrika, , 8.4, , Hindustan Times, , 8.5, , The Hindu, , 8.6, , The Statesman, , 8.7, , The Tribune, , 8.8, , Indian Express, , 8.9 India Today, 8.10, , Frontline, , 8.11, , Outlook, , 8.12, , Preet Lari, , 8.13, , Tehelka, , 8.14, , Summary, , 8.15 Model Questions, , Page 111 of 173
Page 117 :
8.16 Suggested Reading, , 8.17 References, 8.0 Objective, In this chapter, a brief overview of the important newspapers and magazines is provided in order, to throw light on their historical development as well as their contribution to the freedom, movement. Present status of the newspapers and magazines is also discussed so that the readers, can compare the past with the recent performance., , 8.1 Introduction, The Indian print media has shown a remarkable progress in the recent times. Many of the, newspapers have crossed the century mark. There is a great change in the quality as well as, quantity of the content of these papers. All the popular dailies started before independence of the, country as a mission and have achieved new heights in the recent times. The Indian Press is, undergoing a technological revolution making it more attractive for its readers., Dailies like The Times of India, Indian Express, The Statesman, The Hindustan Times, etc have, shown a great change from their earlier editions. People of all age groups enjoy reading these, papers due to the good quality of their content. Increase in the circulation figures of these papers, proves their success. Magazine Journalism is popularly known as periodical press.re commonly, for a specific group of readers and the content is moulded according to the taste of that, particular group only. They provides diversity in cover design, layout, contents and perspective., The printing technology used in magazines is of a far better quality as compared to the, newspapers. These magazines were used for advertising products by their producers and, manufacturers. Heavily dependent upon advertising as the main source of revenue, the magazine, industry had to face stiff competition from television and films and so some magazines stopped, their printing due to lack of funds., The most famous Indian magazines were Illustrated weekly of India, India Today, Outlook., Frontline, etc. These magazines are discussed in detail in the following part of this lesson., , Page 112 of 173
Page 118 :
Here is a brief overview of some of the important newspapers and magazines in India:, , 8.2 The Times of India, Introduction, The Times of India is an Indian English language daily newspaper. According to the Indian, Readership Survey (IRS) 2012, It is the most widely read English newspaper in India with a, readership of 7.643 million. It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is, owned by the Sahu Jain family. It has played an important role in the development of Journalism, in India. The Times of India has its markets in major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai,, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Coimbatore, Madurai,, Trichy, Puducherry, Patna, Pune, Calicut, Kochi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Nashik, Panaji, Mysore,, Hubli, Mangalore, Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Raipur, Ranchi, Guwahati,, Trivandrum, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Bhopal and Varanasi., , Historical Development, It was founded on November 3, 1838 as ―The Bombay Times‖ and ―Journal of Commerce‖, which were bi-weekly papers. It contained news from the Indian subcontinent, Britain as well as, the rest of the world. The daily editions of the paper were started from 1850. It was renamed, as The Times of India after amalgamation of three more newspapers (Bombay Times, The, Courier and The Standard) in 1861. The Bombay Times had many shareholders from 1850 to, 1859 when it was bought by Robert Knight (1825–1892). He was the principal founder and the, first editor of the Times. He fought for a press free of prior restraint or intimidation, frequently, resisting the attempts by governments, business interests, and cultural spokesmen., It was the earliest newspaper to subscribe to Reuter‘s news agency. In 1890, it was the first, daily to publish 3000 copies every day. The number of Indian subscribers was small due to free, public libraries. The Times of India in 1870 asked its readers to contribute through their writings, and the regular contributors will be given free copy of the paper. The paper was hauled up for, contempt of court during the trial of Tilak for sedition in 1897., , Page 113 of 173
Page 119 :
The paper passed into Indian hands in 1946 with Frank Moraes becoming its first Indian editor., , Present Status, The Times of India is published by the media group, Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. This, company along with its other sister concerns under The Times Group also publishes various, other newspapers like The Economic Times, Mumbai Mirror, Navbharat Times, etc. The, Chennai edition was launched in April 2008 followed by Kolhapur edition in February 2013. It, has various news channels working under its banner like Times Now., Activity 1:, Prepare a list of various supplements of The Times of India newspaper along with the frequency, of its publication., , 8.3 Amrit Bazar Patrika, Introduction, Amrit Bazar Patrika is the oldest Indian-owned daily paper. It played a major role in the, evolution and growth of Indian journalism and made a striking contribution to creating and, nurturing the Indian freedom struggle. It was described as the best nationalist paper in India., The Patrika operated out of a battered wooden press purchased for Rs 32. The Patrika espoused, the cause of communal harmony during the Partition of India., , Historical Development, The paper was started on 20th of February, 1868 by Sisir Ghosh, Moti Lal Ghosh and two other, sons of Hari Naryan Ghosh, a rich merchant from Magura, in District Jessore, in Bengal, Province of British Empire in India to fight the cause of peasants being exploited by the indigo, planners. The story of this paper was the story of Sisir Kumar‘s relentless fight against the alien, rulers who were determined to suppress this mouthpiece of the poor.It moved to Calcutta in, 1871 and functioned as a bi-lingual weekly both in English and Bengali., Its anti-government views and vast influence among the people was a thorn in the flesh of the, government. Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India promulgated the Vernacular Press Act on 1878, , Page 114 of 173
Page 120 :
mainly against ABP. The Patrika became an English overnight. It became a daily in 1891 and, was the first to go into investigative journalism. Sisir Kumar fought for the rights of the Indians, and launched various campaigns against the restrictions on civil liberties and economic, exploitation. Both he and his brother Motilal were deeply attached to Bal Gangadhar Tilak., When Tilak was prosecuted for sedition in 1897, they raised funds in Calcutta for his defence., They also published a scathing editorial against the judge who sentenced Tilak to 6 years of, imprisonment, for 'presuming to teach true patriotism to a proved and unparalleled patriot.', During the great Calcutta killings of 1946, the Patrika left its editorial columns blank for three, days. When freedom dawned on August 15, 1947, the Patrika published in an editorial:, It is dawn, cloudy though it is. Presently sunshine will break., , 8.4 Hindustan Times, Introduction, It is an Indian English language daily newspaper started in 1924. The paper is owned by Rajya, Sabha MP Shobhna Bhartia. It is published under the flagship of HT Media Ltd and has a, circulation of more than a million as referred by Audit Bureau of Circulation. It is popular in, northern India with simultaneous editions from New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna,, Ranchi, Bhopal and Chandigarh., , Historical Development, It was founded in 1924 by Sunder Singh Lyallpuri, Founder father of Shiromani Akali Dal in, Punjab. K. M. Panikkar was its first editor with Devdas Gandhi (son of Mahatma Gandhi) on the, editor's panel. The opening ceremony was performed by Mahatma Gandhi on 26 September, 1924. The first issue was published from Naya Bazar, Delhi (now Swami Sharda Nand Marg). It, contained writings and articles from C. F. Andrews, St. Nihal Singh, Maulana Mohammad, Ali, Dr. C.R. Reddy, T. L. Vaswani, Ruchi Ram Sahni, Bernard Haton, Harinder Nath, Chattopadhyaya, Dr Saifuddin Kichlu and Rubi Waston etc., , Page 115 of 173
Page 121 :
Panikkar launched the Hindustan Times as a serious nationalist newspaper. As a historian, and, litterateur, he must have hoped to make his paper eventually more than an Akali sheet. He, became the editor and funds flowed freely from activist Akali patrons. He exerted himself, strenuously, but the paper made very little headway. In two years Panikkar could not take the, print order any higher than 3,000. By then the Akali movement appeared to lose steam and funds, dried up. The paper was saved from an untimely demise when Pandit Malaviya stepped in to, realise his vision of a newspaper in Delhi., It has its roots in the Indian independence movement of the first half of the twentieth century and, even faced the noted "Hindustan Times Contempt Case (August–November, 1941)" at Allahabad, High Court. It was edited at times by many important people in India, including Devdas, Gandhi and Khushwant Singh. Sanjoy Narayan, has been appointed the editor in chief of the, paper and was due to take over in August 2008. Recently the editorial page has seen a major, makeover and has been named "comment" to bring in more flexibility and some-what less, seriousness to the page., , Present status, Unflinching commitment to highest journalistic standards, technological innovations and strong, focus on consumer needs has put Hindustan Times in the ranks of the most revered English, newspapers in the country. It is printed at nine centres including Bhopal, Chandigarh, Delhi,, Mumbai, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna and Ranchi. Hindustan Times’ Delhi edition continues, to be the largest-circulated edition of an English daily in the country, with a readership of over, 36.92, , lakh., , Driven by the commitment to providing news and information that helps readers enhance and, enjoy life, Hindustan Times has in its portfolio relevant special-interest supplements that cater to, a variety of subjects. The mainline paper also has the first-ever dedicated business pullout by any, mainstream English daily in the Delhi market. It caters to the business news needs of a reader, from Monday to Saturday. Along with this paper, HT Group owns Fever 104FM ,, Mint(newspaper) and Desimartini., Activity 2:, Write an essay on the various editors of Hindustan Times since its inception to present time., , Page 116 of 173
Page 122 :
8.5. The Hindu, Introduction, The Hindu, English-language daily newspaper published in Chennai, generally regarded as one, of India‘s most influential dailies. It is distinguished for its comprehensive coverage of national, and international political news and for its emphasis on accuracy and balanced coverage., Although it is published in a provincial capital, The Hindu‘s reportage and editorials are read, carefully and taken seriously in the national capital. At the beginning of the 21st century, its, daily circulation exceeded 900,000. The newspaper‘s parent company, Hindu Group, Publications, also publishes The Hindu Business Line, a daily business paper, and popular, magazines such as Frontline and Sportstar., , Historical Development, It started as a weekly paper in 1878 and became daily in 1889. It was previously known as, the Triplicane Six consisting of 4 law students and 2 teachers. The main reason for starting the, paper was the criticism by British owned newspapers for appointing T. Muthuswami Aiyer as, judge of the Madras High Court. About 80 copies of the inaugural issue were printed at Srinidhi, Press, Georgetown on one rupee and twelve annas of borrowed money. Subramania Iyer became, the first editor and Veeraraghavachariar, the first managing director of the newspaper., The Hindu and its editor, Subramania Aiyer, were from beginning closely associated with the, congress. He used the columns of his paper to propagate views regarding social reforms. The, Hindu changed hands in 1905 when s. Kasturiranga Iyengar, a lawyer, bought it and became its, editor. He changed the make up of the paper with in a year and made it a commercial, proposition. After 1887, when the annual session of Indian National Congress was held in, Madras, the paper's coverage of national news increased significantly, and led to the paper, becoming an evening daily starting 1 April 1889., A.Rangaswami Iyengar became the editor of this paper in 1928 and worked both as editor, as well as a Congressman. The Hindu was the first Indian newspaper to have its own plane, service for distribution to far flung areas. It came up with a sports weekly ―Sportstar‖ in 1978, followed by ―‖Frontline‖ a fortnightly news magazine in 1984. It follows three basic principles., i.e. :, , Page 117 of 173
Page 123 :
1) Press must keep its own house clean and exercise reasonable restraints on its functioning., 2) Response of authority for the smooth functioning of the press., 3) Positive attitude of the society as a whole., , 8.6The Statesman, Introduction, The Statesman is an Indian English daily founded in 1875. It is published simultaneously from, Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneshwar. It has an average weekly circulation of around, 2,00,000 copies and ranks as one of the leading paper in West Bengal., , Historical Development, The Statesman is a direct descendant of two newspapers, The Englishman and The Friend of, India, both published in Kolkata. The newspaper was founded by Robert Knight for the purpose, of critical review of the government‘s actions and policies. He was very happy with the, formation of Indian National Congress in 1885. He passed away in 1890. It was described as the, Manchester Guardian of the East and had to face many atrocities of the british government. It, represented the rightist point of view in 1920s as it was both conservative as well as liberal., Malcolm Muggeridge came to India as an assistant editor of this paper but he was not happy. He, was of the view that Bitish would have to go back one day., Arthur Moore and Ian Stephens were the two great editors of this paper who earned the, admiration and gratitude of the Indian people by their sympathy and support for their political, aspirations. Stephens exposed the horrors of Bengal famine in 1946 through revealing pictures, and gruesome stories which made him unpopular in the government. He resigned in 1951 as he, disagreed with the Kashmir policy of the government. The paper progressively changed into, Indian hands and is a fully Indian owned and edited newspaper., , Present Status, Presently, it is characterized by its terse style of reporting. It presents an award for rural reporting, to outstanding journalists every year. Irrespective of the affiliation, to increase the social, , Page 118 of 173
Page 124 :
upliftment of the country. Now, it works under the editorship of Ravindra Kumar with Usha, Mahadevan as its resident editor. Dainik Statesman, a Bengali daily, is its sister concern., , 8.7 The Tribune, Introduction, The Tribune is an English language daily newspaper published from Chandigarh, New Delhi,, Jalandhar, Dehradun and Bathinda. It was founded by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia in 1880 in, Lahore. It is run by a trust comprising of five trustees. Gandhiji described it as the best, viewspaper., , Historical Development, It was started as a weekly paper on 2nd February, 1881. Its main aim was to fairly and, temperately advocate the cause of the masses. It condemned the partition of Bengal in 1905 and, the atrocities of martial law regime in 1919. The editor of the paper, Kalinath Ray was tried for, seditious writings. He was a fearless writer who bravely faced the risks involved in fighting an, alien government. He was known for his uprightness, integrity, sobriety and independence. He, was sent to rigorous imprisonment for two years in 1919 but due to high opposition, the, government had to release him after 3 months. Although the paper was an uncompromising critic, of the British rule, Ray commanded great respect even among the British bureaucrats of the day., The Tribune is a trust managed newspaper. Its main policy is to be liberal in politics, secular, in outlook, balanced and objective in reporting. Religious controversies shall be avoided in the, columns of the paper and an attitude of strict neutrality shall be maintained in regard to all castes, and religions. Since, its inception, it succeeded in making itself a recognized mouth piece of, public opinion. It often clashed with the British rulers who were determined to suppress the, freedom movement but it stood like a rock and earned the reputation of being a fearless, champion of the cause of the people and freedom. It was one of the three papers blacklisted by, the government and denied advertisements and facilities during emergency in 1975., , Page 119 of 173
Page 125 :
Present Status, The present Editor-in-chief of the paper is Raj Chenegappa. Two of its sister concerns i.e. Dainik, Tribune and Punjabi Tribune were started in 1978 and were also an instant success. It has, recently revamped several of its printing and editorial features with theme pages on week days, and supplements on weekends., Activity 3:, Make a list of the weekly columns getting published in The Tribune along with the name of its, writer., , 8.8 Indian Express, Introduction, It is the only newspaper which has a national presence in almost all parts of the country. A total, of 19 editions are published from various parts of the country.It is known for its crusading form, of journalism., , Historical Development, It was established by Ramnath Goenka in Madras (now Chennai) in 1937. It has played an active, role in the freedom of press and against repression during emergency in 1975. It was on the, firing line once again when its offices in 12 centres across the country were raided, simultaneously in September 1987. It has emerged as the most powerful opposition to the Rajiv, Gandhi government. It was accused of evading customs duties and violating FERA regulations., Frank Moraes and Arun Shourie were the two most well known editors of the Indian Express,, known for their sturdy independence. Moreas was a fearless critic of the government regardless, of the personalities involved. Arun Shourie exposed emergency excesses and abuse of authority, of Indira Gandhi; uncovered the misuse of official authority by a chief minister to collect funds, and tackled several other issues like prison reforms, bonded labour, etc., , Present Status, , Page 120 of 173
Page 126 :
Presently, The Indian express is working under the guidance of its able editor, Shekhar Gupta. It, has its sister concern under the name ―Financial Express‖. Its published from Delhi, Nagpur,, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad., , 8.9 India Today, India, , Today is an Indian English-language weekly magazine. It was established in 1975 by Vidya, , Vilas Purie (owner of Thompson Press), with his daughter Madhu Trehan as its editor and his, son Arun Poorie as its publisher. At present, India Today is published in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil,, and Malayalam., History, It was launched in 1975 with a starting circulation of 5000 copies.The success of this magazine lies in the, fact that the founder and the editor-in-chief Aroon Purie is still with it. He plays an important role in, shaping public opinion about important issues., India Today Group, This group has 13 magazines, 2 TV channels, 3 radio stations and one newspaper under it.It also has a, license to publish brands of reputed global media like Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest, Good, housekeeping amongst others published in 5 languages- Hindi, Tamil, Telgu, Malayalam and Bengali., , Target Audience, It is targeted at educated class comprising of people who believe in making an informed, decision. Primary target audience includes corporate executives and businessmen. Secondary, target audience includes people who would further analyze the events of the week . The audience, is well read and aware of their surroundings., Content, Following are the regular features in the magazine:, (v) Mail of the week, (vi) Indiascope, (vii), , Sportswatch, , (viii), , Eyecatchers, Mainly the content is political in nature as compared to any other area., , Page 121 of 173
Page 127 :
Style of Writing, The style of writing is simple, lucid and easy. The writing is supplemented by graphs, which makes the analysis easy to understand. Pull quotes and blurbs are effectively, used to convey the essence of the article. Vocabulary is easy and there is no use of, jargon and makes it easy for readers to read across sections., Reach, It reaches to almost 35 million individuals with a weekly circulation of around 1.1, million. It is popular in various zones like New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad,, Chennai, Kolkata, etc., , 8.10, , Frontline, , Frontline is a fortnightly English language magazine published by The Hindu Group of publications, from Chennai, India. Narasimhan Ram is the editor-in-chief of the magazine. As a current affairs, magazine, it covers domestic and International news. Frontline gives a prominent place to various issues, of development and hindrances in the Indian states. Apart from topics of politics and political economy, it, also covers a wide range of topics including Arts, books, cinema, Science and English language., , History, This magazine was originally intended to be a newspaper when started by founders Dr. Biswadip, Mitra (the current head of Texas Instruments India) and Gautham Seth (a Frankfurt-based investor). The, founders later had differences in opinion regarding the content and intent of the publication and the, magazine was sold to PL Investments Ltd, which later sold it to The Hindu Group., , Contributors, Its regular contributors include known left-wing writers such as C. P. Chandrasekhar, Praful Bidwai, R.K., Raghavan, Jayati Ghosh and Bhaskar Ghose. Aijaz Ahmad, a Marxist literary critic and political analyst,, also contributes occasional essays on various topics. Vijay Prashad, the Marxist historian, writes a regular, "Letter from America" for the magazine, as well as reports on American issues., Frontline is noted for its serious coverage of issues. The magazine has made it a point to analyse issues, related to the working classes the unorganized sectors, tribal regions, etc. in India., Since, 1991, the magazine has opposed the economic reforms of successive governments comprising, divestment in state owned corporations, opening of areas like telecom and insurance to private and, foreign players among others., , Page 122 of 173
Page 128 :
Awards, Regular, , correspondent, Dionne, , Bunsha received, , the Ramnath, , Goenka in, , 2007, , for, , outstanding reporting in the field of environment and books. Journalist, P.Sainath, a frequent, contributor to Frontline won the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award in the fields of creative arts,, journalism and communication., Other journalists such as Asha Krishnakumar and Praveen Swami are also recipients of, prestigious awards in journalism, such as the Lorenzo Natali prize., Coverage, It has held a mirror to history in all its dimensions, and its coverage has created a class of loyal, readers across age groups and class backgrounds., An important component of Frontline’s news agenda over the past 25 years has been coverage of, history. Going well beyond a report-it-as-news approach to this social science discipline, the, magazine adopted from the start a considered editorial policy that recognised the importance of, history to serious journalism in a country that has an ongoing engagement with its past and, where politics and society are constantly being shaped by the filtered hist ory of 5,000 years., Political upheaval and social change in India over the past 25 years have more often than not, been underpinned by contending visions of history. As a chronicler and commentator of its, times, Frontline has sought to reflect this interaction accurately and fairly., Frontline has diligently covered major new research developments in the discipline, presenting, the significance of the findings in a popular and accessible way. This was achieved without, oversimplifying the discipline‘s methodologies and conclusions – an approach that has won it, many supporters among historians and scholars. More significantly, it created a class of loyal, readers across age groups, occupations and class backgrounds who yearned for new, factual, information and fresh perspectives in history at a time of deep social churn., The range of such reporting was wide: from exciting ground-breaking research into the Indus, Valley script (Frontline, February 20, 1987), to an entire package by leading historians on the, significance of the 1857 Uprising on the occasion of its 150th anniversary (―The Call of, 1857‖, Frontline, June 29, 2007)., , Page 123 of 173
Page 129 :
Activity 4:, Make a list of regular columns getting published in Frontline., , 8.11, , Outlook, , Outlook is an independent weekly general interest English News magazine published in India. It features, contents from politics, sports, cinema, and stories of broad interests. It was first issued in October, 1995, with Vinod Mehta as the Editor in Chief., , History, It was started by Hathway Pvt Ltd in 1995. It is a preferred magazine of 1.5 million readers in, India and sells more than 11.2 million copies every year., Magazines under Outlook, Outlook is providing six magazines. They are as follows:, (vii), , Outlook ( news weekly magazine) : It includes national and international, political, sports and current affair news. It also covers stock markets and books, information., , (viii), , Outlook (Profit) : It describes the national and international share market., , (ix), , Outlook (Business) : It describes the business news all over the world., , (x), , Outlook (Money): It describes investments, banking, job and careers, etc., , (xi), , Outlook (Traveller): It acts as a travel guide in all the directions., , (xii), , Outlook (Marie Claire): It focuses on the fashion world., It quickly carved a niche for itself among discerning readers who value its in-depth,, investigative reporting and its stylish visual format.It has shaken the establishments, on the events ranging from Kargil to Kashmir to Cricket. It is one of the India‘s four, top selling English weekly news magazines., Awards, , Page 124 of 173
Page 130 :
1., , Department of Tourism, GGovernment of India Award 2001-02 awarded to, Outlook Traveller for excellence in publication., , 2., , In 2002-03, Government of India recognized ―Outlook Traveller Getaways‖, as the ―Best Travel Publication.‖, , Outlook websites, 1., , Outlookindia.com, , 2., , Outlookmoney.com, , 3., , Outlooktraveller.com, , Activity 5:, Compare the editorial policy of India Today with that of Outlook., , 8.12, , Preet Lari, , Preet Lari founded in 1933 by a self-made civil engineer who went to the USA from, Punjab in the twenties,Gurbakhsh Singh,the eldest of a family whose father had died, when Gurbakhsh was a child.He had a large family of aunts and uncles and a wife to, support and got a job with the Railways in India, which was under the British., He came from the radical American background now and had no patience for the, colonial rule.He was one of the officers that accompanied Simon on his Commission in India,, and witness to the widespread black flag waving etc., When the darling of the people Bhagat Singh and his two comrades were done to death,, Gurbakhsh Singh made a quiet decision to quit his job. As he employed on a temporary base, he, did not opt for permanency when it offered and quit his job, much to the concern his family., He went in for becoming a pioneer farmer.Soon he realised that his calling was the spread of, radical ideas. And he started the journal Preet Lari in 1933 and formed the colony dedicated to, LOVE calling it PREET NAGAR. From cultural radicalism to socialism was a step taken by, Preet Lari under the influence of his son Navtej Singh, a sensitive short story writer in his own, , Page 125 of 173
Page 131 :
right and a Masters in Psychology,who also devoted his life to Preet Lari. And was a card holder, of the communist movement , working on its cultural front and bringing thousands of employees, to become readers and supporters of Preet lari., When the movement started to become inhumane and narrow, the third generation of the family, was at hand to restore it to the people.Sumeet Singh ,a son of Navtej Singh, was to face the, Terrorists‘ time and stood up bravely for the human values. Although the prior generation of, extremist leftist ideology had successfully isolated Preet Lari from the new generations in their, misguided mission,Preet Lari continued to publish with no support nnearly.That too from the, heartland of Terror. Sumeet was killed by terrorists, being taken for a Hindu, as ‗ethnic‘, cleansing was being done by the terrorist ideologues and their mentors.This was in Feb 1984. All, for supporting short hair., Preet Lari continued to publish , uninterrupted bit for two months, by his widow Poonam , And, his youngest brother Rati Kant Singh, with nearly no help from any political or social group,, other than its own readers and well wishers., The two young people later married and continue to publish Preet Lari., A Public Trust was formed in 1995 and an application was given to the Punjab Govt. to support, this public heritage of a magazine., An unprecedented 25 lakhs was given to this trust seeing its work and commitment and, history.The amount is safe with the Trust in banks and the income is used for running this, magazine, however less it is., The editor and the manager ,Publisher work honorarily and no profit is sought., Today, a part time clerk and a part time typist work here., The FOUNDING CHAIRMAN of this Trust was Late Sh. P.H.Vaishnav who offered his, residence in Chandigarh for this magazine to work effectively out of. He also supported Preet, Lari‘s editor and publisher for their family and living with his hard earned life‘s saving and, pension till he lived. He left his property to the now middle aged couple running PreetLari so that, they would have no needs of their own and could run Preet Lari for the benefit of the people as, they saw fit., The next generation of the family is involved with Preet Lari too, and while gaining expertise in, their various callings, they will definitely devise ways of reviving Preet Nagar too., , Page 126 of 173
Page 132 :
The journal Preet Lari carried translations,interpretations of western thought,trends as well as, sought to reinvent indehenous institutions in the same,ie, modern light., , Self Assessment Questions, 1. Compare the present status of Times of India with that of The Statesman., 2. What is the style of writing followed by India Today?, Answers to Self Assessment Questions, 1. The Times of India is published by the media group, Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd. This, , company along with its other sister concerns under The Times Group also publishes, various other newspapers like The Economic Times, Mumbai Mirror, Navbharat Times,, etc. The Chennai edition was launched in April 2008 followed by Kolhapur edition in, February 2013. It has various news channels working under its banner like Times Now., The Statesman is characterized by its verse style of reporting. It presents an award for, rural reporting to outstanding journalists every year. Irrespective of the affiliation, to, increase the social upliftment of the country. Now, it works under the editorship of, Ravindra Kumar with Usha Mahadevan as its resident editor. Dainik Statesman, a, Bengali daily, is its sister concern., 2. India Today is an Indian English-language weekly magazine. It was established in 1975, , by Vidya Vilas Purie (owner of Thompson Press), with his daughter Madhu Trehan as its, editor and his son Arun Poorie as its publisher. At present, India Today is published, in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. The style of writing is simple, lucid and easy., The writing is supplemented by graphs which makes the analysis easy to understand. Pull, quotes and blurbs are effectively used to convey the essence of the article. Vocabulary is, easy and there is no use of jargon and makes it easy for readers to read across sections., , Page 127 of 173
Page 133 :
8.13, , Tehelka, , Tehelka means, , "sensational", , in Hindi and, , it, , started, , in, , 2000, , as, , a, , news, , portal, Tehelka.com founded by Tarun Tejpal and Aniruddha Bahal, who had quit their jobs, together from Outlook. Its office was set up in south New Delhi. In 2004, backed by more than, 200 writers, lawyers, business people and activists, who donated money and supported, it, Tehelka launched itself as a reader-financed weekly newspaper in tabloid format. Among the, supporters were activist Arundhati Roy, politician Shashi Tharoor and Nobel laureate V.S., Naipaul. It called itself the "People's Paper" and the reporters took a tour around the country, promoting "free, fair and fearless" journalism. After its Naroda Patiya sting operation in 2007, it, sold around 75,000 to 90,000 copies per week but suffered financial losses, since it was not, backed by any large media or business groups like its competitors, the Outlook, India, Today and The Week. Tejpal changed it from a tabloid format newspaper to a magazine in, September 2007, to encourage more potential advertisers. Though this worked, there were still, few who accepted because of the news agency's controversial sting operations. To get more, readers, Tejpal started the Hindi language website., Tejpal became Tehelka's largest shareholder, most of its capital is from his personal contacts and, Agni Media, his company, was the owner in 2008. In November 2013, Tejpal stepped aside as, editor for six months after a woman colleague accused him of sexual assault and managing editor, Shoma Chaudhury she resigned from her post on 28 November because of this incident., THiNK Fest" was started in 2011 as an annual literary festival and promoted as an event, of Telekha. This program is run by an organisation called Thinkworks Pvt Ltd, a company, owned by Tejpal, his sister Neena and Chaudhury., In 2000, former Indian cricketer Manoj Prabhakar with the help of editor Aniruddha Bahal,, recorded more than 40 hours of taped conversations, which the Central Bureau of, Investigation (CBI) used as evidence for its own inquiry for match-fixing in cricket., In 2001, Tehelka did its first major sting investigation called "Operation West End" where the, two reporters, special correspondent Mathew Samuel and Aniruddha Bahal, filmed how they, bribed several defence officials and politicians from the then-ruling NDA-led (National, Democratic Alliance) Indian government, posing as arms dealers., , Page 128 of 173
Page 134 :
In 2007, they released footage, which was filmed over six months, showing several BJP, politicians admitting they had a role in attacking the Muslim community during the 2002 Gujarat, violence., On 23 July 2009, when police in Manipur claimed they had killed a suspected militant who had, shot at them, Tehelka released 12 photographs which proved that it was a fake encounter., In 2010, they captured on camera, right-wing organisation Sri Ram Sena leader Pramod, Muthalikand other members, where Muthalik agreed vandalise an art exhibition in exchange for, money., The organisation has been criticised mainly for its sting operations, use of hidden cameras and, investigative journalism—was widely questioned and led to the debate about its ethics.It has, been frequently accused of siding with the Congress party of India because of its major, operations focused on governments ruled by the BJP, which is the main opponent to the, Congress party in India; these were denied by Tejpal. Other criticisms include agenda-driven, journalism and openly taking sides. After it getting financial backing and its relaunch as a, magazine, it was further accused of favouring the companies which supported it for "THiNK, Fest" because of the magazine's previous anti-corporate stance.[11], The sexual assault allegations against Tejpal in November 2013, received intense public, attention and media scrutiny because Tehelka had previously been involved in highlighting the, issue of sexual violence in India, including in a special issue on the topic in February, 2013. There were protests against Tejpal by supporters of the BJP and its allies. Shoma, Chaudhury‘s handling of this case was also criticised, for possibly underplaying the issue., Activity 6:, Make a list of the various sting operations performed by Tehelka in the recent 2 years., , 8.14, , Summary, , In India, Print media has played a very important role in the development of the country as well, as the society. Various newspapers started their working in the 19th century and contributed, towards the freedom movement. They acted as the mouth piece of public opinion and gave a, , Page 129 of 173
Page 135 :
voice to the masses. The contribution of the popular papers like The Tribune, The Hindu, The, Times of India, Indian Express, The Statesman, etc cannot be ignored by anyone as well as the, present status of such papers in raising social and political issues for the people. Outlook,, Frontline, Tehelka and Preet Lari had a wide history in Indian press. These magazines are still, playing an important role in covering various important news of different areas., , 8.15, , Model Questions, , 1. Explain the historical development of The Tribune., 2. Throw light on the contribution of The Hindu in the freedom movement in India., 3. Write about the contribution of Robert Knight in Indian journalism., 4. What is the present status of The Statesman., 5. Write an essay on the overall contribution of popular newspapers in freedom of India., , 8.16 Suggested Reading, 1., , Rangaswami Parthasarthy, , 2., , B.N.Ahuja, , 3. Keval J Kumar, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Theory and Practice of Journalism (Surjeet Publications), Mass Communication in India, , 8.17 References, 1. The Newspaper – An International History, Anthony Smith, Thames and Hudson, London 1979., 2. A History of the Press in India, S. Natarajan, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1962., , Page 130 of 173
Page 136 :
LESSON : 9, , Press in India after Independence, , Structure:, 9.0 Objectives, 9.1 Introduction, 9.2 Press in initial years of freedom, 9.3, , Appointment of First Press Commission, , 9.4, , Press Council of India, , 9.5, , Press During Emergency, , 9.6, , Freedom of Press, , 9.7, , Summary, , 9.8 Model Questions, 9.9 Suggested Reading, , 9.0 Objective, The main objective of this lesson is to provide information regarding the status of press in, free India. A number of major changes were observed after independence which led to the, improvement in the quality as well as quantity of news content in print media. Various laws, were also formulated so as to guard the freedom of press. All these issues are discussed in this, chapter in detail., , 9.1 Introduction, India got freedom from the shackles of British regime on 15th of August, 1947. As the whole, country was happy on the eve of freedom, Indian press was also in a jubilant mood as it had also, contributed in the freedom struggle. Immediately after the independence, the press and the, , Page 131 of 173
Page 137 :
journalists were cooperative with the new national government which was fighting with many, hardcore issues and problems. A section of journalists started following sensational journalism ., A Bengali editor is quoted by a writer as having confessed that he adopted a communal policy, ―because playing down riots and disturbances curbed his sales.‖, , 9.2, , Press in initial years of freedom, , In the initial years of independence, the whole press was not in favor of the government., According to Frank Moraes, editor of The Times of India, ―In the absence of opposition in, Parliament, the press should take it upon itself to function as an unofficial opposition outside, Parliament, exercising that role with responsibility and circumspection.‖, Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the earliest in the government to voice his displeasure against, the press. He asked, ―For whom do we want press freedom- for the writer or for the owner to, coerce his employee to write against his conscience?‖ He gain attacked the press seven years, later by questioning the bona fides of the editors. There was a touch of irony in Nehru‘s remarks, against the press as he was the darling of the Indian press both before and after independence., Leaders like Sardar Patel, C.Rajagopalachari also didn‘t had any good view point about the, press. They were critical in their remarks about press., The first thing the National Government did after assuming office was to set up a Press Laws, Enquiry Committee which submitted its report in May, 1948. It favoured the abolition of laws, specially concerning the press and the incorporation of their major provisions in the ordinary, laws of the land. It recommended the retention of the Official Secrets Act and the three sections, of the Indian Penal Code, 124-A, 153-A and 505 dealing with disaffection, communal hatred and, tampering with the loyalty of the armed forces. The government brought in the Press (, Objectionable Matters) Bill in 1951 to give effect to some of the recommendations of the, committee. The Bill repealed the four acts relating to the press suggested by the committee. It, gave power to the government to demand and forfeit security from a newspaper or printing press, after a judicial decision. The Press Bill was unpopular with the press. The problem, however, ended with the appointment of a Press Commission in 1952 with comprehensive terms of, reference. The Act was allowed to lapse as per the recommendations of the Commission., , Activity 1:, Conduct a research on the status of press after independence in India., , Page 132 of 173
Page 138 :
9.3, , Appointment of First Press Commission, , A Press Commission was appointed in September 1952, under the chairmanship of Justice, Rajadyaksha. Other members of the commission were C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, Acharya Narendra, Dev, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao, P.H. Patwardan, T.N. Singh, Jaipal Singh, J., Natarajan, A.R. Bhat and M.Chalapathi Rau., The Press Commission enquired into the state of the Press in India, its present and future lines of, development and in particular examined:, 1. The control, management and ownership and financial structure of newspapers, the, periodical press and news agencies and feature syndicates;, 2. The working of monopolies and chains and their effect on the presentation of accurate, news and fair views;, 3. The effect of holding companies, the distribution of advertisements and such other forms, of external influence as may have a bearing on the development of healthy journalism;, 4. The method of recruitment, training, scales of remuneration, retirement benefits and other, conditions of employment of working journalists, settlement of disputes affecting them, and factors which influence the establishment and maintenance of high professional, standards;, 5. The adequacy of newsprint supplies and their distribution among all classes of, newspapers and the possibilities of promoting indigeneous manufacture of newsprint, and printing and composing machinery;, 6. Machinery for ensuring high standard of journalism, liaison between government and the, press, the functioning of Press Advisory Committees and organizations of editors and, working journalists, etc;, 7. Freedom of the press and repeal or amendment of laws not in consonance with it., The commission which submitted its report in 1954, made several important recommendations, which helped in the formation of a number of institutions. It was the first enquiry of its kind into, , Page 133 of 173
Page 139 :
the working of the press and its report has been a kind of Bible about the press. Some of the, recommendations and observations of the first press commission are as under:, (i) A Press Council to be established whose objective should be:, 1. To safeguard freedom of the press and help the press to maintain its, independence., 2. To censure objectionable types of journalistic conduct and by all other possible, means to build up a code in accordance with the highest professional standards., 3. To keep under review any development likely to restrict the supply and, dissemination of news of public interest and importance., 4. To encourage the growth of a sense of responsibility and of public service among, those engaged in the profession of journalism., 5. To study the developments in the press which may tend towards concentration or, monopoly, and if necessary, to suggest remedies therefore., 6. To publish reports, at least once a year, recording its work and reviewing the, performance of the press, its development and factors affecting them., 7. To improve methods of recruiting, education and training for the profession by, the creation of suitable agencies for the purpose such as a Press Institute., (ii) The Commission noted the declining status of the editor in the daily newspapers. To, reverse the trend it suggested that the editor be vested with administrative control, over his staff., (iii) The Commission recommended the appointment of a press registrar who would keep a, close watch on the circulation of newspapers., (iv) It suggested the fixing of minimum wages for working journalists, introduction of price, page schedule for newspapers and the diffusion of ownership., , Page 134 of 173
Page 140 :
(v) The news agencies should not merely keep themselves free from bias and follow strictly, the principles of integrity, objectivity and comprehensiveness in the coverage of, news, but it should also appear to the newspapers, and to the public, that the news, agencies are maintaining such a course., (vi) It condemned the practice of giving astrological predictions in the newspapers and, magazines., (vii), , It recommended an increase in the number of newspapers in the district towns., , (viii) The publication of newspapers and periodicals should be made a Central, responsibility by suitable amendment of the Industries (Development and Regulation), Act, 1951., (ix) A provision should be made in the contemplated legislation to put an end to restrictive, practices., (x) An Advertising Council may be created to advise on the ethics of advertising, to organize, market research and to carry on readership survey., (xi) In order to enable journalists to perform their duties efficiently, the newspapers should, give facilities to the members of their staff to pay visits to different parts of the, country and to obtain first hand knowledge of local conditions., (xii), , Periodical publication in the newspapers of a complete statement of the names of the, proprietors and responsible executives on the newspapers so that the public could, judge for themselves the extent to which the views expressed in the paper may have, to be rejected as being possibly biased., , (xiii) Diversity of opinion should be promoted in the interest of free discussion of public, affairs. The Press Registrar should keep a close watch on the circulation of, newspapers and if he comes to the conclusion that in a particular area or in a language, a monopoly has developed, he should bring it to the notice of the Press Council who, should conduct an investigation into the whole matter., , Page 135 of 173
Page 141 :
(xiv), , There should be Indianisation both of capital and staff of certain foreign owned, dailies and weeklies., , 9.4, , Press Council of India, , The Press Council of India was first set up on 4 July 1966 by the Parliament to regulate the press, in India. The basis at that time was the Press Council Act, 1965 which resulted from the, recommendations of the First Press Commission of India (1952-1954). The stated objectives, were "to help newspapers maintain their independence" and to "raise the standards" through a, code of conduct, maintaining "high professional standards" and "high standards of public taste"., However, after 1978, the Council functions under the Press Council Act 1978 which arose from, the recommendations of the Second Press Commission of India (1978) which argued, among, other things, for a "cordial relationship between the government and the press"., It is a statutory, quasi-judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the press. It adjudicates the, complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of, the press respectively., The Press Council is headed by a Chairman: usually, a retired judge of the Supreme Court of, India(except for the first chairman, Justice J. R. Mudholkar, who was a sitting judge of Supreme, Court of India in 1968). The Council consists of 28 other members of whom 20 represent the, press and are nominated by the press organisations/news agencies recognised and notified by the, Council as all India bodies of categories such as editors, working journalists and owners and, managers of newspaper; 5 members are nominated from the two houses of Parliament and 3, represent cultural, literary and legal fields as nominees of the Sahitya Academy, University, Grants Commission (U.G.C.) and the Bar Council of India. The members serve on the Council, for a term of three years. The Council was last reconstituted on 22 May 2001. The present, Chairman is Justice Markandey Katju., The Council is funded by revenue collected by it as fees levied on the registered newspapers in, the country on the basis of their circulation. No fee is levied on newspapers with a circulation of, less than 5000 copies. The deficit is made good by grants by the Central Government, through, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting., , Page 136 of 173
Page 142 :
The Press Council Act was repealed in January, 1976 during the emergency and the, council was re-established under the Press Council Act of 1978. A Second Press Commission, was set up in May 1978, under the chairmanship of Justice P.C.Goswami. Its terms of reference, included:, (i) The role of press in a developing and democratic society., (ii) The present constitutional guarantee with regard to freedom of speech and expression, (iii) Means of safeguarding the independence of the press against economic and political, pressures from proprietors and management., (iv) Role of the press and the responsibilities it should assume in developmental policies., (v) Ownership patterns, management practices and financial structures of the press, their, relation to growth, editorial independence and professional integrity., (vi) Chain newspapers, links with industry, their effect on competition and on the readers‘, right to objective news and free comments., (vii), , Economics of the newspaper industry., The commission, in its report submitted in 1982, said: ― The role of press in a, developing and democratic society should neither be that of n adversary nor an ally of, government. To be a mindless adversary or an unquestioning ally would be to, abdicate judgement. A free press should, in our view, a constructive critic.‖, It recommended the following five steps:, 1. There should be specific legal provision under which no newspaper undertaking, should have any foreign ownership either in the form of shares or in the form of, loans., 2. Advertisements as well as printing contracts from foreign sources should be on, terms no different from those applicable to similar work done for others., , Page 137 of 173
Page 143 :
3. Advertisement rates must be published each year and on every revision, and there, should be no discrimination in their application to foreign advertisers., 4. Once a year every newspaper should publish its profit and loss account with, separate information about foreign and Indian sources., 5. Every newspaper undertaking must submit with its annual account the following, information to the Press Council:, (i), , Details of revenue obtained from advertsisements and printing contracts in, respect of foreign sources country-wise, including advertisements and, printing contracts received through an Indian agency; and, , (ii), , Names of the top 100 share holders with their nationality and address and, the number and proportion of shares held., , Activity 2:, Make a note of the present composition of Press Council of India., , Self Assessment Questions, 1. Discuss the major recommendations of the first Press Commission in India., 2. What were the major objectives of Press Council of India., Answers to Self Assessment Questions, 1. The main recommendations of the first Press Commission were, (i), , A Press Council to be established ., , (ii), , The Commission noted the declining status of the editor in the daily, newspapers. To reverse the trend it suggested that the editor be vested, with administrative control over his staff., , (iii), , The Commission recommended the appointment of a press registrar who, would keep a close watch on the circulation of newspapers., , Page 138 of 173
Page 144 :
(iv), , It suggested the fixing of minimum wages for working journalists,, introduction of price page schedule for newspapers and the diffusion of, ownership., , (v), , The news agencies should not merely keep themselves free from bias and, follow, , strictly, , the, , principles, , of, , integrity,, , objectivity, , and, , comprehensiveness in the coverage of news, but it should also appear to, the newspapers, and to the public, that the news agencies are maintaining, such a course., (vi), , It condemned the practice of giving astrological predictions in the, newspapers and magazines., , (vii), , It recommended an increase in the number of newspapers in the district, towns., , (viii) The publication of newspapers and periodicals should be made a Central, responsibility by suitable amendment of the Industries (Development and, Regulation) Act, 1951., (ix), , A provision should be made in the contemplated legislation to put an, end to restrictive practices., , Answer 2. (i) To safeguard freedom of the press and help the press to maintain its, independence., (ii)To censure objectionable types of journalistic conduct and by all other possible, means to build up a code in accordance with the highest professional standards., (iii), , To keep under review any development likely to restrict the supply and, dissemination of news of public interest and importance., , (iv), , To encourage the growth of a sense of responsibility and of public service, among those engaged in the profession of journalism., , Page 139 of 173
Page 145 :
(v), , To study the developments in the press which may tend towards, concentration or monopoly, and if necessary, to suggest remedies, therefore., , (vi), , To publish reports, at least once a year, recording its work and reviewing, the performance of the press, its development and factors affecting them., , (vii), , To improve methods of recruiting, education and training for the, profession by the creation of suitable agencies for the purpose such as a, Press Institute., , 9.5, , Press During Emergency, , The declaration of Emergency in June 1975, by the government of Indira Gandhi came as a, shocking blow to the Indian press which was its greatest victim. It was the worst form of precensorship imposed on press and a paper like The Hindu had to scrap an editorial on the, proclamation of the emergency as the censor refused to permit editorials on the emergency. The, do‘s and dont‘s of unimaginative and authoritarian censorship made it almost impossible for the, press to function and even factual news and comments came under the axe., The pre-censorship was imposed under Rule 48 of the Defence of India Rules ―in order to, maintain public order.‖ It prohibited all categories of news, comment and rumour relating to the, emergency, to arrests and detentions unless pre-authorised in writing by an ―authorized officer‖, from the Public Information Bureau in Delhi or by the director of information of a state, government. On July 26, 1975 editors received even more detailed instructions according to, which ―news was not to be published which contributes to the scare and demoralization about the, general situation or public interest in all respects as determined by the Central Government, nothing which will contribute even in a remote way to affect or worsen the law and order, situation; nothing which is likely to convey the impression of protest or disapproval of, governmental measures.‖ These were extended to cartoons, letters to the editor and captions., On December 8, 1975, three ordinances were issued banning the publication of ―objectionable, matter‖, abolishing the Press Council and removing the freedom of the press to report, proceedings of Parliament. It was made into law on January 28, 1976. However, there was at, , Page 140 of 173
Page 146 :
least one newspaper which fought grimly and with determination the assault on the press and, became the special target of persecution, and vindictiveness. The Indian Express, with its, proprietor Ramnath Goenka and editor V.K. Narsimham wrote a glorious chapter in the battle for, the freedom of the press and when press became free again, they were hailed as heroes. All the, restrictions on the press were removed when the Janta Government came to power in 1977 and, the Indian press once again breathed freedom., The Press Council Bill, 1977 was introduced by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the, Rajya Sabha on December 23, 1977. The salient features of the Bill were:, 1. The Council will consist of a Chairman and 26 other members, out of these 20 shall be, nominated by the notified press associations in accordance with a statistical procedure of, selection, from among the working journalists, persons who carry or own the business of, the management of newspapers and news agencies., 2. The other six lay members of the Council will be nominated by the respective bodies like, UGC/Bar Council/Sahitya Academy and Parliament., 3. The Council will have the power to levy a fee from registered newspapers and news, agencies., 4. The Council will nominate from among its own members, The Chairman and another, members of the Press and Registration of the Board under Section 8C of the Press and, Registration of Books Act, 1867., 5. The jurisdiction of the Press Council has been made clear and unambiguous with, reference to its functions in regard to preserving the freedom of the Press and maintain, and improve the standards of the newspapers and news agencies by laying down, specifically that the Council may make such observations, as it may think fit, in any of its, decisions or reports respecting the conduct of any authority, including government., , 9.6, , Freedom of Press, , The freedom of the press is guaranteed in Article 19(1) of the Constitution which protects, freedom of speech and expression. In 1951, the Constitution act provided for reasonable, , Page 141 of 173
Page 147 :
restrictions being imposed on the exercise of press freedom in the interest of the security of the, state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality or in relation to, contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. According to the press commission,, the expression ―freedom of the press‖ carried different meanings to different people. Some, related it to the editors while others talked about owner‘s freedom. The commission noted that, with the revolution in the communication technology on the one hand and the newspapers‘, development of an antipathy to ideas which were opposed to their commercial interest on the, other, the operation of a market place of ideas had ceased to exit., Article 19(1) (a) ―guarantees freedom of the owner to do as he chooses with his media. It, stressed the view that a newspaper is emphatically the private property of the owner who sells a, manufactured, , product at his risk; a newspaper owes nothing to the public which grants it no, , franchise. ―Self-censorship by the press is practically as great a menace to the freedom of, expression as government censorship. The whole point of a free press is that ideas deserving, public hearing and the decision as to which ideas deserve that hearing shall not rest solely within, the editors and owners…The widest possible dissemination of information from as many diverse, sources, as could be ensured, alone will secure public welfare and the constitutional guarantee of, freedom of speech and expression rests on this postulate. Article 19(1)(a) does not sanction, repression of that freedom by private interests including the press.‖, , 9.7, , Summary, , Although India got freedom in 1947, but the press had to pass through various stages in order to, get real freedom. The formation of press commissions and press council of India gave some, recommendations in order to uplift the status of press in the country. Various other laws were, also formulated to control and regulate the working of the press. Finally Article 19(1) gave, freedom of speech and expression to the press., , 9.8, , Model Questions, , 1. What were the recommendations of the first press commission of India?, 2. Throw light on the status of press in the initial years of freedom in India., 3. Discuss the status of press during emergency in India., , Page 142 of 173
Page 148 :
4. Is press free in India? Comment., 5. What are the objectives and composition of Press Council of India., , 9.9, , Suggested Reading, , 1. Nadig Krishnamurthi, 2. S.Natarajan, , Indian Journalism( University of Mysore), A History of Press in India( Asia, Publishing House), , 3., , Rangaswami Parthasarthy, , 4., , B.N.Ahuja, , 5. Keval J Kumar, , Journalism in India ( Sterling Publishers Pvt Ltd.), Theory and Practice of Journalism (Surjeet Publications), Mass Communication in India, , Page 143 of 173
Page 149 :
UNIT – 4, Press in Punjab, Lesson 10: Press in Punjab: Origin & development of Punjabi Press, Lesson 11 : Role of the press during various movements in Punjab and its present status, , Page 144 of 173
Page 150 :
LESSON : 10, , Press in Punjab: Origin & development of Punjabi Press, , Structure:, 10.0 Objectives, 10.1 Origin and development, 10.2 Timeline, 10.3, , 19th century Press, , 10.4, , 20th century Press, , 10.5 Press in Punjab after independence, 10.5.1 Ajit, 10.5.2 Akali Patrika, 10.5.3 Punjab Kesari, 10.5.5 Jagbani, 10.5.6 Nawan Zamaana, 10.6, , Summary, , 10.7 Modal Questions, 10.8 Suggested Reading, , Page 145 of 173
Page 151 :
10.9 References, , 10.0 Objective, In this chapter, a brief overview of the origin of Punjabi Press will be given. It will focus on the, development of press in Punjab. It was started from the time of independence, thus it will throw, a light on the different newspapers started, closed and survived. Along with it, the condition of, press in Punjab will be discussed after independence. Before Independence the scenario of Press, was different. The Lahore was pioneer place to start with Punjabi Press, but after the division of, Punjab many changes come up. Thus, this chapter will help to enlighten on the status of Punjabi, Press in Punjab., , 10.1 Origin and Development, The birth of Punjabi newspapers may be traced to the decade between 1850 and 1860. During the, reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after the treaty of 1809, English missionaries established a, mission at Ludhiana where they also set-up a press. From that press, a Gurumukhi grammar was, published in 1838. In 1854, the Mission Press, Ludhiana, published an English-Punjabi, dictionary. Gurmukhi type was cast for the first time, and a paper was also started to propagate, the faith., But the first Punjabi paper was not full-fledged Punjabi as its script was Gurmukhi but language, was Hindi. In 1867, ‗Akhbar Shri Darbar Sahib‘ started its publication from Amritsar. It was, started by Hari Narayan and Firaya Lal. It was considered as the spokesman of government only., No news related to public interest was printed. The paper was not covering different movements, going around in Punjab. At that time Kuka Lehar was quite active but there was no space, devoted to this particular news in this paper., The first full-fledged Punjabi paper was ‗GURMUKHI AKHBAR‘. It was a weekly paper, it, started its publication on Nov. 10, 1880 from Lahore. Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a supporter of, ‗Singh Sabha movement‘ started this paper. He was a Professor of Oriental College, Lahore. He, took up the propagation of the ideals of the Singh Sabha and employed a more popular form of, Punjabi in his writings., , Page 146 of 173
Page 152 :
This was the reason in 1883, Singh Sabha Amritsar brought this paper under its management and, it run through 1888 with prestige. Bhai Gurmukh Singh Press was running under the name of, ‗Khalsa Press‘. He started many newspapers in Punjab as:, Vidiarak- 1881, Sudharak- 1886 (monthly), Khalsa Gazette- 1886 (weekly), The Singh Sabhaites started some journals from these places for the propagation of Punjabi, language. The names of the important papers of this age are Gurmukhi Akhbar, Khalsa Akhbar,, Khalsa Parkashak, Gurumat Parkashak, Singh Sabha Gazette, Lyall Khalsa Gazette, Bharat, Sudhar, Sudhar Patrika, Amar Patrika etc., , All these paper could not survive for a very long, , time. Thus, the birth place of Punjabi journalism is Lahore and pioneer is Gurmukh Singh., , 10.2 Timeline, In 1886, one more weekly ‗Khalsa Akhbar‘ was started by ‗Gurmukh Singh‘ from Lahore. It was, a kind of representative of ‗Khalsa‘, so soon it got popularity. Its first editor was ‗Giani Jhanda, Singh‘ but got famous and prestige when ‗Giani Ditt Singh‘ became its editor. His writing were, fearless. Till 1889, the paper ran with full enthusiasm but has to be close down due some case, involved., Singh Sabha motivated the development of Punjabi newspapers. Till 1910-11 there were 12, Punjabi newspapers but there was no daily newspaper publishing at that time., At that time, besides Singh Sabha movement the other issues were included by Punjabi, Journalism was:a) Foundation of Congress Party, b) Gurudawara Rakab Ganj da morcha, c) Publicity of Sikh religion, d) Women literacy, , Page 147 of 173
Page 153 :
e) Patriotism, The first daily Punjabi newspaper was ‗Shaheed‘ started by famous writer S. S. Charan Singh on, December 4, 1914. The important feature of the paper was that, it has presented the political and, social problems in a humours way. It was a kind of satire. The paper become so popular and also, S. S. Charan Singh. He got ‗Shaheed‘ as his second name, because he was the editor, owner and, founder of Shaheed paper., The other famous weekly newspaper were:a) Patiala Gazette, b) Hindustan Gadar, c) Panth Sewak, d) Fauji Akhbar, e) Haqq Bulletin (by government of Punjab), Activity 1:, Make list of at least 15 newspapers started in Punjabi., , 10.3 19th Century Press, At the end of the 19th century one paper ‗Khalsa Samachar‘ in 1899 was started by Dr. Charan, Singh from Amritsar. Amritsar is the second famous center for newspapers in Punjab. ‗Khalsa, Samachar‘ is publishing from last 85 years and still in existence. This was the first newspaper, which started publication in 18 pt. than 16 pt. This was the paper which helped a lot in making, over the Amritsar city. It has used different techniques for publishing news., However, this paper has always hesitated in publishing news against government and never, promoted the problems of farmers and labourers. But it has always raised issues related to Sikhs, and Sikhism., , Page 148 of 173
Page 154 :
During, 1900 to 1930, Punjabi journalism actually started improving. The reason was that in, India different political and national movement were getting strengthened especially ‗Akali, Lehar‘. This was the crucial period for Punjabi journalism as it goes through many difficulties., The important journalists and prose-writers of Punjabi in this age were Bhai Gurmukh Singh,, Giani Jhanda Singh, Giani Jhanda Singh Faridkoti, Bhai Khem Singh Bedi, Bhai Lehna Singh,, Giani Dit Singh, Doctor Charan Singh, Baba Rajinder Singh Sialkoti and Bhai Maiya Singh., , 10.4 20th Century Press, In the beginning of the twentieth century, the use of type was well-known and Punjabi prose, began to make good progress. New magazines and journals appeared in large numbers. In 1902,, Uphari, Gurmat Parchar, Ramgarhia Patrika and in 1903 Khalsa Sewak, in 1904 Masak Pattar,, Chief Khalsa and in 1905 Amritsar Patrika, Ahluwalia Gazette, Khalsa Dharam Deepak, Khalsa, Youngmen‘s Gazette, Punjab Sewak Singh Patrika, were started., Most of them appeared under the influence of the Singh Sabha. No political party had so far, made use of press. From 1906 to 1910, there were signs of political awakening in the Punjab., During the period, Dukh Niwaran, Civil Military Akhbar, Mufid-e-azam, Punjab Kesari, Panch, Granthi, Patiala Gazette, Wiskarama, Beer Akhbar, Punjabi Premi were running. There was no, political movement at that time., Many newspaper closed down and others to protect themselves appointed as ‗Dummy editors‘,, so that if there will be any arrest warrant, the actual editor couldn‘t get arrested., For example- The newspaper ‗Kirti‘ was publishing the name of ‗Karam Singh‘ as editor, but, actually somebody else was writing editorials. Newspapers publishing from 1920 to 1925 were, all supporters of Akali movement that‘s why all editors were getting arrested., Punjabi journalists entered a new phase with the Akali movement. In this year many happenings, of political significance revitalized the national movement. General Dyer opened fire in the, Jallianwala Bagh and hundreds of Punjabis were killed. In 1920, the Shiromani Gurudawra, Parbandhak Committee was organized and Akali movement was started to reform Sikh, Gurudwaras., , Page 149 of 173
Page 156 :
Present Punjabi journalism includes the newspapers which started before independence and are, existing today also and among all Ajit is the most prominent newspaper., Others are following:a) Akali Patrika, b) Jagbani, c) Punjabi Tribune, d) Nawan Zamaana, , 10.5 Press in Punjab after independence, In 1966, when the present-day state of Punjab was formed as a result of the reorganization of the, states, the largest daily circulation of a paper in Gurmukhi script was only 8000 copies. No, Gurmukhi daily had enough circulation to merit a listing in the Press and Advertisers‘ Yearbook., An immense change occurred over the following 25 years., By 1991, more than 650,000 newspapers in Gurmukhi were circulating each day (Jeffery 1997)., The most significant newspapers in terms of quantity were Ajit, Jagbani and Punjabi Tribune., Ajit and Jagbani are published from Jalandhar while Punjabi Tribune is published from, Chandigarh. These newspapers continue to play an important role in Punjab politics today., , The birth of Punjabi newspapers may be traced to the decade between 1850 and 1860. During the, reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after the treaty of 1809, English missionaries established a, mission at Ludhiana where they also set-up a press. From that press, a Gurumukhi grammar was, published in 1838. In 1854, the Mission Press, Ludhiana, published an English-Punjabi, dictionary. Gurmukhi type was cast for the first time, and a paper was also started to propagate, the faith., But the first Punjabi paper was not full-fledged Punjabi as its script was Gurmukhi but language, was Hindi. In 1867, ‗Akhbar Shri Darbar Sahib‘ started its publication from Amritsar. It was, , Page 151 of 173
Page 157 :
started by Hari Narayan and Firaya Lal. It was considered as the spokesman of government only., No news related to public interest was printed. The paper was not covering different movements, going around in Punjab. At that time Kuka Lehar was quite active but there was no space, devoted to this particular news in this paper., The first full-fledged Punjabi paper was ‗GURMUKHI AKHBAR‘. It was a weekly paper, it, started its publication on Nov. 10, 1880 from Lahore. Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a supporter of, ‗Singh Sabha movement‘ started this paper. He was a Professor of Oriental College, Lahore. He, took up the propagation of the ideals of the Singh Sabha and employed a more popular form of, Punjabi in his writings., In terms of language also, Punjabi language became important only after the independence., Earlier Urdu was prominent language in Punjab Press. As after division Punjab divided into two, parts one remained in Pakistan and the other known as Punjabi Suba came to India. The Urdu, language started diluting and Punjabi become the prominent language as after division of Punjab, in 1966, Punjabi became the official language., Before independence, the pioneer of publication place for Punjabi newspapers was Lahore, but, after that scene started changing. And now papers started publishing from Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Chandigarh. Today most of the press is located in Chandigarh as being the capital of the, state, but many prominent Punjabi newspapers like Ajit, Nawaan Zamaana, Jagbani are, publishing successfully from Jalandhar., , 10.5.1 Ajit, Ajit newspaper laid new foundations not only socially, politically, literally but also in new, techniques of printing. This newspaper gave a new direction to Punjabi journalism. The other, newspaper have just followed Ajit for its new techniques and technology. The newspaper was, started in 1942 in Urdu language. In 1944, Sadhu Singh entered the field of journalism. He took, up editorship of the up to Daily Ajit (Urdu) and retained this position till 1957., In 1955, he also became chief editor of the Punjabi Ajit. The birth of the Ajit was an entirely, new phenomenon in Punjabi journalism. It marked a new era of change and experimentation. In, Sadhu Singh's hands, Punjabi journalism matured and reached new heights. The Ajit and Sadhu, Singh Hamdard became synonymous names, he had so lovingly nurtured the paper. Sadhu Singh, , Page 152 of 173
Page 158 :
Hamdard set its permanent seal on Punjabi journalism. He created a new taste in Punjabi writing, and introduced several new techniques. His services to Punjabi journalism, to what he did to give, it a new face and format, were widely acknowledged., The other newspaper have just followed Ajit for its new techniques and technology. Ajit is, publishing various supplements and they carry something for every class and age-group. It, carries interesting coverage on films, health, religion, Sikhism, literature and culture., Ajit was never a paper associated with any Shiromani committee, Akali Dal or any other religion, or political community. At present, its administration is under a trust. It has worked as a, preserver of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat. Now Ajit newspaper is considered as the pro-akali, newspaper., , 10.5.2 Akali Patrika, Akali Patrika is one for famous newspaper of Punjabi, which was started in 1920 under the name, ‗Akali‘, from Lahore. In that context it is 63 years old paper. ‗Akali‘ newspaper was started by, master Sunder Singh Layallpuri., Amar Singh Dosanjh started publication of ‗Akali Patrika‘ from Amritsar after coming here after, independence. It is said that Akali Patrika was started as an extension of Akali newspaper by, changing the name. At Amritsar ‗Akali Patrika‘s‘ editor was ‗Giani Shaadi Singh‘., In 1948, this newspaper brought to Jalandhar and Sardar Amar Singh Dusanjh became its editor., In 1980 Dusanjh died. After his death, the paper goes in many hands, due to which paper started, facing difficulties in administration. Its reputation spoiled but still is one of popular paper in, Punjab today. It is considered that Akali Patrika is the supporter of ‗Akali Dal‘., , 10.5.3 Punjab Kesari Group, The Punjab Kesari group - originated from the fertile soil of Jalandhar, the former capital of, Punjab (1947-1953). The group initiated their perpetual operation in 1948 with the launch of the, Urdu daily Hind Samachar, and later added Hindi daily Punjab Kesari in 1965 and Punjabi daily, , Page 153 of 173
Page 159 :
JagBani in 1978. Now, the three dailies are well established with a combined with good number, of circulation., The group was founded by Lala Jagat Narain and nourished by his elder son Romesh Chander, (both were assassinated in 1981 and 1984 respectively)., In 1929, the Lok Sevak Mandal, established by Lala Jagat Narain began to publish a weekly, called Punjab Kesari. Its first editor was Bhim Sen Vidyalankar., Lala Lajpat Rai‘s autobiography was first published (in series) in it & Pandit Nehru contributed, articles to it in Hindi. Later on it, was changed into daily newspapers. First-hand information of, what was happening to the congress used to appear in this paper which closed down thereafter., Lala Jagat Narain had fled to India from West Punjab at partition in 1947. He started Urdu, language newspaper Hind Samachar at Jalandhar in 1948. The Hindi paper came some 17 years, later, when Hindi-reading public in Punjab was judged to be large enough to make it worthwhile., In the year 1965, Punjab Kesari, a daily Hindi newspaper was started from Jalandhar, with an, initial print order of 1500 copies. By 1977, the circulation has risen to nearby 72,000 copies per, day., During emergency (1975-77), when government of Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister) imposed, heavy censorship over the press. During that time Punjab Kesari started encompassing its front, page in a color magazine. Punjab Kesari thus has the distinction of being the first newspaper in, India to use color its front page., In 1983, Punjab Kesari launched an edition from Delhi and by 1986, it had become the largest, selling Hindi daily in India., Lala Jagat Narain (1889-1981), the founder of Punjab Kesari was gunned down in September, 1981 during Khalistan insurgency that shook the Punjab during the 1980s. The reason for his, murder was the perceived insult that he and his newspaper perpetuated on the sentiments of the, Sikhs by speaking out against a separate Khalistan., Insurgents also targeted Punjab Kesari‘s agents and hawkers and 55 of them murdered. The, newspaper established a ―Martyer‘s fund‘ and raised 42 million rupees from readers as, , Page 154 of 173
Page 160 :
compensation to be paid to the bereaved families. The large amount of money raised was the, demonstration of the strong support commanded for the newspaper by its readers., Punjab Kesari remained a dominant Hindi Daily in the 1980s and in the first half of the 1990‘s, Instead of employing marketing survey, Punjab Kesari utilized its connection with agents and, hawkers to understand the preferences and demand of its readers. The result was that it kept, changing the type of news it covered and editorial content of the paper. It was the first Hindi, daily newspaper to focus on offering a strong dose of local news., However, critics and rivals among the Hindi dailies regard Punjab Kesari as the symbol of a, declining standard of journalism. Punjab Kesari buys stories from National Enquirer- a notorious, tabloid widely sold in super-markets and other outlets in United States. Though this helped in, assuring in initial success, it could not sustain its growth for long., As a result, it has now lost its dominant position in the Hindi newspaper market. The growth, story of Punjab Kesari also illustrates India‘s highly competitive newspaper market and the need, for a newspaper to adapt to the changing tastes of its readers in order to survive and flourish., By 2005, it had lost it pre-eminence losing ground to newspapers such as Dainik Jagran, Dainik, Bhaskat, Hindustan & Amar Ujala which growing far more aggressively., , Self Assessment Questions, 1. Write a note on the origin of Press in Punjab., 2. Throw light on the various pioneer papers in Punjab., Answers to Self Assessment Questions, Answer 1. The birth of Punjabi newspapers may be traced to the decade between 1850 and 1860., During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after the treaty of 1809, English missionaries, established a mission at Ludhiana where they also set-up a press. From that press, a Gurumukhi, grammar was published in 1838. In 1854, the Mission Press, Ludhiana, published an EnglishPunjabi dictionary. Gurmukhi type was cast for the first time, and a paper was also started to, propagate the faith. But the first Punjabi paper was not full-fledged Punjabi as its script was, , Page 155 of 173
Page 161 :
Gurmukhi but language was Hindi. In 1867, ‗Akhbar Shri Darbar Sahib‘ started its publication, from Amritsar. It was started by Hari Narayan and Firaya Lal. It was considered as the, spokesman of government only. No news related to public interest was printed. The paper was, not covering different movements going around in Punjab. At that time Kuka Lehar was quite, active but there was no space devoted to this particular news in this paper. The first full-fledged, Punjabi paper was ‗GURMUKHI AKHBAR‘. It was a weekly paper, it started its publication on, Nov. 10, 1880 from Lahore. Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a supporter of ‗Singh Sabha movement‘, started this paper. He was a Professor of Oriental College, Lahore. He took up the propagation of, the ideals of the Singh Sabha and employed a more popular form of Punjabi in his writings., In terms of language also, Punjabi language became important only after the independence., Earlier Urdu was prominent language in Punjab Press. As after division Punjab divided into two, parts one remained in Pakistan and the other known as Punjabi Suba came to India. The Urdu, language started diluting and Punjabi become the prominent language as after division of Punjab, in 1966, Punjabi became the official language., , Answer 2. The most popular Punjabi paper, Ajit, , laid new foundations not only socially,, , politically, literally but also in new techniques of printing. This newspaper gave a new direction, to Punjabi journalism. The other newspaper have just followed Ajit for its new techniques and, technology. The newspaper was started in 1942 in Urdu language. In 1944, Sadhu Singh entered, the field of journalism. He took up editorship of the up to Daily Ajit (Urdu) and retained this, position till 1957. Amar Singh Dosanjh started publication of ‗Akali Patrika‘ from Amritsar after, coming here after independence. It is said that Akali Patrika was started as an extension of Akali, newspaper by changing the name. At Amritsar ‗Akali Patrika‘s‘ editor was ‗Giani Shaadi Singh‘., The Punjab Kesari group - originated from the fertile soil of Jalandhar, the former capital of, Punjab (1947-1953). The group initiated their perpetual operation in 1948 with the launch of the, Urdu daily Hind Samachar, and later added Hindi daily Punjab Kesari in 1965 and Punjabi daily, JagBani in 1978. Now, the three dailies are well established with a combined with good number, of circulation. The daily Punjabi tribune was started in the same year 1978 by the management of, English daily ‗The Tribune‘. It publishes from Chandigarh. Brjinder Singh was its founder, editor. Harbhajan Singh Halwarvi & Jagjit Singh Bir are attached with this paper from its, , Page 156 of 173
Page 162 :
beginning. This paper has no influence of any Hindu or Sikh community. It is published under a, trust. There is one more newspaper in the list i.e. Nawa Zamana. This paper is known as the, supporter of ―Communist Party of India‖. It was started in Hindi language earlier(1952), but later, in 1956, it started its publication in Punjabi language from Jalandhar. Comrade Harkrishan Singh, Surjit, Sohan Singh Josh were among its first editor., , 10.5.4 Jagbani, In 1978, Hind Samachar Group started & ‗Punjabi daily Jagbani‘ from Jalandhar. Lala Jagat, Narain was the founder of this group. He was supporter of Nirankaris when there was a quarrel, between Akali and Nirankari. In 1981 he was assassinated by the Khalistan movement activists., After the death of Narain, Ramesh, son of Narain became the editor of Jagbani. But in 1984, Ramesh was also killed., At present Vijay Chopra and Ashwani Chopra are haeding the editorial department. Jagbani is, known as the supporter of Arya Samaj. It is mostly popular among non-Sikhs., Jagbani has won national award for printing and make-up of the paper. Jagbani focuses on, Punjabi literature, adolescent literature and problems of sportsman. It has good circulation., , 10.5.5 Punjabi Tribune, The daily Punjabi tribune was started in the same year 1978 by the management of English daily, ‗The Tribune‘. It publishes from Chandigarh. Brjinder Singh was its founder editor. Harbhajan, Singh Halwarvi & Jagjit Singh Bir are attached with this paper from its beginning. This paper, has no influence of any Hindu or Sikh community. It is published under a trust., Punjabi Tribune‘s content is very much similar to The Tribune. This paper is known for its good, content, preserver of Punjabi culture, literature, lifestyle etc. This paper has been successful in, keeping itself from any kind of controversy. It has got National award for beautiful and attractive, printing., , 10.5.6 Nawa Zamana, , Page 157 of 173
Page 163 :
There is one more newspaper in the list i.e. Nawa Zamana. This paper is known as the supporter, of ―Communist Party of India‖. It was started in Hindi language earlier(1952), but later in 1956,, it started its publication in Punjabi language from Jalandhar. Comrade Harkrishan Singh Surjit,, Sohan Singh Josh were among its first editor., There are near about 65 newspapers publishing in Punjabi language, ‗Ranjeet‘, ‗Chardi Kala‘,, ‗Desh Sewak‘, ‗Aj di Awaaz‘, ‗Rozana Spokesman‘ etc. are the papers publishing at present. The, very recently launched Punjabi newspaper is ‗Punjabi Jagran‘. It is the sister-concern of ―Dainik, Jagran‘, publishing under Jagran group. This paper has touched a good number of circulation., , 10.6 Summary, The Punjabi press was started with the Gurmukhi script and later on it picked its pace by starting, with the pure form of Punjabi. The various freedom movements led to the development of, Punjabi journalism. Different newspapers were started at different point of time. They closed, down and new papers started. After independence the scenario of Punjabi press changed a lot., Major change was about the prominence of Punjabi language over Urdu. After the existence of, Punjabi Suba, many newspaper came up. The description of Punjabi paper above shows the, proliferation of Punjabi newspapers and these newspaper started taking up the issues from, Punjab only., , 10.7 Model Questions, 1. Write a note on the pioneers of Punjabi press., 2. Write a detailed note on the popular newspapers and famous journalists in the history of, Punjabi Journalism., 3. Elaborate on the origin and development of Punjabi Press., 4. Discuss the popular issues covered by the Punjabi press in the history., 5. Throw a light on the beginning of Punjabi press and how it led to the development of Punjabi, Press., 6. Draw a Contrast between Press in Punjab before independence and after independence., , Page 158 of 173
Page 164 :
7. Introduction of Punjabi language changed the scene of Press in Punjab. Comment, , 10.8, , Suggested Reading, , 1. Joginder Singh, , Punjabi Journalism: Issues and Concerns, , 2. Jagdish S. Sharma Indian struggle for Freedom, , 10.9 References, 1. The Punjab Press Abstract (W) Lahore 1920-25 (N.M.M.L.)., 2. The Akali Patrika, Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar and Dr., Ganda Singh Punjabi Reference Library (Special Collection), Punjabi University, Patiala., 3. The Punjabee, Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar., 4. Aggarwal, R.N., Indian National Movement (1885-1947), 1st ed., Metropolitan Book Co. Delhi, 1971., , Page 159 of 173
Page 165 :
Lesson 11, , Role of the press during various movements in Punjab, And its present status, , Structure:, 11.0 Objectives, 11.1 Introduction, 11.2 Punjabi Suba Movement, 11.3 Khalistan Movement, 11.4 Ghadar Movement, 11.5, , Language Press in India, , 11.6 Present status of Language Press in Punjab, 11. 7 Problems faced by Language Press in Punjab, 11.8 Summary, 11.9 Model Questions, 11.10 Suggested Readings, 11.11 References, , Page 160 of 173
Page 166 :
11.0, , Objectives, , The main objective of this lesson is to provide information regarding various movements in, Punjab and the role played by the Press of Punjab in these movements. They have affected the, whole state of affairs and so press played a very active role in these movements. Besides it, the, other motive is to provide information regarding the status of language press in Punjab. With the, passage of time, a number of newspapers were started in Punjab. Various movements affected, their working but still they surpassed all the difficulties to achieve great success., , 11.1, , Introduction, , Various movements were started from time to time in Punjabi which affected Punjabi press., Some of them took place before independence while some were after the freedom of the country., The most dominant and popular movements were Ghadar movement, Khalistan movement and, the Punjabi suba movement. In India press is basically divided into following categories:1. English Press- From every big city, 2. Language Press- It has reach into interior part of villages and rural areas. Hindi is also, considered as a language press. But as it is an official language not national language thus, we can divide press into a third category, 3. Hindi Press, , 11.2, , Ghadar Movement, , Ghadar movement was started by Punjabi‘s in USA and Canada to liberate India from the British, rule. Its main members were Lala Hardyal, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kartar Singh, Sarabha and, Rashbehari Bose. After the outbreak of First World War, its members returned to Punjab to, agitate along with Babbar Akali Movement. It was started by many Sikhs and Hindu Punjabis, , Page 161 of 173
Page 167 :
who tasted freedom outside colonial India in USA in 1900‘s. These Punjabis created Gurdwaras, and established socities., The word Ghadar can be commonly translated as mutiny. The party was built around the weekly, paper The Ghadar, which carried the caption on the masthead: Angrezi Raj Ka Dushman(an, enemy of the British rule). "Wanted brave soldiers", the Ghadar declared, "to stir up rebellion in, India. Pay-death; Price-martyrdom; Pension-liberty; Field of battle-India". The ideology of the, party was strongly secular. In the words of Sohan Singh , who later became a major peasant, leader of the Punjab: "We were not Sikhs or Punjabis. Our religion was patriotism". The first, issue of The Ghadar, was published from San Francisco on November 1, 1913. It is said that by, 1908 about 5000 Indians had entered Canada. 99% of which were Punjabis and 90% Sikhs., Many students studying in various prominent universities joined this movement., In the beginning, the Indians went to San Francisco and Stockton in California, Portland and St., John in Oregon and Victoria in British Columbia. Such persons as Amar Singh and Gopal Singh, who had gone to America in 1905, and Tarak Nath Das and Ram Nath Puri who followed them,, started preaching against the British rule in India. They also started a paper called Azadi ka, Circular in Urdu. This paper was distributed among the armed forces in India to rouse them, against the British rule. Result was that Canadian government which was under British rule, started harassing them. The Canadian government further tightened the entry of Indians into, Canada. In 1909, only 6 Indians were allowed to visit Canada . Same year Indian immigrants, organized Hindustan Association under the presidentship of Bhai Bhag Singh Bhikkivind. Its, objectives were to establish Indian rule in India. The association started two newspapers, Pardesi, Khalsa in Punjabi and Svadesh Sevak in Urdu., The party rose to prominence in the second decade of the 20th century, and grew in strength, owing to Indian discontent over World War I and the lack of political reforms., Ghadar activists undertook what the British described as political terrorism, but what was, revolution to most Indians. Ghadar activists were responsible for bombs planted on government, property. In 1917 some of their leaders were arrested and put on trial in the Hindu German, Conspiracy Trial in which their paper was quoted., , Page 162 of 173
Page 168 :
In the first issue of ‗Ghadar‘ published on 1 November 1913, the objective of the party, was started in the following words: ―Today, there begins in foreign lands, but in our country‘s, language, a war against the British Raj …. What is our name? ‗Ghadar‘. What is our work?, ‗Ghadar‘. Where will Ghadar‘ break out? India. The time will soon come when rifles and blood, will take the place of pen and ink., Many articles and poems from ‗Ghadar‘ were re-printed in booklets of which four, became very popular, viz (i) Ghadar-di-Goonj (Echo of the Mutiny) (ii) Ilan-i-Jang (Declaration, of War) (iii) Naya Zamana (The New Age) and (iv) The Balance Sheet of British rule in India., Echoes of the mutiny became very popular., As war clouds gathered over Europe, leaders of the Ghadar Party began to talk of, utilizing the opportunity of Great Britain was involved in hostilities. Special supplements, of Ghadar were published on 28 July and 4 August 1914, explaining to the readers their duty in, the event of a war. Men were exhorted to volunteer for revolutionary service and funds were, collected to pay for their passage. Several thousand men enlisted and there was a rush to catch, boats leaving for India., The Ghadar party established a new press and published small pamphlets such as : Ghadr, Sandesh, Ailan-i-jang, Tilak, Nadar Mauqa, rikab-gan, Canada da Duhhra, Naujavan Utho,, Sachchz Pukar and so on. These pamphlets were published in Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi and were, distributed among the public and the soldiers., , 11. 3 Punjabi Suba movement, PUNJABI SUBA MOVEMENT, a long drawn political agitation launched by the Sikhs, demanding the creation of Punjabi Suba or Punjabi speaking state in the Punjab. At, Independence it was commonly recognized that the Indian states then comprising the country did, not have any rational or scientific basis. They were more the result of the demands of British, defeat. With a view to drawing up clear boundaries a commission was set up by Government of, India in 1948. In 1950‘s , the linguistic groups across India sought statehood, which led to the, establishment of the State Reorganization Commission in December 1953., The country's peripheral areas including Punjab were finding difficult to get adjusted to the, centralized politics of the ruling Congress. And, the Sikh minority, suffered heavily in the, , Page 163 of 173
Page 169 :
Partition of Punjab in terms of life and property had been nursing a deep anguish and feelings, were ruffled over what was then expressed by the Sikh leaders as ―getting politically robbed and, receiving a bad deal' in new political dispensation in free India. The Government of India was, wary of carving out a separate Punjabi language state, because it effectively meant dividing the, state along religious lines., Sikh majority Punjabi suba (province), a separate Punjabi language based entity out of Punjab,, then a Hindu majority state. The Akali Dal 's demand for Punjabi suba was projected by the, ruling Congress as ‗separatism and threat to unity of India'. As Punjab is bordering Pakistan, perceived as inimical to India, the Congress charge found a ready reception among the majority, of Indians. The Hindu newspapers from Jalandhar, exhorted the Punjabi Hindus to declare Hindi, as their mother tongue, so that the Punjabi Suba proponents could be deprived of the argument, that their demand was solely linguistic., The English language press, though influenced by the Western liberal discourses, initially served, as a vehicle for propagating the policies of the colonial authorities, later, began subscribing to, political ideology of the rulers of nascent Indian State after independence. And, the newspapers, interpreted the Sikh community's tardy political adjustment as a ‗Sikh problem' for Indian nation, instead of suggesting some measures for the Sikhs' accommodation., The Akali Dal leaders continued their agitation for the creation of a "Punjabi Suba" after the, merger of PEPSU to Punjab. The Akal Takht played a vital role in organizing Sikhs to campaign, for the cause. During the Punjabi Suba movement, 12000 Sikhs were arrested for their peaceful, demonstrations in 1955 and 26000 in 1960-61., In September 1966, the Indira Gandhi-led Union Government accepted the demand, and Punjab, was trifurcated as per the Punjab Reorganisation Act., Areas in the south of Punjab that spoke the Haryanvi dialect of Hindi formed the new state of, Haryana, while the areas that spoke the Pahari dialects were merged to Himachal Pradesh (a, Union Territory at the time). The remaining areas, except Chandigarh, formed the new Punjabimajority state, which retained the name of Punjab. Until 1966, Punjab was a Hindu majority state, (63.7%). But during the linguistic partition, the Hindu-majority districts were removed from the, , Page 164 of 173
Page 170 :
state. Chandigarh, the planned city built to replace Punjab's pre-partition capital Lahore, was, claimed by both Haryana and Punjab. Pending resolution of the dispute, it was declared as a, separate Union Territory which would serve as the capital of both the states.But still some Sikh, organisations hold the view that trifurcation was not properly carried out, as many Punjabi, speaking districts went to Haryana, since Haryana has second largest Punjabi speaking, population of India & many of its districts are Punjabi dominated., Self Assessment Questions, 1. Who were the pioneers of Ghadar movement?, 2. What was the role played by the newspapers in various movements in Punjab?, Answers to Self Assesment Questions, Answer 1. Ghadar movement was started by Punjabi‘s in USA and Canada to liberate, India from the British rule. Its main members were Lala Hardyal, Sohan Singh Bhakna,, Kartar Singh, Sarabha and Rashbehari Bose. In the beginning, the Indians went to San, Francisco and Stockton in California, Portland and St. John in Oregon and Victoria in, British Columbia. Such persons as Amar Singh and Gopal Singh who had gone to, America in 1905, and Tarak Nath Das and Ram Nath Puri who followed them, started, preaching against the British rule in India., Answer 2. Ghadar activisits started a paper called Azadi ka Circular in Urdu. This paper, , was distributed among the armed forces in India to rouse them against the British rule. Result, was that Canadian government which was under British rule started harassing them. In the first, issue of ‗Ghadar‘ published on 1 November 1913, the objective of the party was started in the, following words: ―Today, there begins in foreign lands, but in our country‘s language, a war, against the British Raj …. What is our name? ‗Ghadar‘. What is our work? ‗Ghadar‘. Where will, Ghadar‘ break out? India. The time will soon come when rifles and blood will take the place of, pen and ink., , Page 165 of 173
Page 171 :
11.4 Khalistan Movement, It is a political movement which seeks to create a separate country for Sikhs called Khalistan in, Punjab region of South Asia. Jagjit Singh Chauhan, a Khalistan proponent, placed an, advertisement in New York Times proclaiming the formation of Khalistan and collected millions, of dollars from the Sikh Diaspora. The Khalistan movement reached its zenith in 1970s and, 1980s, flourishing in the Indian state of Punjab, which has a Sikh-majority population and has, been the traditional homeland of the Sikh religion., In the 1980s, some of the Khalistan proponents turned to militancy, resulting in countermilitancy operations by the Indian security forces. In one such operation, Operation Blue, Star(June 1984), the Indian Army led by the Sikh General Kuldip Singh Brar forcibly entered the, Golden Temple to overpower the armed militants and the religious leader Jarnail Singh, Bhindranwale. The handling of the operation, damage to the Akal Takht and loss of life on both, sides, led to widespread criticism of the Indian Government. Many Sikhs strongly maintain that, the attack resulted in the desecration of the holiest Sikh shrine. The Indian Prime Minister Indira, Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards in retaliation. Following her death,, thousands of Sikhs were massacred in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, termed as a genocide by the Sikh, groups., Khalistan movement was born in the 1970s. From the 1980s, it became a global network, using, media, and especially the Internet, to sustain and develop its growth. India's politics played a, vital role in its creation. Among the issues for many Sikhs were governance rights in Punjab, State, the decentralization of resources and power, clashes resulting from the ―Green revolution‖, in agriculture, and overall the perceived discrimination against Sikhs by India's government., The Khalistani dictates included a ban on cigarettes, a ban on eating meat, a ban on drinking, liquor, a ban on beauty parlours, prohibition against shaving and compulsion of women to wear, Salwar Kameez. The people had to observe the Khalistani code in all ways of life., In Punjab the Akali Dal represented the religious Sikh politics through the Akali movement, which had its origin in the Singh Sabha movement of the late 1920‘s which tried to communalise, , Page 166 of 173
Page 172 :
a secular anti-imperialist movement. To divert it, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak, committee was formed with the blessings of the British., From the early 80‘s to the early part of the 90's the state of Punjab was ravaged by Khalistani, terrorism. Communal fascists were a great threat to the people‘s democratic movement. The, Akali Dal represented the Sikh communalists while the Congress represented the Hindu, communalism. Both parties used the communal terrorists against each other., In the earlier phases the Akali Dal patronized the Sikh fundamentalist forces, harbouring several, terrorists in religious temples. However when the contradiction between the Khalistani liberation, and Akali Dal ideology became acute, the Congress won Bhindranwale to their side to destabilise the Akali Dal, the ruling party., , 11.5, , Language Press in India, , Language press has major role in formulating public opinion. From historical point of view it, had played vital role in the development of Indian journalism and also in freedom movement., That‘s why British tried to crush the language press. According to British language press, were producing seditious writings. For this reasons, they introduced Vernacular Press Act,, 1878., It was considered that language press is being owned by the people having inferior set of, mind and less educated. The center for language press was Bombay and Calcutta before, independence. These papers fought battle for two issues:(a) Social Reforms, , (b) Political Progress, , The biggest problem faced by these language press was scarcity of resources., In India, language papers are published in more than 100 languages. But the main papers are, published in 16 principal languages. Language papers vary from English papers in their style,, presentation and approach. The reasons for the growth of newspapers in India that we have, studied so far are equally applicable for the growth of language newspapers., , Page 167 of 173
Page 173 :
Language papers vary from English papers in their style, presentation and approach. The reasons, for the growth of newspapers in India that we have studied so far are equally applicable for the, growth of language newspapers. But there are some other factors that helped the rise of the latter., During the early days, the language press was looked down upon as ‗vernacular dailies‘ by the, English press but with the rise and emergence of language media as a major force this impression, has changed. India has the world‘s largest newspaper market after China. While newspapers are, struggling in Europe and USA, in India and China there is a boom., Before independence two language press were strong Punjab i.e. Punjabi and Urdu. But with the, partition of India, Punjab was divided and Urdu dominating areas remained in Punjab (Pakistan)., , 11.6, , Present status of language press in Punjab, , After independence, Punjabi language started getting recognition. There are many newspapers of, Punjabi, which were started before independence and they are running successfully till today., And there are many others on the list, which were started after independence and doing well., Following are the newspapers running successfully in Punjab:, , Ajit, Ajit newspaper laid new foundations not only socially, politically, literally but also in new, techniques of printing. This newspaper gave a new direction to Punjabi journalism. The other, newspaper have just followed Ajit for its new techniques and technology. The newspaper was, started in 1942 in Urdu language. In 1944, Sadhu Singh entered the field of journalism. He took, up editorship of the up to Daily Ajit (Urdu) and retained this position till 1957., In 1955, he also became chief editor of the Punjabi Ajit. The birth of the Ajit was an entirely, new phenomenon in Punjabi journalism. It marked a new era of change and experimentation. In, Sadhu Singh's hands, Punjabi journalism matured and reached new heights. The Ajit and Sadhu, Singh Hamdard became synonymous names, he had so lovingly nursed the paper., , Punjabi Tribune:, The daily Punjabi tribune was started in the same year 1978 by the management of English daily, ‗The Tribune‘. It publishes from Chandigarh. Brjinder Singh was its founder editor. Harbhajan, , Page 168 of 173
Page 174 :
Singh Halwarvi & Jagjit ISngh Bir are attached with this paper from its beginning. This paper, has no influence of any Hindu or Sikh community. It is published under a trust., Punjabi Tribune‘s content is very much similar to The Tribune. This paper is known for its good, content, preserver of Punjabi culture, literature, lifestyle etc. This paper has been successful in, keeping itself from any kind of controversy. It has got National award for beautiful and attractive, printing., Punjabi Jagran, Punjabi Jagran This newspaper is published by Jagran group in India. It covers news from, different parts of Indian Punjab, India and world., There are many other language newspapers circulating in Punjab following as:, , , Indo Times: - First Punjabi Newspaper Published from Australia and New Zealand. S., Taswinder Singh is the Editor-in-Chief of this Newspaper., , , , Daily Punjab Times: - This newspaper is published by Punjab Times charitable trust from, Jalandhar, Punjab. It covers Sikh mainstream media., , , , Live Punjab: The Punjabi News website. It covers news from different parts of India, Punjab, Punjab News, Punjab overseas, news about Punjabi overseas, Immigration to, Canada, Punjabi News., , , , Rozana Spokesman: - This newspaper was founded by S. Hukum Singh ex-speaker of, Indian parliament in 1951 as a weekly magazine and it was graduated as daily newspaper, in 2005.This newspaper is published from Mohali India., , , , Deshsewak: This newspaper was started on 1 Jan.1996 from Chandigarh India. 'Baba, Sohan Singh Bhakna' group was founded under the patronage of Harkishan Singh Surjeet, to start this newspaper., , , , Shaheed-e-Azam: This newspaper was started on 1983 from Patiala., , , , Sky Hawk Times (Daily Evening): This Daily Newspaper is published from SAS Nagar, (Mohali). It covers news and issues from different parts of Indian Punjab, India and, world., , Page 169 of 173
Page 175 :
, , Daily Pehredar: This daily newspaper is published from Ludhiana in India. It covers news, from different parts of Indian Punjab, India and world., , , , Azad Soach: This daily newspaper is published from Patiala, India. It covers news and, issues from different regions of Indian Punjab,(specially Malwa region) and India., , , , Charhdikala:-This Punjabi newspaper is published from Patiala,India., , , , Janjagriti:-This daily Punjabi newspaper is published from Ludhiana India., , , , Punjab Post Weekly from Holy City Amritsar: A complete Punjabi and English, Newspaper., , , , Malwa Post:-This Punjabi newspaper is published Bathinda, India. It covers news from, Malwa region of Indian Punjab., , , , Sachkahoon:-This Punjabi newspaper is India by Dera Sachcha Sauda, organisation.'Kall,Ajj te Bhalke' is tagline of this newspaper. It covers news from, southern region of Indian Punjab., , , , Punjab Infoline: This newspaper is published from Ludhiana, India., , , , Khulisoch:-This weekly Punjabi newspaper is published from India.Mr.Rajesh Kumar, Sharma is the editor of this newspaper., , , , Deshvideshtimes:-This Punjabi newspaper is published in India and Canada., , , , Punjab express:-This Punjabi newspaper publishes news from various cities of Indian, Punjab, India and world,specially of neighbouring countries of India., , Activity 1:, Make a list of Punjabi papers getting published in Punjab along with their place of publication., , 11.7, , Problems faced by language press in Punjab, , Following are the problems faced by language press in Punjab:, 1. There is no news agency in Punjabi language as a result mostly journalists have to spend, their time in translation., 2. There is no stylebook in Punjabi press., , Page 170 of 173
Page 176 :
3. Punjabi papers have less leadership. The new generation is more inclined towards, English newspapers. Mostly newspapers have circulations in thousands except 3 to 4,, whose circulation has crossed one lakh mark., 4. The reading material or content is not up to the mark. There is lack of good writers who, can contribute newsworthy topics., 5. The remuneration given to its journalist is very less, 6. Politics influence – Ajit is known as pro- Badal newspaper, Jagbani paper as pro-Hindus., This political factor is responsible for coloring the news in favor of political parties. This, is very serious problem faced by Punjabi journalism. During elections political parties, use these newspapers for their election campaign, 7. There is lack of analytical ability in Punjabi newspapers as a result there is lack of, investigative journalism also, 8. Punjabi paper generally depend a lot on English newspaper for bigger information. Most, of the times exclusive stories of English newspapers are published as same in Punjabi, papers, 9. There is lack of number expert columnists., 10. Reference libraries with various Punjabi newspapers do not exist., 11. There is more stress on local and regional news compared to international news., 12. Punjabi press generally do not prefer female reporters &this leads to les content available, for female. Stories about fashion, trends, and lifestyle are very few., 13. The, , presentation of papers is not so attractive there is sometimes over-placing, , photographs, 14. One of major problem being faced by Punjabi press in from Hindi press. The readership, of Hindi is increasing. As youth is more inclined towards Hindi is increasing as youth is, more & English migration is also the reason for increasing Hindi readership., , Page 171 of 173
Page 177 :
11.8 Summary, The press of Punjab had played a very active role during various revolutionary movements in the, state. It started from the Ghadar movement before World War I and continued till the Khalistan, or the militancy movement in Punjab. Even the press had to suffer a lot during these movements., Press in Punjab have undergone a number of changes in the last decade. The number of papers, have increased. The existing papers have achieved new heights. But on the other side, there are a, number of problems which are faced by the language press in Punjab and to find a solution to, those problems is very important for further growth and development of Punjabi Journalism., , 11.9 Model Questions, 1. What are the various revolutionary movements in Punjab?, 2. Elaborate the role of press in the Ghadar movement., 3. What was the role played by press during Khalistan Movement?, 4..What is the present status of language press in Punjab?, 5.. Throw light on the problems faced by press in Punjab., 6. Write the historical development of Ajit newspaper., , 11.10 Suggested Readings, 1. Joginder Singh, 2. Jagdish S. Sharma, , Punjabi Journalism: Issues and Concerns, Indian struggle for Freedom, , 11.11 References, 1. Chadney, James Gaylard, The Sikhs of Vancouver, AMS Press, New, York, 1984., 2. Chandra, Bipan, Nationalism and Colonialism in Modern India,, , Page 172 of 173
Page 178 :
Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1979., 3. Deol, Gurdev Singh, The Role of The Gadar Party in the National, Movement, Sterling Publishers, Jalandhar, 1969., , Page 173 of 173
