School of Distance Education
Chapter 1
EVOLUTION OF INDIAN
PRESS
Printing presses were first brought to India in the 16th century by Christian missionaries
for publishing evangelical literature. Their publications included the Bible and other literature to
assist conversion and evangelization. Dr. Nadig Krishna Murthy states in his work Indian
Journalism that the first printed book in India was Doctrina Christa (Doctrine of Christ), a
missionary publication in 1557 in Goa. The second printing press in India was established in
1578 at Punikael, in Tirunelvely district in Tamil Nadu. This too was a Christian initiative.
The English East India Company also set up printing presses in different places for the
efficient administration of the subcontinent. The birth of the first newspaper in the country was
towards the end of the 18th century.
James Augustus Hicky
James Augustus Hicky, a British citizen, published the first newspaper in India. The first
issue appeared on January 29, 1780 in Calcutta, bearing the name Bengal Gazette or Calcutta
General Advertiser. It was a weekly newspaper published in English and addressed exclusively
to the large group of British residents in Calcutta. Its front page carried only classified
advertisement. Hicky was the founder, editor, printer and promoter of this weekly. It was a two-
page newspaper and the size of the paper was 12 inches by 8 inches. Advertisements occupied
more space than reading matter. But it is important to note that there was hardly any news that
really concerned the Indians.
Warren Hastings finally took action against Hicky for defamation in 1781. He was
convicted and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 2000. But Gazette
continued to appear regularly while Hicky was in prison.
Warren Hastings was repeatedly lampooned. A series of actions was taken against Hicky
and his weekly. In March 1782, the types for printing the paper were confiscated and Bengal
Gazette was suppressed. This marked the premature and unceremonious end of India’s first
newspaper. The seizure of the press was a severe blow to the already hurt editor. He died in
obscurity.
James Silk Buckingham
Sir James Silk Buckingham, one of the important personalities in Indian journalism,
assumed the editorship of Calcutta Journal in 1818. The first issue of the paper appeared in
Calcutta on October 2, 1818. It was an eight-page biweekly newspaper priced at rupee one. Its
contents included political, commercial and literary news and views. Thus, Calcutta Journal was
entirely different from Hicky’s Gazette which mostly contained gossip, scandals and scurrilous
writing.
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He was fearless in condemning the local custom of sati and the government’s failure to
put an end to it. He gave prominence to news and views from Bengali and Persian journals. He
was also a friend of the Indian press and defended its right to exist and voice the opinions of the
people. Rangaswami Parthasarathy in his book Journalism in India describes James Silk
Buckingham as the father of Indian Journalism.
British authorities became intolerant on account of his persistent criticism of their policies.
John Adam, the acting Governor-General, deported Buckingham to England. Many describe
Buckingham as the first real journalist in India. He was an inspiration behind the growth of
Indian journalism.
Serampore Missionaries
Serampore missionaries were a group of Baptist missionaries from England who settled
down at Serampore in Bengal. The credit for starting the first vernacular newspaper in the
country goes to this missionary group. Their publications included:
Dig Darshan was started in 1818 as a monthly magazine in Bengali. This journal carried
reports of political activities, but it carefully avoided political controversies. Notices, articles
relating to history and political news items were published in this paper.
The name of Dig Darshan was changed to SamacharDarpan in 1819 and it was published
until 1840. It become a bilingual weekly in 1829. It collected news from many places in Bengal
and nearby places. Information not available elsewhere could be found in it.
The Friend of India was a monthly magazine in English started on April 30, 1818. It
stopped publication in 1827 due to financial constraints.
The basic objectives of these papers were to aid conversion to Christianity and to support
the views of the British administrators in India. But it should be kept in mind that news about
India and Indians occupied the largest amount of space in these publications.
Rajaram Rammohan Roy
Rammohan Roy (1772-1833) is considered by most historians as the father of Indian
journalism. He sponsored many journals, edited them, fought for social reforms and defended
criticisms levelled against Vedanta philosophy by the Christian missionaries. The following
newspapers were published by Rammohun Roy at various times.
SambadKaumudi
It was a weekly in Bengali published in December 1821. The Calcutta Journal edited by
James Silk Buckingham gave ample publicity in its columns to this new Indian project.
Mirat-ul-akhbar
This was the second journal brought out by Rammohan from 1821. It was a weekly in
Persian (the official language of the Mughal Empire) and published on every Friday. This
weekly devoted space to national and international events. Mirat-ul-akhbar was shut down in
1823 to protest against the Press Regulation Act of 1823.
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Brahminical Magazine
This was a monthly published in English to counter the missionaries’ propagand.
Twelve issues of this magazine appeared. Later, a regular periodical in English and Bengali titled
Brahmin Sevadhi was started by Roy.
Through the above journals Rammohan tried to counter the accusations of the
missionaries on the one hand and to form public opinion in favour of social reforms on the other.
These publications marked the real beginning of journalism in India as they were addressed to
Indians in their own languages.
Freedom Movement and the Press
The pioneering work of Rammohan Roy in the field of journalism in the early 19th
century led to a gradual growth of newspapers, magazines and other publications in India. The
brutal suppression of the revolt of 1857, suppression of the Indian nationalist press and
founding of Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 and other citizens’ associations were
shaping Indian public opinion against the British.
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress was founded by Allen Octavian Hume in 1885 which was
in subsequent years responsible for freeing the country from British imperialism. The first
session of the Indian National Congress in Bombay was attended by founders and editors of
leading newspapers
World War I and the press in India
Three days after the declaration of the War, an order was issued by the Government of
India taking control of the press in India and controlling the publication of naval and military
news.The Anglo-Indian press opined that nationalist activities should give way to the necessities
created by the War. But the Indian nationalist press pleaded that British Government should
accord to Indians the rights and liberties for which the allies were fighting in Europe.
Emergence of Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi emerged as an important leader of the freedom movement
in the post War period. He edited three publications namely, Young India, Harijan and
Navajivan. Through these journals Gandhi guided the national movement and propagated his
ideas of nonviolence and satyagraha.
The Government of India issued the Indian Press Ordinance of 1930 in order to control the
press. This Ordinance was passed specifically to prevent the nationalist press from covering
Gandhi’s historic Dandi March in 1930. Newspapers were asked to deposit huge securities
whenever the authorities made a demand.
Several more English and regional newspapers began in various parts of the country
declaring support to the national movement. The Indian Express, Free Press Journal, The Dawn,
Hindustan, Blitz, National Herald, Mathrubhumi etc. aroused national consciousness in the
length and breadth of the country.
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Quit India Movement
The British authorities made every effort to control and muzzle the nationalist press during
the Quit India Movement launched by Indian National Congress in 1942. Gandhiji suspended the
publication of Harijan and other weeklies on account of pre-censorship imposed by the
Government. National Herald was closed down in August 1942 and it could resume publication
only in 1945.
Transition to Independence
British owned newspapers began to change ownership into Indian hands. Like the owners
of many plantations and industrial units, the British proprietors of newspapers decided to sell their
shares and repatriate the proceeds to their homeland. The Times of India was sold to Ramakrishna
Dalmia. The Statesman came under the Tatas.
The saga of the Indian freedom movement is almost synonymous with the history of
Indian press. National consciousness was aroused, sustained and promoted by newspapers and
periodicals. The Indian press played a valiant role in the struggle for freedom.
Role of Mahatma Gandhi as a Journalist
Along with the active leadership in the freedom struggle, Gandhi was also a great
journalist and promoter of newspapers. Indian Opinion was a weekly published in four languages
namely English, Gujarati, Tamil and Hindi during 1903-1915 in South Africa. Gandhiji returned
from South Africa and began his political activities in India. He was the editor of Young India
(1919-1931), and Harijan (1933-1942 and 1946-January 1948).
Conflicting and exaggerated reports of riots and fearful predictions of communal outbursts
flashed by newspapers prior to independence elicited a rebuke from Gandhiji. His newspapers
were subjected to stoppages and revival according to the political situations. Among the
publications of Gandhi, Harijan was the most important one. It was stopped in 1942 and was
resumed in 1946. It ceased publication in 1949.
Objectives of journalism
Journalism was a noble profession for Gandhi. According to him, a newspaper had three
objectives to serve in a society. The first objective is to understand the popular feelings and give
expression to them. The second is to arouse among the people certain desirable sentiments. The
third objective is to fearlessly expose popular defects. His newspapers carried no advertisements
and depended solely on subscription from readers.
Conclusion
Gandhi was a great force to be reckoned with in the Indian freedom struggle. The noble
objectives upheld by him in journalism are a model for media professionals and institutions.
Gandhiji was certainly an editor with a difference.
Press in the post-independence era
The Indian press includes 48 centenarians. The Gujarat daily Mumbai Samachar,
published from Mumbai, is the oldest surviving newspaper. It was first published in 1822. As on
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31st March 2014, there were 13,350 registered dailies on Registrar of Newspapers for India’s
record. As per the data from Annual Statements (2013-14) received, the highest numbers of
newspapers were published in Hindi (3213), followed by Urdu (929), English (695) and Telugu
(562).
In circulation, Hindi newspapers continued to lead with 12,64,77,693 copies followed by
English with 3,31,48,808 copies. Among language Dailies, Hindi lead with 942 newspapers
followed by 201 in English. The languages that published more than 100 daily newspapers were
Urdu (191), Telugu (147) Marathi (130) and Gujarati (100). Circulation-wise, Hindi dailies
maintained its dominance with 3,76,42,520 copies. English Dailies have a circulation of
1,29,14,581 copies.
Ananda Bazar Patrika, a Bengali daily from Kolkata is the largest circulated single edition
daily with a claimed circulation of 11,81,112copies per publishing day followed by The Times of
India, an English daily from Mumbai with a claimed circulation of 10,26,153 copies and
Hindustan Times an English daily from New Delhi with a circulation of 9,75,737 copies.
The Times of India, having 29 editions in English with a total claimed circulation of
47,42,671 copies per publishing day occupied the first position among multi-editions dailies
during 2013-14. Dainik Bhaskar, having 35 editions in Hindi with a total claimed circulation of
35,49,796 copies per publishing day occupied second position among multi-editions dailies.
Press Council of India (PCI)
The notion of a national Press Council in India was introduced by the First Press
Commission Report of 1954. It would be their responsibility to censure anyone guilty of breach
of the ethics of the profession besides fostering the development of the press and protecting it
from external pressures.
Composition of the Press Council
The Council is a body corporate having perpetual succession. It consists of a chairperson
and 28 other members. The chairperson is, by convention, a retired judge of the Supreme Court
of India and is nominated by a committee consisting of the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Speaker
of the Lok Sabhaand a person elected from amongst themselves by the 28 members of the
Council.
The Council has the power to consider complaints suo moto, in addition to inquiring into
complaints brought before it. If satisfied that a violation of misconduct has taken place, the PCI
may warn, admonish or censure the newspaper, news agency, editor or journalist or disapprove
the conduct, recording the reasons in writing. The Press Council is not armed with any punitive
powers. The Press Council has rendered a great service to the nation and in particular to the
development of the press as a self-regulating entity. The Press Council has from time to time
censured and warned a number of erring newspapers for violating the code of ethics.
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First Press Commission Report
First Press Commission under the chairmanship of Justice G S Rajyadhyaksha was
appointed on September 23, 1952. The commission submitted its report in 1954. The major
recommendations of the Commission are listed below :
a) Press Council :The Commission’s first recommendation was to constitute a Press Council.
The Council is to look into the freedom, independence, standard and development of the press.
b) Registrar of newspapers in India : A Press Registrar should bring out an annual report
which will contain the facts and figures relating to the industry.
c) Advertising council : An advertising council may be created to advise on the ethics of
advertising, to organise market research and to carry out readership surveys.
d) News agencies : There should not be government-owned or controlled news agencies. The
Government should give no assistance to the news agencies in order to ensure their independent
operations.
e) Government advertisements : With regard to the allocation of government advertisements,
there should not be any discrimination between newspapers merely on the grounds of their
political or communal backgrounds.
Most of the recommendations of the Commission were accepted and implemented by the
Government at different times.
Second Press Commission Report
A ten-member commission under the chairmanship of Justice K K Mathew was appointed
in 1980. The Commission placed its report in 1982. The major recommendations were the
following.
a) MRTP Act and the press : The Commission recommended that the Monopolies and
Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969 should be made applicable to the newspaper industry. b)
Delinking the press from other business concerns: The Commission recommended making
mandatory for persons carrying on publishing a newspaper to refrain from engaging in other
business activities.
c) News to advertisement ratio : The Commission recommended that for the freedom of the
press to be effective, the present degree of dependence on advertisement will have to be lessened.
News to advertisement ratio is absolutely essential for promoting fair competition among existing
units and the new entrants.
d) Newspaper Development Commission : In order to improve the quality of newspapers,
especially medium and small ones, the Commission recommended the setting up of a Newspaper
Development Commission.
Indian Newspaper Society (INS)
Indian Newspaper Society (INS) is the central body representing newspaper publishers.
Founded in 1939, the Society safeguards and promotes the interests of newspaper proprietors.
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The INS was earlier known as the ‘Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society’ (IENS). Press Trust
of India (PTI) was set up as a result of the efforts of INS. The Society was also instrumental in
the formation of the Audit Bureau of Circulation in 1948 There are nearly 700 members in the
INS.
Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC)
The Audit Bureau of Circulation in India, founded in 1948, is a non-profit association
consisting of publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. Its headquarters is in Bombay. Its
function is to devise and lay down a standard and uniform method by which member publishers
shall compute their circulation. The ABC verifies the circulation claims of publishers using the
services of chartered accountants it appoints. It also issues certificates of circulation once in six
months.
GENESIS OF INTERNET
Internet was first developed in US in 1960s. This project sponsored by US government
was initially intended for military and academic research. In 1973 network expanded to Europe.
Significant growth in the use of the internet began in the late 1980s.
The birth of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s introduced graphic user interface and
a protocol for hyper linking information stored in different computers. This provided access to
millions and took internet to the masses.
India found a place in the internet map in 1987. ERNET (Educational and Research
Network), India’s first internet service, was launched in 1987. Presently, there are more than 200
internet service providers in India. The resulting competition lowered the cost and led to the rapid
growth of internet connections.
NEW MEDIA
Until the 1980s media relied primarily upon print and broadcast models such as
newspaper, magazines, television and radio. The last thirty years have seen rapid transformation
in media with the arrival of digital computers such as the internet. The use of digital computers
has transformed the ‘old’ media by the advent of digital television, radio and online publications.
New media has been used extensively by social movements to educate, organize, share
cultural products of movements, communicate and more. New media has been a great tool in the
democratization of information by using websites, blogs and online videos to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the movement itself.
Interactivity has become a key term for number of new media use options. Interactivity
can be considered as a central concept in understanding new media. Internet replaces the “one-to-
many” model of traditional mass communication with the possibility of a “many-to-many” style
of communication.
SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS
Oxford online dictionary defines social media networks as websites and applications that
enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. Social media differ
from traditional or industrial media in many ways, including quality, reach, frequency, usability,
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immediacy, and permanence. Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, andLinkedin are some of the popular
social media networks.
The social media, was a political time bomb that ripped across several autocratic nations
especially in the Middle East. The social media driven movement across the Middle East is
popularly known as Jasmine Revolution. The Anna Hazare movement against corruption in
India was driven and coordinated by the social media.
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