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#15 The Never Ending History of Newspaper in India!


Hey Infinities,
Firstly I would like to mention, that this day 01.07.2020 is a remarkable day for Infinity because on this date last year we've established Infinity with our slogan 'We deliver knowledge, you grab it' and we will continuously make efforts to keep you all updated in this vast world of Knowledge.
So, in this Article you will get to know about the 'History of Newspaper in India'.
Media is the fourth pillar of democracy and journalists are the vigilant watchdogs of our society. Print media may be struggling in other parts of the world but in India, it is a growing segment that is far away saturation. Newspaper can be defined as a printed means of conveying current information. Today the newspaper in India is a proud institution of our society. The history of newspapers in India is on-going!

History of Newspaper in India
The first Newspaper in India was published on 29 January, 1780 by James Augustus Hicky under the British Raj and it's name was 'The Bengal Gazette'. It was also called as 'Calcutta General Advertiser' and people simply remember it as 'Hicky's Gazette'. After that, a new era of information was welcomed by India with new publishing houses and newspapers popping up in different parts of the country. Among them, "Bombay Samachar" is the oldest newspaper that is still in circulation.
This period was marked by strict government control and censorship. If some newspapers print any news against the government then the strict was given.


Golden Era of Newspaper in India
Therefore, in the late 18th and early 19th century, no reputed journalist or newspaper emerged. During this time most newspapers, including the weekly gazettes, were basically advertisement sheets. Then some merchants of Calcutta(now Kolkata) in 1811 started 'Calcutta Chronicle' and the editor was James Silk Buckingham. He had introduced a new approach to Journalism in India. He initiated clear journalistic practices and covered the problems of local people and their lives. Even he had started a movement against the evil practice of 'Sati'.
If we go forward to 3rd November, 1838, The Times of India, still one of the largest newspaper in circulation, issued their first edition as 'The Bombay Times' and 'Journal of Commerce'. The first edition of the Times of India was published in 1861.

James Silk Buckingham by Clara S. Lane
  • 1878 - "The Hindu" was started in the English language, which was mainly disturbed in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
  • In newspapers, many changes took place after Independence. Even the working style of journalists changed. After independence, most of the newspapers brought into the hands of Indians. News agency services became available on a regular basis with the Press Trust of India which was started in 1946.

15 August, 1947

Now missionary phase of newspaper was replaced with a professional approach. It started providing employment to the public and so, the newspaper agency became profit-oriented.

Various technological Developments took place
It involved in a readership battle, literacy level rises, interest to know what is happening in the surrounding made grow newspaper.
  • In India, by 1970s newspapers acquired the status of an industry. In fact the Indian newspaper industry is one of the largest in the world. It has a long and rich heritage. All through these years, the Indian newspaper industry has evolved into a powerful force. It informs, entertains and also educates the readers so that they can fully participate in the affairs of the state.
Role of Newspapers
During the British rule Indian newspaper came into existence and played an important role in the country's freedom struggle. In fact newspaper worked as 'mouth pieces' of the freedom struggle whether at the national and regional level.
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak brought Kesari and Mahratta newspaper, Mahatma Gandhi started Young India and Harijan. Jawaharlal Nehru started the National Herald. 

Kesari, Mahratta, Harijan, Young India & National Herald

However, Indian newspapers are characterised by their overt emphasis on politics and crime. But now, Indian newspapers have a lot of entertainment content in their columns, with colour pages and new designs.

Current scenario and future of Newspaper
As television and the new media, internet emerges, it is said that newspapers are becoming irrelevant in terms of providing the latest news. But nowadays many newspapers in India and in the world to some extent started providing analysis of news as well.
Daily newspapers like Times of India, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, The Statesman, Economic Times, The Tribune, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, etc. have become the most circulated newspapers in the country.


With the help of number of agencies information is fed to the newspapers. The Press Information Bureau give information to the Press on the government policies, programmes and activities. It also receives feedback from the people.
Do you know that India has four major news agencies namely Press Trust of India united News of India. Samachar Bharti and Hindustan Samachar. Also, the newspapers are published in English, Hindi and other regional languages. The need of print media is to understand the importance of it's power and reach. So, they should provide the true picture of the society as a whole.

At last we would like to mention here that,
Dictatorships can't afford them and democracies can't get enough of them!
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