INDIAN PRESS HISTORY

Under British Rule

- Bengal Gazette (English weekly) published by James Augustus Hicky in 1780 Jan 29th from Calcutta. It was the first news paper in South Asian sub- continent

- Bengal Gazette alias ‘Hicky Gazette’, ‘Calcutta General Advertiser’

- Declaration ‘a weekly political and commercial paper open to all but influenced by none’

- Hicky had his own column, many persons wrote by pen names.

- Bengal Gazette could not survive more than two years due to sharp confrontation with Governer General Warren Hastings and Chief Justice Elijah Impey.

- Indian Gazette as a rival to Bengal Gazette, published in the same year (1780) by Peter Read, a salt agent (backing by Hastings).

- After Bengal Gazette, other publications from India were- Madras Courier weekly (1785), Bombay Herald weekly (1789) merged into Bombay Gazette in 1791, Hurukaru weekly (1793), Calcutta Chronicle (1818), Bengal Journal, Indian world, Bengal Harkarer etc.

- In the early period newspapers in India were run by Britishers.


RUDYARD KIPLING

A renowned man of the pen – born in Bombay – his father, a British citizen was a government officer in India – Rudyard joined Civil and Military Gazette (Lahore) in 1872 at the age of 17- worked for five years in Gazette- then moved to the Pioneer- his writings specially monologue and fictions were very impressive- ‘writing and every thing associated with, is a glorious fun’, ‘I love both the fun and riot of writing’- after suffering from malaria he was compelled to left India and went to England in1890- he served about 7 years in India as a journalist- he is still remembered as a creative journalist in the history of Indian journalism- reflections of his Indian experience can be seen in his several writings.

Indian’s involvement in publication

- Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the pioneer Indian journalist and social reformer

- By his inspiration Gangadhar Bhattacharjee published Bengal Gazette (1816),
the first Indian owned English daily newspaper, but could not survive long

- Raja’s own publications- Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali 1821), Mirut ul Akhbar (Persian 1822) and Brahminical Magazine (English 1822)

- Press Regulation –1823 imposed by British govt. in India to control newspapers.

- The regulation was used as a tool to deport James Silk Buckingham, Editor of Calcutta Chronicle.

- Raja presented a petition to Supreme Court to protest the regulation in favour of J.S. Buckingham.

- It was his bold step for the preservation of press freedom, however he defeated the case.


- Anti reformists Hindu fundamentalists published Samachar Chandrika weekly to challenge Raja’s social reforms.

- Raja passed away in 1833

- 1857 Mutiny (the first war of Indian independence) was a turning point to Indian journalism.

- In the issue of mutiny, British owned press and Indian owned press blamed each other in the lowest level.

- British owned press acted like blood mongers of Indians.

- This event worked as a fuel to Indian owned press against the British rule in India.

- Pioneers Indian journalists on those days- Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Gangadhar Bhattacharjee, Bhawani Charan Bannerjee, Dwarkanath Tagore, Girish Chandra Ghose, Harischandra Mukharjee, Ishworchandra Vidyasagar, Kristo Pal, Manmohan Ghose, Keshub Chander Sen etc.

- Other major publications by Indians- The Reformer, Enquirer, Gyan Auneshun, Bengal Herald, Bang Doot, Hindu Patriot, Indian Mirror, Sulab Samachar, etc.




After Mutiny

- Standard, The Bombay Times and Telegraph merged into Times of India in 1861, Robert Knight was the owner , he was also owner of Statesman daily (1875) from Calcutta, Indian Economist monthly and Agriculture Gazette of India, his editorials and writings were balanced and impressive.

- Other major publications- Indu Prakash weekly, Gyan Prakash, Lokhitavadi (all 1861), Amrit Bazar Patrika (1868 Cacutta), Pioneer (1872 Allahbad), The Hindu (1878 Chennai) , Keshari (marathi) and The Maratha (English) (both in1878 from Pune by veteran freedom fighter Balgangadhar Tilak)

- Pioneer Indian Journalists- Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahadev Govinda Ranade, Dadabhoi Naoroji, Gopal Rao Hari Deshmukh, Vishu Shastri Pandit, Karsondas Mulji, Bal Sashtri Jambhekar etc.

- British govt. enacted Vernacular Press Act-1878 to suppress Indian language newspapers

- Indian National Congress (INC) founded in 1885.

- It was led by many nationalists like Surendranath Banerjee, Balgangadhar Tilak, Dadabhoi Naoroji, Motilal Gosh, Bipin Chandra Pal, G. Subramania Aiyer, etc., who were active journalists too.

- After establishment of INC, Indian press became an important part of struggle for independence.

Leading Newspapers After Establishment of INC

-1900- Bangalee English Daily (ed)- Surendranath Banarjee

-1901- New India English Weekly (ew)- Bipinchandra Pal

- 1901- Bande Mataram – Bengalee weekly- Bipinchandra Pal

- 1906- Yugantar – Bengali daily- Barendra kumar Ghose

- 1909- Leader- ed- Madan Mohan Malviya

- 1913- New India –ed- Annie Besant

- 1913- Bombay Chronicle –ed- Phiroj Shah Mehata


- 1918 –Justice- ed- Dr.T.M.Nair (published by non- Brahmin movement in Madras)

- 1918 – Searchlight- English biweekly- Shachindranath Sinha

-1919- The Independent -ed– Pandit Motilal Neharu

- 1919- Young India – ed- Mahatma Gandhi

- 1920 – Nav Jeevan – Gujarati weeky- Mahatma Gandhi

- 1922- Swarajya- ed- T.Prakasham

- 1923- Forward- ed- Chittaranjan Das

- 1923- The Hindustan Times –ed- K.M. Panikar (first daily in Delhi)

- 1929- Liberty-ed- Subhas Chandra Bose

-1932- Harijan- Gujarati weekly- Mahatma Gandhi

- 1938- National Herald- Jawaharlal Neharu

- Viceroy Lord Curzon Vs. Indian press

- In 1907 series of arrests and prosecutions against the journalists and press

- India Press Act –1910 asked for heavy security deposits

- 963 publications and press were prosecuted under the act

- 173 new printing press and 129 newspapers were killed at their birth by the weapon of security deposits

- British govt. collected about 5 lakhs Indian Rs. in the first year of the act enforcement

- During the First world war (1914-1918) Indian press were divided.

- The act was forcely executed against the press who were not in support of British side in the world war.

- In 1919 Jaliawala Bagh massacre was a big disaster to the Indian press.

- Even the Anglo- Indian press were not escaped.

The Golden Era of Indian Mission Journalism (1920 – 1947)

- Declaration of non-cooperation movement against British rule in India.

- Press marched shoulder to shoulder with satyagrahis.

- Mahatma Gandhi lauded for freedom of expression, ideas and people’s sentiments

- Gandhi would not accept adv., he believed newspapers should survive on the revenue from subscribers

- He would not accept any restrictions on the paper, he rather close it down

- His writings were widely circulated and reproduced in the newspapers all over the country

- A big challenge to non-Gandhian newspapers.

- Gandhi declared ‘Salt Satyagraha’ in 1930

- The nationalist press played a memorable role, which perhaps is unique in the history of any freedom movement.

- Press ordinance issued in 1930 to suppress Indian press through heavy security deposits.

- When second world war broke out , British rulers became more suppressive to the Indian press

- In 1940 UP government directed the press to submit the headlines of the news to the secretary of the information department for his pre- approval

- In response to this, National Herald (newspaper run by Jawaharlal Neharu) published the news without headlines

- Second world war and freedom fight gave more fuel to Indian press

- Britishers charged them as ‘ pro-Hitler’

- All India Newspaper Editors Conference held in 1940 at Delhi voiced against the suppressive attitude of the British govt.

- Fresh suppression and struggle started from 1942 when Quit India Movement initiated

- Many press, publications and journalists including Neharu suspended and arrested in1942

- It continued until the declaration of independence in1947 August

- K. Rama Rao, Editor, Swarajya “ It was more than a vocation, it was a mission and the newspaper was a noble enterprise working for patriotic purpose”.



1947 Onwards

- India received independence from British rule on 1947 August 15th

- The press celebrated the independence, because it was their victory too.

- At the beginning of independence the relation between the national govt. and press was good, but a year after situation was changed

- P. M. Neharu, Sardar Ballav Bhai Patel, etc. were not happy with the press.

- Press Commission- 1952, report- 1954

- Recommendations – Press Council, press registrar, minimum basic salary for working journalists, strengthen the role of the editors

- The working journalist act-1955

- The newspaper (price and page) act- 1956

- Press Council established – 1965

- P.M. Mrs. Indira Gandhi declared state of emergency on 1975 June

- It was a shocking blow to the freedom of press

- Ignored the press freedom guaranteed by article 19 (1) in the constitution

- Heavy censorship during the emergency period under Defence Rule “ in order to maintain public order…”

- 1975 Dec 8th ordinance banned the publication of all ‘ objectionable matter’, no permission to report parliament, close down Press Council , blaming it was failed to curb provocative writings

- During 19 months of emergency 253 journalists detained and 7 foreign correspondence expelled

- When Janata Dal came into power, all the restrictions over press were removed

- After emergency Indian press became more professional along with high tech., simultaneous publications increased, tremendous change in the contents, more supplements, booming of specialized magazines

- Press Council re- established under new act- 28 member, chaired by retired judge of high court


According to UNESCO

Top circulation –

The Times of India – approx. 18 lakh copies / day

The Indian Express – approx. 15 lakh copies / day

Total no. of all publications – approx. 40 thousand
Out of them dailies- 4,453 (including 320 English dailies)
NOTE : Circulation information may differ in changing situation.

CENTENARIAN NEWSPAPERS OF INDIA
The Times of India – 1861
Amrit Bazar Patrika – 1868
Pioneer - 1872
The Statesman - 1875
The Hindu - 1878

RADIO

- Amateur Radio Club started local broadcasting in 1924 at Madras

- Indian Broadcasting co.(private) 1927- Bombay and Calcutta

- Indian State Broadcasting Service – 1930

- Name changed as All India Radio (AIR) / Aakashbani

- Before independence AIR stations in Hyderabad, Baroda, Mysore, Trivandrum, Aurangabad, Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lukhnow, Pesawar and Dhaka

- During second World War radio became more popular in India

- After independence AIR was a major tool to dissiminate govt. information

- AIR as an ‘ electronic ambassador’ in abroad

- Now AIR have more than 200 stations covering 90% of the land and 97% of the population

- News in 24 languages including Hindi, English and many other languages of India

- From 1997 broadcasting is beeing regulated by an autonomous corporation under Prasar Bharati Act

- 12 radio sets / 100 people


TELEVISION


- Door Darshan (DD) started as an experiment in 1959 from New Delhi, for educational purpose

- Regular broadcasting started from 1965 from New Delhi

- Indian Space Research Organization borrowed a satellite from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1975

- Community TV sets in 2,400 villages

- Colour broadcasting from 1982 on the eve of Asian Games held in New Delhi

- 40 different broadcasting centers

- covers 70% of land and 87% 0f population

- programs in about a dozen languages

- 6.5 tv sets / 100 people

- after 1995 many private channels

- all TV broadcasting regulated by Prasar Bharati Act

NEWS AGENCY

- Press Trust of India (PTI) 1947

- Hindustan Samachar 1948

- United News of India (UNI)- 1961

- Samachar Bharati –1965

Hindustan Samachar and Samachar Bharati produce news in various Indian languages while PTI and UNI in English

- Press Information Bureau (PBI), under Ministry of Information, provides government news and information in English, Hindi, Urdu and 13 regional languages.

History of Mass Communication in PAKISTAN

Pre- Independence

- Turning point for Indian muslims was establishment of All India Muslim League in 1906, for the promotion of muslim interest

- League inspired muslims for paper publications

- By 1925 muslim press comprised 220 various publications in Urdu, English, Bengali etc.

- In 1930 muslims began their struggle for a separate state

- Then they faced the hostility with both Hindu owned press and Anglo- Indian press .

- Mohammad Ali Jinnah helped to established Dawn English weekly in 1930 from Delhi, (Dawn became daily in 1942)

- Influencial muslim papers – Azad, Jung, Dawn,The Star of India, Morning News, Manshoor, Anjam, Nawa-e-Waqt, Eastern Times, Weekly Observer, Sindha Times, New Life, Khaiber Mail, Zamindar etc.

- Dawn shifted to Karachi from Delhi after its Delhi office attacked and burnt by anti separation groups in 1947 August .

- Jung and Anjam also shifted Karachi from Delhi

Post Independence (1947- 1958)

- Press was weak in Pakistani territory

- Only Lahore, Karachi and Dhaka were ahead

- After 1949 war between India and Pakistan on Kashmir issue, press freedom has been curtailed

- Pak.govt. believed completely free press could threaten the country’s security

- Public safety act-1949 and Security of Pakistan act-1952 were sufficient to supress the press freedom

- During the first seven years of independence Pak. Govt. banned 33 newspapers in Punjab alone

- Between 1947 to 1958 no. of periodicals- 1106, dailies- 103, weeklies and biweeklies- 379

- Circulation of dailies increased from 1, 25,000 (in1948) to more than 7 lakh (in 1958)

The Authoritarian Period (1958 – 1988)

- Field Marshal Ayub Khan came into power in 1958

- He imposed system of ‘press advice’, a power to dictate press what to publish and what not

- In 1960 decline of dailies from 103 to 74, weeklies and biweeklies from 379 to 260

- In 1959 govt. took over Lahore Progressive Paper ltd., the publisher of leading English daily Pakistan Times and leading Urdu daily Imroze

- In 1961 govt. took over APP

- In 1963 Ayub Khan imposed PPO (press and publication ordinance), ‘the blackest of the black laws’

- It gave obsolute power to govt. to supress the press and to prohibit reporting on a wide range of subjects

- Second Indo-Pak war in1965 led to declared Marshal Law and Defence of Pakistan, lasted for 20 yrs.

- After Ayub Khan, his successors Yahya Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia-ul- Haq followed the same supressive attitude towards the press.

- Situation changed after sudden death of Zia ul Haq

- Care taker govt. lifted PPO and introduced RPPPO ( registration of printing press and publication ordinance) , comparatively liberal than PPO`

- 1n 1990 govt.of Benazir Bhutto ended govt. monopoly over import and distribution of newsprint paper

- Art.19 of the constitution of Pakistan provides the freedom of press, subject to a number of restrictions

- Should not against the glory of Islam, integrity, security or defense of Pakistan, friendly relation with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, related to contempt of court, defamation.

- Official secret act, Security of Pakistan act., Maintenance of public order act etc. are sufficient to punish any news organization or journalist

- In 1995 a Lahore based free lance journalist was arrested and charged for his reporting on child labour in Pakistani carpet industries.

- In 1995 June, under Maintenance of public order ordinance, license of 122 newspapers were cancelled, but nationwide strike of journalists forced the govt. to withdraw the decision

- In 1998 editor and several journalists of Urdu daily Pakistan were arrested for publishing negative aspects of Prophet Mohammad

- RPPPO is an ordinance yet

- According to RPPPO not more than 25% foreign ownership in print media, and pre- approval by the govt. is compulsory

- News paper employees (condition of service) act –1973


Out of more than 300 dailies , 6 major dailies who have more than 1 lakh circulation-
(according to UNESCO Report)

- Jung- 8,50,000
- Nawa-e- Waqt- 5 lakh
- Pakistan-2, 80,000
- Khabarain- 2,32,000
- The News – 1,20,000
- Dawn - 1,10,000

( Circulation report may changed)
- Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are major cities for press.

- Govt. do not owned newspapers

RADIO

- After the partition, India and Pakistan divided the assests of All India Radio.

- Pakistan inherited AIR stations in Lahore, Pesawar and Dhaka

- In 1949 August, Radio Pakistan formally launched in Karachi

- Now stations in 22 places

- 100% coverage

- Broadcasting in 20 languages

- 48% entertainment, 13% religious, 11 % news and current affairs,28% socio-eco

- National news bulletin 18 times / day in Urdu and English

- Govt. controls over Radio Pakistan through Pakistan Broadcasting Corp. (1973)

- After 1995 private FM increased in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, allegation to Benazir Bhutto for giving license only to her close persons.

TELEVISION

- PTV launched in1964 November from Lahore

- Agrrement with Nippon Electric corp.

- Colour broadcast from 1976 Dec.

- 6 centers- Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad (2), Pesawar and Quetta

- High power broadcasting stations in 32 places

- PTV-2 from 1992

- PTV World from 1998

- PTV Middle East Channel from 1999

- PTV coverage 86% population and 38% territory

- Entertainment – 56%, News and Current aff. 16%, educational 10%, religious 8%, others 10%

- PTV broadcastes 54 % program in Urdu


- Shalimar tv network (STN)- 1989

- Approved by Benzir govt.

- 54% govt. share

- Shaheen Pay tv – 1996

- Approved by Benazir’s second govt.
- Private tv with foreign investment

- Run by Shaheen Foundation, a welfare organisation of retired air force officers

- Private tv are not permitted to produce news.

- They just replay news from PTV, BBC and CNN

- All the tv channels are regulated by Pakistan Broadcasting Act-1973

NEWS AGENCIES

- Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) – 1948
( a part of Ministry of Information and Media Development)

- Pakistan Press International (PPI) – Private

- Many other small news organizations funded by political parties and groups.