Name of Institution

Amity School of Communication

BA(J&MC), Semester-1
Basics of Print Media
Sarthak Chopra

1
 Name of Institution

Origin of Print Media in India

Pre-Independence Era

2
 Name of Institution

• The evolution of Newspapers in India is

with the introduction of ‘Bengal Gazette’
started by James Augustus Hicky in 1780
from Calcutta as a weekly two sheet
paper.
• This Newspaper paved the way for Indian
freedom struggle and the fight against the
social evils in India by the way of
revolutionary and enlightening writings.
3
 Name of Institution

• Very soon other Newspapers such as

Calcutta Chronicle, Madras Courier, and
Bombay Herald, Bombay Courier, Bombay
Gazette entered into the scene and the
Newspapers in Hindi and other regional
languages also started flourishing in the
various parts of the nation.

4
 Name of Institution

• Bengal was the birth place of Journalism in India and the language press.
• ‘Samachar Darpan’ was the first Indian language newspaper which was a
Bengali weekly newspaper introduced in 1818
• The first periodical of India in Indian language was ‘Dig Darshan’ in
Bangla language started in the1818.
• ‘Eenadu’ was a Telugu daily which was started by Ramoji Rao
• First Gujarati Newspaper was ‘Bombay Samachar’ which still exists and is
considered as the oldest living Indian Newspaper of India.

5
 Name of Institution

• The prime motives to start the Newspapers in Indian languages were to

promote the feeling of patriotism and to encourage social reforms also
because the society was occupied with lots of prejudices, orthodoxies and
social evils like sati pratha, child marriage, caste discrimination, idol
worship, animal sacrifice and other narrow beliefs.

6
 Name of Institution

• The era of Hindi Journalism started in 1826 with ‘UddantaMartanda’ from

Kolkata, then Bangdoot, Banaras Akhbaar, Gyandeepak, Malwa Akhbaar,
Gwalior Gazette, Payam-e-Azadi, Samachar SudhaVarshan, Lokhit,
Marwaad Gazette, Jodhpur Government Gazette etc. were introduced with
the mission of independence, self-rule and social reforms.
• Also many English Newspapers which evolved at that time are flourishing
even today like The Times of India (1861), The Pioneer (1861), The
Statesman (1875) and The Hindu (1878).
• Number of acts and restrictions like The Vernacular Press Act, Gagging
Act etc tried to overrule the power of Print Media in India but the then
social reformers and freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Bal
Gangadhar Tilak, Aurbindo Ghosh, Annie Beasant, Surendra Nath
Banerjee, Lala Lajpat Rai, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi and many others
recognized the power of pen and used it as a tool for propagating the feeling
of nationalism and brotherhood.
7
 Name of Institution

• Even the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, called the
Newspapers a tool of national reconstruction and social reformation. He
supported the liberty of Press and considered it as a vital part of democracy.
Thus the Print Media nurtured during the post independence era too.
• An important fact related to Indian Print Media industry is that most of the
Newspapers and Publications are owned by private firms and thus, they are
free from government control and rather keeping a check on the policies
and actions of government to ensure a healthy democracy. Thus, the
Newspapers have been a major player since independence in the welfare,
betterment and development of the society at regional as well as national
level.

8
Name of Institution