CHAPTER – III PRINT MEDIA – AN OVERVIEW POINT CONTENTS PAGE 3.1 Media and Print Media 55 3.2 Origin of Print Media in the World 56 3.3 Print Media in other countries 58 3.4 Origin of Print Media in India 61 3.5 Historical Developments of print media in India 67 3.6 Legal aspects of print media in India 79 3.7 Origin of Print Media in Maharashtra 84 3.8 Social Responsibility and Media 86 3.9 References 90
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CHAPTER – III PRINT MEDIA – AN OVERVIEW
In this chapter, an overview of print media has been discussed by considering different aspects like Media, Print Media, Historical Developments of print media in India, Print media in other countries, Legal aspects of print media in India and Social Responsibility and Media. 3.1 Media and Print Media: Communication is the most important tool for the development as well as empowerment of the society. It has been found that millions of people are deprived of their benefits due to the exclusion from a wide range of information and knowledge, which can improve their lives. Print media is a traditional media and also one of the basic forms of communication. The strength of print media has been derived from its experience during the freedom struggle where the print media played a significant role in social emancipation, reform and amelioration. It is important to understand that print media includes newspaper, weeklies, magazines, monthlies and many other forms of printed journals. Thus, there is a remarkable contribution of print media in providing knowledge, transfer and proliferation of information. It is vital to note that the advent of electronic media has not wiped out the charm or relevance of the print media. The various forms of media that are extensively used today are newspapers, internet papers and editions, electronic news media, social networking websites etc. Newspapers normally consist of articles and reports that are related to current affairs and it is the first choice of the common man because it is a customary affair to read the newspaper over a cup of tea. People read the newspaper for news, entertainment and information. Internet papers and editions are computer based and have no country barriers. These news editions can be accessed from any part of the world. Almost all newspapers have their internet editions. Some newspapers are published only on the internet. They are free of charge and available worldwide. Other forms of print media are magazines, weeklies, but they are not newspapers. They form a part of print media and are published at regular intervals. The electronic news media makes use of the internet. The IPL (Internet Public Library) is a concise internet source of information on Indian newspaper.
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3.2 Origin of Print Media in the World: Print media is one of the oldest and basic forms of mass communication. It includes newspapers, weeklies, magazines, monthlies and other forms of printed journals. A basic understanding of the print media is essential in the study of mass communication. The contribution of print media in providing information and transfer of knowledge is remarkable. Even after the advent of electronic media, the print media has not lost its charm or relevance. Print media has the advantage of making a longer impact on the minds of the reader, with more in-depth reporting and analysis. Print media generally refers to newspapers. Newspapers collect, edit and print news reports and articles. There are newspapers published in the evening also. They are called eveningwears. Newspapers play a very important role in our daily life. There was a time when people used to write on palm leaves. This was before the discovery of paper. Some of the old manuscripts written on palm leaves are preserved in our National Manuscript Library in Delhi. The Chinese were the first to invent the art of printing. They made wooden blocks to print letters. This was started during the period of the Tang Dynasty in 600 AD. The oldest known surviving printed work in a woodblock is a Buddhist scripture of 684 AD. It is now exhibited in a calligraphy museum in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The first printed book published in China was the Buddhist text, the “Diamond Sutra” by Wang Chick in 868 AD. Some copies of the Buddhist scriptures printed in 1377 are preserved in museums in China. Nowadays paper has become an integral part of our life. We read papers in the morning, write on note books made of paper, send letters on paper, use paper boxes to carry things and so on and so forth. Though the Egyptians made paper by 3500 BC, it came to Europe only by the 11th century. The first paper mill in Europe was set up in Spain in 1120. Block printing came to Europe by 1300. It is believed that Johannes Gutenberg of Germany had developed printing technology around 1439. Gutenberg also invented an oil-based ink for printing. He printed the Bible in 1450. It was in the Latin language and had 1282 pages. He used movable printing blocks for the book. Printing technology came to India in 1556. It was the Jesuit priests who brought this technology to our country. The first book printed in India was in the Portuguese language in Old Goa. It was Doctrina Christa by St. Francis Xavier. The invention of printing has revolutionized mass communication. Books are printed in
56 large numbers and circulated in many countries. No other invention has had such an influence in the history of mankind. In ancient Rome, Acta Diurna, or government announcements, were published regularly. They were inscribed in metal or stone. These can be considered as the earliest form of newspapers. In China also, the government produced such news sheets called tipao. Many researchers consider “The Peking Gazette”, published from China, as the first newspaper. It was started in 618. In the initial stages, this newspaper was hand written and distributed to the readers. Later it was printed and circulated. The Peking Gazette continued its publication till the beginning of the twentieth century. Newsletters circulated by rulers were the first form of newspapers. In India, the East India Company circulated such newsletters. According to the World Association of Newspapers, the first newspaper in the modern sense was published by Johann Carlos in 1605. In 1609, another newspaper was started from Germany called “File”. Yet another newspaper in the modern concept was published from Venice called “The Gazette”. But many such earlier newspapers could not survive for long. The rulers were not happy with these publications as some of them started criticising their rule. So many papers were forced to close down. In the USA, a newspaper "The Public Occurrences" lasted only for a day. Similar was the fate of the "Daily Paper" started by James Asher in the UK. Newspapers underwent a lot of changes in their form and content after that. In England, "The Weekly News" was launched in 1622. The first newspaper in the modern concept was published in Oxford in 1655. It was the "Oxford Gazette". The first newspaper to be published from London was the Daily Courant. It was edited by E. Mallet. In 1784, John Walter launched the "Daily Universal Register" from London which later adopted a new name “The Times". It is known to be one of the greatest newspapers in the world. In the USA, the first newspaper was "Public Occurrences", which was launched in 1690. Postmaster John Campbell started another paper in 1704, "The Boston Newsletter". In 1783, "Pensilvania Evening Post" was started in the USA that had all the features and content of a modern newspaper. Later in 1851 came "The New York Times". The largest circulated newspaper is the “Yomi Yuri Shimbun” published from Japan. It has a circulation of 1, 45, 57, 000 copies per day. The second and third largest circulated dailies in the world are also published from Japan.
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3.3 Print Media in other countries: After covering the life history in terms of the law as well as progress with respect to the print media in India, it is a necessity to study the progress of Print Media in the modern world. It would involve the growth of English as well as vernacular language newspapers in India. In the coming paragraphs, there is a detailed study of the progress the print media made in the post-Independence era. At the time of Independence, the total number of publications that existed in the country was only 3533. Out of these, 330 were daily newspapers and 3203 were periodicals. It has been observed that after 50 years of Independence, there was a 12 fold increase in the number of publications. In the year 1997, the Registrar of the newspaper of India published a data, which said that there were 41,705 publications amongst which 4719 were daily newspapers. In the year 2006, the number has gone 45600 with respect to publications amongst which 5600 are daily newspapers. Presently, India has 398 major newspapers which have their circulation all over the country, with almost 30772000 copies getting published every day. According to the world statistics, India has the largest newspaper market after China. Comparatively, it has been found that the newspaper industry in Europe and America is struggling. Interestingly, it has been found through studies that the world’s top three countries with respect to newspaper circulation are China, Followed by India, which is further followed by Japan. China publishes 98.70 million copies, India publishes 88.90 million copies and Japan publishes 69.10 million copies. The calculation of growth is done in two different ways. One is done by counting the circulation and the other is done on the basis of readership. One need to keep in mind that one copy may be read by several people. If one single family subscribes a newspaper, it is likely to be read by 4 to 6 people. So if a newspaper has a circulation of one lakh, it may have a readership of four to five lakh. With respect to India, it has been found that there are more readers for the language newspapers as compared to English. The English newspaper is confined to cities and towns, while language newspapers are found to be circulated widely in the rural areas of the country. With the advancement in technology, it has been found that along with the newspapers, the other forms of media are also gaining a lot of importance. Media like radio, television and internet. Thus it is important to probe into some factors that have led to a boost in the production of newspapers in India.
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1. Rise in the Literacy Rate: There has been a progressive rise in the literacy rate of the country which has led to more number of people in the world of reading and writing. Studies have shown that the fastest rate of growth of reading was found to be in the states that showed growth in the rate of literacy. 2. Expansion of the Middle Class: With an expansion in the middle class, there is found to be an increase in the circulation of newspapers. When a family has improved in its educational and economic terms, subscribing a newspaper becomes a status symbol. 3. Untapped Market: The estimated Indian population is found to be 350 million people who can read and write but do not buy a newspaper. That leaves a vast segment that has not yet been tapped, with respect to the circulation of newspapers. 4. Women Education: Educating a woman is like educating the next generation. It has been found that the rate of education with respect to women is more leading to the education of children, further leading to awareness and development. 5. Technological Advancement: With the advancement in technology, the establishment of newspaper publication has become easy. New editions have been added to the already existing newspapers. This has led to the expansion of newspapers even in the small cities and towns. 6. Better purchasing power: There has been a marked improvement in the living standards of Indian people. This has led to the increase in the capacity of purchase. Simultaneously, the newspapers also have reduced the prices of their newspapers. 7. Aggressive Awareness: The print media has adopted the policy of aggressive marketing. Here they have offered great discounts and gifts for long term subscriptions, leading to an increase in the sale of newspapers. 8. Political Awareness: Knowledge about the political developments has led to great interest in the political affairs. This also has contributed to an increase in the sale of the newspaper. One can understand that people are becoming more vigilant about their social responsibilities.
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The growth of Language Newspapers: The reasons that have led to the growth of newspapers in India are also applicable for the growth of vernacular newspapers. Earlier the vernacular newspapers were underestimated by the English newspapers. But this scenario changed with the rise of the vernacular medium. The base of the Indian economy is the rural economy, as 60 percent of the Indian population resides in the rural area. Over the past 50 to 60 years of paradigm shift has been observed. The Indian farmers, who were known to have been born in debt and dye in debt, have become an important consumer group of the society. Their income levels have been increased and their tastes and preferences also have been changed. The advancement of rural mass has led to an increase in the language newspapers. Another reason for the rise in language papers is the fact that newspapers started covering the news that was related to the rural people. Rural people found that the local newspapers were an excellent medium to express their sorrows and their needs and aspirations. Multiple editions also started giving a boost to the number of readers. There was a boom in the publishing of advertisement. This also led to the growth in the vernacular language newspapers. Early Growth Period of Language Newspapers: According to studies conducted by Naresh Khanna, in the period between 1998 to 2000, four languages showed the fastest growth. They are Malayalam, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi. It was during the same period that languages such as Telugu, Urdu, Tamil, Oriya and Kannada showed stagnation and decline. Newspapers like Malayala Manorama maintained the same position from the beginning. The Bengali newspaper ‘Anand Bazaar Patrika’ continued to be the largest selling newspaper. But when the Hindi newspapers started expanding, they surpassed all other newspapers in circulation. Today Dainik Jagran and Dainik Bhaskar are the largest circulated dailies with a readership of more than 20 million. A survey was conducted in the year 2006. It showed that the rural areas have grown to such a great extent that it has come to a parallel level of readership, with the urban readership. Recent Trends: The annual report published by RNI, in 2005-2006, gives a clear picture of the different newspapers with relation to their circulation. According to this report, 2074 new newspapers were registered. Out of these 4 newspapers ceased to publish. On 31 st
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March 2006, there were 62,483registered newspapers. The previous record i.e. record published on 31 st March 2005, there were 60,413 newspapers that were registered. With respect to the circulation of newspapers, 15,67,19, 209 copies were registered in the year 2004-05. In the year 2005-06, the total number of copies rose to 18, 07, 38, 611 in the year 2005-06. The number of newspapers submitting their annual reports increased from 7225 to 8512 during the same period. With respect to language newspapers, it was found that the highest number of newspapers was published in Hindi (4131), this was followed by English (864), then Gujrathi (775), Urdu (463), Bengali (445) and Marathi (328). 3.4 Origin of Print Media in India: It was from Calcutta that the first newspaper was published from India. It was a Britisher who started the first newspaper in our country. On January 29, 1780, James Augustus Hickey launched the "Bengal Gazette". It has another title "Calcutta Advertiser". It was popularly known as "Hickey's Gazette". The first issue of the paper had two pages and later it was increased to four pages. It's size was 35 cms x 24 cms. The British East India Company did not consider freedom of the press as good for society. They tried to suppress publication of newspapers. Hickey was a very bold editor. He continued his criticism of British authorities. He published reports attacking the East India Company officials. The British authorities arrested Hickey many times. Finally, they confiscated his paper and press in 1782 and stopped its publication. Hickey was asked to leave the country. He was sent back to England. Copies of the Bengal Gazette are still kept in the National Library in Kolkata and the British Museum in London. Confiscation of a newspaper is a rare action taken by the authorities if that paper publishes some news report or article that they think is highly objectionable. Through confiscation, the government transfers the press and other materials of the publication to the treasury. Thereby, the office of the paper is sealed and the publication stopped. We have thus seen that Kolkata has a unique place in the history of Indian newspaper publishing. But it is all the more interesting to note that the second, third and fourth newspapers in the country were also launched from this city. Following in Hickey’s footsteps in 1780, the second newspaper was launched from Calcutta “The Indian Gazette”. The “Calcutta Gazette” which started publication in 1784 and the “Bengal Journal” which was launched in 1785 were the third and fourth newspapers to come out from Calcutta. All these four earlier papers were published in the English
61 language. Slowly newspapers started coming out from other parts of the country also. The “Madras Courier” (1785) and “Madras Gazette" (1795) were started from Madras. From Mumbai, the "Mumbai Herald" was launched in 1789. The press regulations and censorship imposed by the British stood in the way of starting more newspapers in India. In 1818, Lord Hastings removed the strict censorship measures for a milder set of policies. This led to the emergence of many new newspapers, including many in Indian languages. Raja Ram Mohan Roy who is known to have fought for the freedom of the press edited a Persian weekly called ‘Mirat-ul-Akhbar'. The first language newspaper in India was started in the Kannada language, the "Kannada Samachar". But the publishers of this paper were not Indians, but foreign missionaries. The first Indian language newspaper published by an Indian was also launched from Calcutta, "The Bengali Gazette" by Gangadhar Bhattacharjee in 1816. The Gujarati daily "Mumbai Samachar" published from Mumbai is the oldest existing newspaper not only in India but also in Asia. It was established in 1822. Activity 5.2 Collect the names of five early newspapers in your state with the year of starting. Towards the end of the 19th century, many social reformers began actively campaigning for radical changes in Indian society. The reformation of Hinduism, the move for the abolition of state and efforts to encourage widow remarriage were some of the major reforms. Inspired by these great leaders, many newspapers were started in different parts of the country. All this led to a boom in the newspaper industry in India. Some of the leading English newspapers were also launched during this time. "The Times of India" (1861) was started as a paper supporting the British. Many of you might have heard about “The Jungle Book”. The author of “The Jungle Book”, Rudyard Kipling, started “The Pioneer” in 1866 from Allahabad. “The Amrita Bazar Patrika” (1868), “The Statesman” (1875), “The Hindu” (1887) and “The Tribune”(1880) were also started during this period. “The Hindustan Times” was started later, in 1923. In the regional languages, some papers that were launched during that period continue even now as leading papers like “Malayala Manorama” (1888). When Mahatma Gandhi returned to India, he gave a great impetus to the freedom movement. He was also a great editor. He took over “Young India”, the weekly started by the Home Rule Party in 1918. Gandhiji also launched another weekly, called the “Navjeevan”, in Gujarati. Later, Gandhiji started the “Harijan” under the editorship of Mahadev Desai. Gandhiji insisted that his papers will not carry any advertisements. But all his publications had wide circulation among readers.
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There are 41 such newspapers in the country and are called centenarian newspapers. Among English dailies, four have crossed this mark: The Times of India, The Hindu, The Tribune and The Statesman. Among language newspapers, Mumbai Samachar, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Malayala Manorama and Deepika are among the centenarians. From the days of wooden block printing, newspapers have undergone a sea change. The technological revolution has modernised the print media. For a long time, these were produced by hand composing. Later, these were replaced by monotype and linotype. In this process, a machine operated by a key board was used to compose letters. This has also become obsolete now. Typesetting in computers, offset printing and laser printing have taken over. Desktop publishing has become quite common now. In earlier days, newspapers were printed only in black and white. Colour printing was not possible at that time. But now almost all the newspapers print colour pages. Some papers print colour only in supplements and special pages. Colour printing has made the pages look brighter and attractive. You may have noticed the fact that all newspapers are not of the same size; some are big, some small and some are very small. Newspapers are classified into three categories according to their size. They are broadsheets, tabloids and Berliners or Midis. Morning newspapers are generally broadsheets. They are big in size. In India, all major newspapers are broadsheets. Examples include “The Times of India “and “Hindustan Times”.Tabloids are only half the size of broadsheets. In India most of the evening papers are tabloids. Examples are “Mid-day” and “Metro Now”.Presently some of the new morning papers have also adopted the tabloid format. Berliners or Midis are very small newspapers. European papers such as La Monde and La Stampa are Midis. “Mint” is the name of a Berliner published in India. In India, some magazines print special booklets in this format. The internet is a computer based worldwide interlink network. It has no country barriers. So a person sitting in India can access an internet site in the USA through the computer network. This has made revolutionary changes in communication the world over. Recently almost all newspapers have internet editions. For example, the Hindustan Times or Indian Express or Times of India can be read on the internet through their net editions. Each paper has a dotcom name for their site, like www.hindustantimes.com or www.times of india.com. While you have to pay for
63 buying a newspaper, the internet edition of that newspaper is free of charge and is accessible if you have a computer and internet connection. Other Forms of Print Media: Filmfare, Champak, Grihasobha, Chandamama, India Today, The Week, Outlook. Are these names familiar to you? They are also part of the print media. But they are not newspapers. They are called magazines. Can you tell the difference between newspapers and magazines? Like newspapers, magazines and weeklies are other forms of print media. They are published at regular intervals. How do you differentiate between them? A weekly is published once a week and a monthly once a month. A fortnightly is published once in two weeks. A bi-weekly is published twice every week. A tri-monthly is one which is published every three months. These are also known as quarterlies. Then there are certain publications that come out only once a year which is called annuals. "India Today" is a weekly, while "Champak" is fortnightly. "Grihasobha" and "Vanitha" are monthlies. After the advent of printing nearly six centuries ago, the print media was the only form of mass communication. Then came the electronic medium. Though both print and electronic media deal with mass communication, there are certain basic differences between Print Media & Electronic Media. Print media was popularized in India by the British. The first newspaper to come up in India was James Augustus Hickey’s Bengal Gazette . This newspaper reflected the positive traits of British rule in India but also played a decisive role in paving the way to journalism in India. The Bengal Gazette highlighted the activities of East India Company in India and acted as a channel for British publicity and hegemony rather than providing accurate information. The first language based newspaper was Kannada Samachar , which was published in Karnataka but the paper was published by German missionaries. Udant Marthand (The Rising Sun) was the first Hindi language newspaper published in India. Later on, Bombay Herald , Bombay Gazette , Amrita Bazar Patrika and many other publications started springing up. This was indeed a good and effective way of spreading knowledge and news faster. The distribution of newspapers in the paper form made it convenient and portable for the readers. The freedom fighters, as well as the social workers in India equally contributed and worked hard for bringing up newspapers. Some freedom fighters even opened up their own press and started looking up journalism much as a social service
64 rather than a profession. Some of them were Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Raja Ram Mohun Roy, Mahatma Gandhi and so on. Times of India , The Hindu and many other newspapers sprung up and revealed the truth without any hesitation. Bombay Samachar still remains as the oldest paper still existing in India. Young India and Harijan , the two newspapers launched by Mahatma Gandhi were published and distributed based on social service aspect and were free of advertisements and other publicities. In early 70's, when the emergency was declared by Indira Gandhi, numerous unreasonable restrictions were placed upon Indian print media and the country saw the curtailment of the precious freedom of speech and expression. Emergency marked the first incident in post-independence India where speech and expression were curtailed, though this happened in numerous incidents during British rule. Even the existing magazines were facing the same situation. This ban was lifted up as soon as the emergency state of India was withdrawn. The bringing out of Bofors scandal by Indian media also revealed the truth that media can act as a weapon in the society when injustice is seen in the society which ultimately rests after justice is being proved. Media can be thus called as a fourth pillar of the democracy. The magazines which existed in India also played an important role in educating the people of all sections of the society, may it be rural or urban, the rich or the poor, the youth or the adult. Now, the newspapers and Magazines become attractive and colourful while publishing political news or articles, especially election-related news. Attractive info graphics and more information about the candidates attract the readers. Even the cover pages of the magazines will be designed elegantly. Most of the newspapers are introducing supplements targeting different audiences. Different supplements of a single newspaper come out according to different days and different tastes of readers who fall in different age groups. Some supplements target students or children and print attractive and colourful articles and pictures which may be helpful for their assignments or projects. Magazines also follow the same pattern. The magazine variety starts from Magic pot targeting kids; Reader’s Digest targeting teenagers; Cosmopolitan targeting women and goes on which includes sports fans, film fans, Beauty – conscious people. Even magazines regarding how to construct a good home, tips regarding boosting confidence etc are available in the market today.
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Newspapers are published in almost all the Indian languages. There are different varieties of newspaper in the various Indian languages. Malayala Manorama , Vijay Karnataka , Udayavani are some of them. Print media doesn't merely include newspapers and magazines. Printing of Posters for public awareness or to publicize a company or a product also comes in print. Even before the printing press was invented, block letters were used to stamp on the papers. Then it was replaced by monotype and linotype printing. A typewriter was used in order to print. But now laser printing and offset printing replaced it. Block letters of different shapes and different sizes were used to print newspapers, magazines and other printed publications. Even after the printing press was invented, printing was a tedious and time –consuming task. But due to industrialization, more advanced and sophisticated machineries started coming out which made printing a lot more easily compared to the early times. Privatization paved the way to Globalization. The Government of India took a decision in 1993 to introduce liberalization, privatization and globalization in print media. Newspapers were used to spread political agenda and politicians ideologies. Sensationalizing of news articles became a common sight as a result of privatization. More regional and national newspapers sprung up and privatizing the newspapers changed the view and perspective of newspapers. Now we can see that different newspapers look upon particular news in different ways according to the rules and guidelines of their newspaper organization. Technology has intervened now but still along with e-mails, video chats, Communication through social networking sites; Books, Newspapers and other periodicals are still alive and print media is considered as an official form of communication. Magazines are also different and convey different types of ideas. The perspective, outlook and even the design of the printed magazines vary. Privatization paved way for the rise of media conglomerates in India. Media conglomerates can own any type of media, may it be print, broadcast or online or everything altogether. These media forms may bring out similar kinds of news through different mediums. The editorials, the investigative news reports and letters to the editor may vary depending on the standard and style of reporting. One newspaper may not adopt the style of writing, reporting and designing from the rival newspapers. Magazines too are adopting the same way. Some newspapers use sting operation and take risks while
66 most of the newspapers remain passive. This varies according to the organization and the management of newspapers. Printing is still a costly process. The ink and the paper required for the printing are very costly and most of the print media which exist in India import quality papers and ink necessary for printing. Some critics were of the opinion that when technology boom takes place, print media will diminish and ultimately die off but in the case of India, it is wrong. Different forms of printing help the common man in different ways. People read magazines, newspapers, advertisement and even flux boards which are used on roadsides, footpaths and malls still promote or popularize a company or a product. Some people like to store cut-outs from the newspaper or other print magazines. The advantage of print media is that the readers have an option to go back to the articles if they would like to cross check. Reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee early in the morning was a daily routine of all the Indians till late 90's. May be due to the intervention of technology, the reading habits of youngsters is decreasing day by day. Even though e- book readers and e- papers are available, only a few make use of these apps. Still, if we go to the Indian countryside, we can see that people sit together, read the news and discuss it even if there are other electronic media. Still, elderly people are in the habit of reading newspapers every day. Print media will not diminish from India soon because it has been a part of Indian culture for years and will still remain the same. Reading habits of Indians, especially the printed magazines, is still on the rise. Technology cannot replace certain habits of Indians and one among them is reading print media, either newspapers, magazines or any other scriptures. Let this habit set a good example for the upcoming generation and to mold out bright and future citizens of tomorrow. 3.5 Historical Developments of print media in India: 3.5.1 Developmental History of the Print Media in India: Print Media is close to the hearts of those people who need to know about messages of development. With respect to print media, its roots lie in the pre- independence freedom struggle as well as the post-independence period. Especially when the five-year plans were initiated by the government with an aim of planned development. The newspapers wrote about various government development programmes and educated people about how to use them. They also covered information related to farming, market rates, availability of improved seed and
67 implements. Technology also has made a lot of difference and improved the media world. A new world set up has replaced the old one. The multifaceted technology has given rise to a great variety. This has given people a lot of choices. In spite of all this, the print media continues to be one of the powerful media among the rural people. 3.5.2History of printing: If you look into the history of print media, it begins from the palm leaf. Old manuscripts were written on palm leaves. We have such manuscripts preserved in our National Manuscript Library at Delhi. But the art of printing has come from China. They made wooden blocks to written letters. The Buddhist scriptures are the oldest kind of surviving printed work which is done on a wooden block and has been exhibited in a calligraphy museum of Tokyo. It is a Buddhist scripture of 684 A.D. The first ever printed and published book was in China. It was a Buddhist text known as ‘Diamond Sutra’. It was written by Wang Chick in 868 A.D. Some more printed copies of the Buddhist scriptures that were printed in 1377 have been preserved in museums of China. This was followed by the use of paper for printing. Today paper has become an integral part of our life. Although it is said that Egyptians made paper in 3500 BC, I came to Europe only in the Eleventh Century. The first paper mill was set up in Spain in the year 1120 and block printing came to Europe in 1300. Johannes Guttenberg of Germany developed the printing ink and printing technology in the year 1439. The ink invented by him was composed of an oil base. He printed the Holy Bible in 1450 in the Latin language. It had 1282 pages and he used movable blocks for this purpose. The First Newspaper: It is very difficult to place and point out the first newspaper. But in ancient times, during the Mourya period, proclamations were distributed amongst the people. Similarly, in the ancient Rome, the government announcements were written on metal plates. But many researchers consider the ‘Pecking Gazette' published in China as the first newspaper. It started in 618. Earlier they were handwritten and distributed amongst people. Later it was printed and circulated. It continued its publication till the beginning of the 20 th century.
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Newspaper Printing in India: It is important to admit that the newspaper or the Print Media made its entry on the Indian Lands only because of the British. It was an alien product to India because learning the English language was something the Indians were rather reluctant to. They considered the British as Mlenchchas. Even our National Leaders had similar feelings. William Bolts was an ex-employee of the East India Company. He first attempted to publish the first newspaper in India. But his attempt made him face a lot discontent and disapproval from the Directors of the East India Company. But Augustus Hickey was successful in launching the first English newspaper which came to its readers on 29 th January 1780, in Kolkata. It was named as ‘Bengal Gazette' alias ‘Calcutta General Advertiser'. The paper had two sheets with three columns on each page and it was published on weekly basis. The newspaper was declared as ‘weekly political and commercial paper. It was open to all parties but influenced by none'. The newspapers comprised of various items that were taken from the English newspaper in England, letters from the local and rural readers. It also included items of gossip and various scandals which would be of interest to the European readers. He had restricted one column to establish direct communication with his readers. He also had a special column for poetry. Overall the newspaper was regarded as scurrilous and witty. The newspaper particularly drew the attention of the East India Company administration and enmity of the Governor General Warren Hastings and others holding high positions. They were highly disappointed with Hickey's Gazette because he wrote about their private lives. He would use nicknames for Warren Hastings. Those would be regarded as an offense e.g. ‘Sir T. Wrong head’, ‘The Great Mughal’ and ‘The Dictator’. He wrote about their corrupt actions. He ridiculed the social life of the Europeans in Calcutta. While giving advertisement of weddings or engagements, he would also write about the anticipated engagements. He would target those whom he disliked and would commit their character assassination. At about the same time, in 1780, ‘The Indian Gazette' was published. This paper was much better in terms of quality. It had four pages and was 16 inches long. The types that were used in this paper were found to be better than Hickey's ‘Bengal Gazette'. Comparatively, Hickey's paper had only two pages that were smaller in size, types were crude and had only three columns. As a result, Hickey found a reduction in the number of his customers. He was enraged and he attacked the proprietors of the
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‘Indian Gazette', Mr. Peter Read and B. Messinck through his newspaper. As a reaction to Hickey's behavior, the East India Company authorities granted postal facilities to the ‘Indian Gazette'. The same facility was denied to Hickey. Initially, Hastings chose to ignore Hickey in spite of suggestions from his council to take strong action against him. Finally, he convicted Hickey and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 2000/-. Although Hickey was in prison, it did not stop the Bengal Gazette from getting published. It was a mystery for the administrators to find that his columns continued its defiance. In 1782, his types were confiscated by Hastings. Hickey was successful in retrieving them under the appeal of ‘Liberty of Press’ made to the clerk of the king. Thus it can be concluded that the Bengal gazette was founded and announced to be a paper that would objectively and impartially report the affairs of the country. It tried to remain true to its promise. The news paper lasted only for 2 years. Many oppressive policies of Warren Hastings and the company Civilians were exposed through this paper, but the opinions of the Editor Augustus Hickey were prejudiced towards the company and hence he was asked to leave India. This brought an end to the ‘Bengal Gazette’. Following the ‘Bengal Gazette', there were many more newspapers that came up namely, ‘The Indian Gazette', ‘The Calcutta Gazette' (1784) and ‘The Bengal Journal' (1785). All these papers were published in English and in Calcutta. The second newspaper to be published was the Indian Gazette. The newspaper was strongly supported by the administrators of the Company as a competition to Augustus Hickey. The Calcutta Gazette was a newspaper that was purely published with an aim to publicize advertisements. These advertisements were chargeable. But later these advertisements were published free of charge as the Government provided the necessary paper for the printing purpose and also agreed to circulate the newspaper through the postal service, completely free of cost. But when the Government Gazette came into being in the year 1815, it became the sole medium of publishing the Government advertisements and public notifications. The ‘Calcutta Gazette' resultantly faced acute problems of finance. The newspaper was finally wound up. ‘The Bengal Gazette' followed suit. It was a private initiative which was made with an amusement motive. It had a monthly magazine and four weekly newspapers.
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Newspapers in Regional Language: After the four English newspapers in Kolkata, gradually, newspapers started coming out in the other parts of the country. ‘The Madras Courier’ (1785) and ‘Madras Gazette’ (1795) were the newspapers that started in Madras. ‘Mumbai Herald’ was started in 1789. While these newspapers were being launched, they faced the critical problem of censorship that was imposed by the British. In the year 1818, Lord Hastings removed the strict censorship measures and replaced them with a milder set of policies. The obvious result was- the emergence of many newspapers all over the country including many that were in an Indian language. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who was known to have fought for the freedom of Press in India also edited the Persian weekly called ‘ Miratg-Ul- Akhbar'. The first language newspaper in India was in the Kannada language known as ‘The kannada Samachar'. But the publishers were foreign missionaries. The first Indian language newspaper published by an Indian was the ‘Bengali Gazette'by Gangadhar Bhattacharjee in1816. ‘The Gujarati Daily', ‘The Mumbai Samachar' are the oldest existing newspaper not only in India but all over Asia. Let us understand the emergence of language newspaper according to the different states. It was seen from the previous study that the introduction of the news paper was done in Kolkata. The region-wise emergence of newspaper in different states is as follows. 1) Newspapers in Madras: ‘The Madras Courier' was published in 1785. It consisted of four pages. Two pages consisted of news. The third page was treated as the reader's forum and the last page was reserved for advertisements of the government. The government passed the censorship act in 1795. It was particularly meant for certain newspapers. After 1799, the censorship act was implemented on all newspapers. According to this act, all the news proof sheets had to be submitted to the government before publishing. 2) Newspapers in Bombay: The Bombay Herald was the first newspaper in Bombay. It was a weekly. It was published in the year 1789. ‘Bombay Courier' was the second newspaper which was founded by Laknesh Burner. Later it was renamed as ‘Bombay Times'. In 1791 the Gujarati newspaper of advertisements was published. Two newspapers further originated from the
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‘Bombay Times', ‘The Indian Times' and ‘Bombay Gazette'. The Bombay Gazette gave particularly more importance to the letters to the editor. The above mentioned regions were the places where newspapers were published in English along with a few regional language newspapers. But in the 19 th century, period proved to be eventful with respect to the growth of newspapers. The missionaries in India started publishing newspapers, in both English and their respective regional language. It was Lord Wilson who felt that these growing newspapers needed to be checked because there was a possibility that there could be statements against the government. It was announced by him that newspapers should be published only after the consent of the government. News regarding the military or politics was strictly banned. If these rules were violated by any of the press, there would be a strict penalty on them. The government also introduced concession deposits for the press. Lord Milton gave some liberty to the press in the year 1816. This led to the republishing of the ‘Bengal Gazette'. The publisher was Gangadhar Bhattacharjee. He was the first Indian to own a publishing house, and is known as the pioneer of an Indian newspaper. Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Raja Ram Mohan Roy was basically a social reformer. He is the founder of the ‘Brahmo Samaj' (an Indian socio-reform movement). He fought for the women's rights very strongly and abolished the practice of Sati. But above all, he is regarded as ‘The father of Indian Language Journalism'. He had made a commendable contribution to journalism. In 1829 he started his first newspaper in Bengali called ‘Brahmanical Magazine', which was later on named as ‘Brahmanical Sevedhu' when published in Hindi. His second newspaper was ‘Samvad Kaumudi' which was again in Bengali. ‘Mirat –Ul- Akhbar' was the first newspaper in the Persian language. Through his written work, he propagated the freedom of press, separation and distinction based on ranks, political philosophy, liberalism, individualism, and freedom for women. He is known as the champion of the freedom of the press because he strongly believed that journalism had the power of dispelling ignorance. He also fought for the freedom of the press. In 1818, he published the ‘Calcutta Journal'. It consisted of eight pages. The newspaper was published twice a week. After 1827, the Indian press divided it into two parts. One part was the Indian press. It
72 was supported by Indian freedom fighters. The second part was the Anglo -Indian Press. This was supported by the British. The progress of Indian press in the 19 th century: In 1858, Queen Victoria announced the freedom of the press. She gave separate rooms for editors and reporters. She further invited the local people for participation in the administration. In the mid-nineteenth century, newspapers like ‘The Hindu', ‘Madras Mail' from Madras, ‘The Times of India' in Mumbai, ‘ Telegraph' in Calcutta and ‘Pioneer' in Allahabad were initiated. The Telegraph lines were introduced in 1844. Information was passed to the press office through the telegraphic lines. Through the newspapers, Bombay Times, Bombay Standard, Telegraph and The Courier, The Times of India was conceptualized in the year 1861. Reuters, the first world wide news agency granted its subscription to the Indian newspaper like ‘The Times of India' and another Bengali newspaper. In the year 1875, Robert Knight, the person who started the newspaper ‘Friend of India' also started the newspaper ‘Statesman'. Later he decided to combine both the newspapers. In the year 1876, he made attempts to improvise on the relationship between the Government and the press, as he felt that they were not on good terms. Robert knight and Lord Lytton initiated the special press bureau which is now known as the ‘Press Information Bureau'. In 1878, the Vernacular Act was brought out by the British. It was brought about with an aim to control the growth of press in India. According to the act, if the press violates the rules, for the first time, an apology would be accepted but if it happens for the second time, the postal concession and license would be canceled and further if the violation happens for the third time, the personal property will be confiscated. Another monthly, ‘Hindu' was started by six people, G.Subramaina Aiyer, M. Veeraraghava charior, T.T. Rangachariar, P.V. Rangachariar, D. Keshavrao Pant and Subba Rao Pantulu. Further in 1883, ‘The Hindu' was published as a tri-weekly, i.e. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. ‘The Indian National Congress' was established in the year 1885. The founder of this was Allen O. Hume. ‘The Hindu' rendered its strong support towards the Congress and gave it a wide coverage through its sessions. It covered the first session and this increased the significance of the national news. Further in the year 1889, ‘The Hindu' was published as a daily. In the year 1889, it disclosed the secret news of the act being imposed on the military. Later
73 in 1903, it further extended other kinds of news. In the last quarter of the 19 th century, it covered all sorts of public speeches, discussions in the councils, debates etc. In those days, the prices of paper were low. Other progress like the steam engine, wire services etc. were introduced. Therefore when one looks at the entire 19 th century, one would definitely understand the magnitude of the growth that came over the period of time and is rightly regarded as the eventful period for the growth of Print Media. Print Media in the 20 th century: Paul Reuter was a German who founded the Reuter news agency. The ‘Central Press News Agency' was a London-based news agency that distributed news to the local news-papers of London. Here Reuter came up with the concept of establishing a news agency that would distribute news to all international news-papers. Indian newspapers like ‘Bombay Times', ‘Bengali' were the newspapers that used the Reuter agency for gathering news. This attitude of Reuter was welcomed. U.S.A. chose to enter this competition and started its own international news agency called ‘Associated Press'. (A.P.) AP extended its limbs towards India in 1910, but the content of news that they passed on was not Indian based. Therefore, the Indians did not welcome it. In 1910, the Indian National Congress had split into ‘Nationalist' and ‘Liberals'. The Liberals supported the concept of an international news agency. But the Nationalists opposed it. New rules were implemented in order to suppress the growth of press. In 1915, the first news agency that was founded by Indians was established under the name ‘Free Press of India'. As a reaction to this, the British government implemented strict rules to keep an eye on the press. Because of this the news agency ‘The Free Press of India' changed itself into a newspaper. But the other newspapers in India were not happy about this change and did not welcome it. In the year 1930, all the newspapers joined their hands together and started a news agency by the name ‘United Press of India’. After India got its freedom, the ‘Free press of India’ and ‘United press of India’ were dissolved. Again six newspapers joined their hands and formed ‘The Press Trust of India’. Owing to the tough competition, the journalists working with PTI started the ‘United News of India’, in 1961. Many news agencies were established after that. Today we have more than 33 news agencies in India.
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Annie Besant: When we talk about the print media in the 20 th century, Annie Besant needs a special mention. Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak established the ‘Home Rule League'. She used the print media as a huge propaganda vehicle. She started ‘The Madras Standard' and further renamed it as ‘New India'. She wrote full page editorial for this newspaper. Through her editorials, she reflected the freedom struggle. Her thought and ideas were welcomed and highly appreciated by the Indians. In the year 1919, the British government introduced the Rowlett Act. According to this act, the government had the power to arrest anyone without a trial, if they were suspected with the charge of terrorism. Annie Besant fought for the freedom of the press through her writings in the editorial sections of her newspaper. With an aim to bring about a discipline in journalism, Annie Besant started a ‘National University’. She introduced the courses like Diploma in Journalism and also introduced an internship for the students, in her newspaper ‘New India’. Taking into consideration all her contribution and innovation in the field of journalism, she is called ‘The Torch Bearer of Indian Liberty’ and ‘The Pioneer of Journalism’. It is noteworthy that during this period, the British had faced a major setback because of the First World War, thereby leading to an increase in the printing cost on one hand and reduction of subscription on the other hand. Gandhi: Mr. M.K. Gandhi (Gandhiji) also played a vital role and influenced the Indians through his simplicity, Not only in terms of living but also through his simple writings. In 1915, he returned from South Africa. He started with a chain of newspapers in ‘Young India', ‘Novegian', a weekly in Gujrathi. His language had the same simplicity as his life which helped him in reaching out to the common man. This proved to be most effective in terms of spreading the messages of unity and liberty. He had a large number of followers all over the country hence the disciples started the same newspaper in other Indian languages. This was the beginning of his participation in the freedom struggle. His nationwide campaign brought him a huge number of followers. Some of those were the campaigns against poverty, women's rights and putting an end of untouchability. His salt march in 1930, towards Dandi, was given a wide publicity through the newspapers. It was a march in protest against the salt tax that was imposed by the British. The government and the Indian National Congress reduced the press laws. The result was that the Indian National Congress and the Press
75 came much closer and decided to work hand in hand. Gandhiji was the active member of the Indian National Congress. The Indian National Congress started the ‘National Herald' in the year 1938. The newspaper publicized all the activities of the Indian National Congress. In 1941, ‘Dina Thandi' a Tamil newspaper which was founded by Shri. P. Aditanar. The first edition was published from Madurai. The first advertisement company was founded in the year 1940. It was known as the ‘National Services Company'. It was in Bombay. It remained in service since the year 1940 and continued with its service till 1950. It was the only service company for advertisements. Simultaneously, in the year 1940, the ‘Indian eastern Newspaper Society' which is now known as the Indian newspaper society played the role of bridging between the newspaper organizations and the government. In those days the provision of newsprints was made by the government in accordance with the requirement of the newspapers. The vernacular press was intentionally established to reach the masses and to develop the vernacular (Indian) languages. Jawaharlal Nehru and National Herald: 9th September 1938 was the day when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru launched the newspaper ‘National Herald’, in Lucknow. He also started another newspaper in Urdu. It was the ‘Quami Awaz’. It was known as the sister newspaper of ‘National Herald’. The newspaper lasted for 73 years and then came to an end. Manikanda Chalapathi Rao was the editor of the National Herald. Jawaharlal Nehru was regarded as the soul of the newspaper and editor Manikanda Chalapathi was its body. Rajiv Gandhi revived the newspaper in the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru and hoped that the Congress party would never allow it to close down. Thus this was the journey of Indian press right from 1780,- with the (Bengal Gazatte) to 1947 when India was an Independent Country. It can be regarded as the revolution of the Print Media in India. A Comparative Study of Print Media before and after Independence: It is most important to understand the impact of newspaper and the Indian attitude towards the newspaper while making a comparative study of the Print Media before and after the Indian Independence. With this aim, one needs to probe into the century before the Indian Independence. A detailed study has shown that the print media has proved to be the backbone of the freedom struggle. The political leader used the press in a phenomenal way to rouse the Indian society. While doing so the
76 editors had to face prosecution. Some were even sent to Andaman. The wages they earned was meager and there was no financial or psychological security. In 1818, the first Bengali language (regional language) newspaper was published, followed by the ‘Bombay Samachar' in the ideology of self-agenda for these newspapers was to promote newspapers as they were also widely read by the Indians. But the print media faced multiple problems because of the press act of 1910. These acts were set with an aim to curb the papers like Neel Darpan, which strongly opposed the government policies. Other contemporary papers were ‘The Indian Mirror', ‘Amrita Bazaar Patrika'. Most of the proprietors faced trial and conviction. The Marathi Press also played a major role. Journals like ‘Gyan Prakash' and ‘Indu Prakash' were used as a medium by Mahadev Govind Ranade to awaken the conscience of the downtrodden. Weekly like ‘Kesari' in Marathi and ‘Maratha' in English were some other newspapers used by Lokmanya Tilak along with Agarkar and Chiplunkar to propogate awakening. These newspapers, especially ‘Kesari' became one of the leading media which also opposed the Bengal Partition issue. Tilak was exiled for this out of the country for six years. Many newspaper editors had a high reputation and regard during the birth of the Indian National Congress. They held high positions and used their newspapers in order to forward their demands towards the government. It is noteworthy here that the Indian revolution against the British was dominated by the press. Usage of guns and bombs was not the way it began. It started with the publication of newspapers. These leaders also published their newspapers from abroad. Eg. The Journal ‘Ghadar' was a journal that was published and translated into languages like Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and English and was distributed to all parts of the world where Indians were residing. Editors like Lala Hardayal, Pandit Ramchandra and Shamaji Krishna Verma published their newspapers and journals from abroad and distributed them to different parts of the world. In Paris, Lala Hardayal along with Madam Cama published the ‘Talwar' and the ‘Vande Mataram'. Vande Mataram played a significant role in the freedom struggle. Aurobindo Ghosh, editor of ‘Sandhya', B. Upduhyay, editor of ‘Yugantar' had to face a trial for their publishing’s that spoke for the cause of freedom. The ‘Bharat Mitra' was another journal from Calcutta that exposed the British conspiracy to seize Kashmir by the year 1917, owing to the fact that the British government was busy at the World War front, there was not a single province in India
77 that failed to publish a journal or a newspaper in order to support the noble cause of freedom. This gives us an idea about the magnitude of the strength of the national revolution that came across the country. It further underlines the role played by the media towards the freedom movement. This continued right up to 1942 when the ‘Quit India Movement' became a nationwide movement. The British by then had realized the loosening of their hold on India and had started their plan of retreat. Thus it can be seen that the press indeed proved to be the backbone of the freedom movement in the pre ndependence period. The Press in the Post-Independence period: The approach towards newspaper during the freedom movement was for a noble cause. But after independence, the newspapers like the ‘Times of India' that was owned and run by the British left it to the discretion of the Indians. It was found that such newspaper and those that were formed with an aim to speak against the British, started changing their approach. Some supported the policy of pro-establishment while others adopted the policy of aggressive antiestablishment. The scenario of the print media had undergone a phenomenal change. Simultaneously, there was a great increase in the number of newspapers. Their quality, as well as their production, improved. The daily newspaper ‘Sakal' adopted a new management system as well as processes by using the latest technology by collaborating with the world leaders in their areas of specializations. As they are placed in their own regional areas, the newspapers could play a vital role to fight against poverty, epidemics, illiteracy and superstitions. Later on, color printing was an added asset to the newspapers. Sectors like the commerce and industry opened avenues to the business as well as influencing the government and common man. In the eighties and the nineties, the growth of Indian language newspapers was accelerated. In the post-independence period, the newspaper had two options in front of them. Either support the government by supporting and publicizing all its initiatives or act as a democratic critic to promote democracy in its true sense. In the pre-independence era, the editorial section of the newspaper was very effective and people read it extensively. But in the post-independence period, the editorial sections become weak in terms of its impact and short in terms of its length. The new era publishers are more profit oriented and became a marketable product. The decade of the 70's proved to be highly turbulent with the introduction of television channels. During the Indira Gandhi period in 1975, there was an emergency
78 and was subjected to censorship. But the press took its rebirth after those 19 months. It came back with a bang. Today the press lays an emphasis on analyzing the social and political news. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation the top 10 newspapers are as follows: The Times of India-(English),Dainik Bhaskar- (Hindi), Dainik Jagran-(Hindi), Malayala Manorama- (Malyalam), The Hindu-(English), Enadu-(Telugu), Deccan Chronicle-(English), Anand Bazaar Patrika- (Bengali), Amar Ujala- (Hindi), Hindustan Times- (English). 3.6 Legal aspects of print media in India: The Legal History of the Press: The Europeans coming can be marked as the beginning of the Indian press. They brought the printing press to India. The Jesuits of Goa have published the first book in India. The first official printing press was established in the year 1557 by the Jesuits of Goa. After that, the next printing press was set up in the city of Bombay by the East India Company in the year 1684 which is after almost a century. This new press was established but no newspapers were published for further another century. This was only because of the servants of the East India Company wished to be discreet about their malpractices and the intentions that they held while coming to India. It was only in 1776 that William Bolts, who had to undergo condemnation from the services of the Company, decided to publish his own newspaper. When the court of Directors came to know about his intentions, they discouraged the complete idea and destroyed it in its bud form. This happened because Bolt dropped hints to the company about his possession of a manuscript that contained the details of every official. Thus, although the East India Company had intentions of concealing their malpractices, the very intention of publishing the first newspaper was to expose the malpractices of the Company by the disgruntled employees. James Augustus Hickey took up the task in the year 1780. But the task was seized from him in 1782. The following newspapers that were published, played a safe game and avoided writing against the government. The copies or journals that followed Hickey's did not exceed the number 200 copies. Most of the writing in these journals focused on entertainment through an intellectual use of language. The Calcutta Gazette, The Bengal Journal, Calcutta Amusement, The Calcutta Chronicle, The Madras Courier, The Bombay Herald were some such that were published in the post-Hickey's Bengal Gazette'. It was not the
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Indian readers and their reactions that worried the company people. They were mainly worried if these papers reached England, their misdeeds would reach their Home authorities. There was an absence of any kind of press laws. Therefore, the newspaper was completely at the discretion of the Company's decision. Sometimes they would lay censorship on the papers and if they found the paper going against them, the offensive editor would be transferred to another place with a charge of antigovernment policies. In the forthcoming paragraphs, the progress of the Legal history with reference to the press has been analyzed and studied by looking into the various acts, right up to the Indian independence. The Censorship of the Press Act, 1799: At this period of time, there were French invasions in India. It was Lord Wellesley who felt the threat over their power. As a result of this, severe wartime restrictions were imposed on the press by him. According to the act, the following regulations had to be followed very strictly: 1. Every newspaper had to clearly mention the names of the person who printed the document, the editor and the proprietor. 2. It was required that the publisher had to submit all the material for pre-censorship, even if it were a journal, pamphlet or a book. These restrictions relaxed at the time of Lord Hastings. The Governor General tried to incorporate some of his liberal ideas in India. These ideas were taking their firm grounds in England as well. The Licensing Regulations Act, 1823: It was John Adams who was the Governor General in this period. He was known to have highly reactionary views which he was expected to put into practice. His laws proved to be highly stringent as compared to any laws that were incorporated earlier. According to the act: 1. Every Press or a publisher had to obtain a license to start a press or even to use an already existing press. 2. A penalty was decided upon the person up to Rs. 400/-, if any literature was printed without the permission License. They would also have to face a sentence if their presses were unlicensed. 3. The Governor General had the authority to revoke a license or even call for a fresh one.
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The Liberation of Indian Press Act, 1835: It was at the time of Lord Bentick, that there was a liberal policy seen towards the press. Adam's stringent rules were not completely revoked but the requirements of the press were discussed to a considerable extent. (Both Indian Press as well as Anglo-Indian) However, the officiating Governor was Charles Metcalfe. It was left to his discretion whether to repeal the obnoxious act of 1823. He did so and earned the title of ‘Liberator of the Indian Press'. This liberal policy continued till 1856. During this period, there was a rapid growth of newspapers. The Licensing Act, 1857: In the year 1857, there was a great rebellion against the East India Company. This led to the Government further imposing licensing restrictions on the press which further added to the formalities that already existed in the procedure of registration that was decided by Metcalfe Act. This new act now laid a prohibition on owning or keeping or using a press with the authorized license from the government. The government had the authority to grant or revoke a license at any time that they felt would be right. The Registration Act 1867: The nature of this act was more regulatory than restrictive. It was an attempt to replace the 1835 Metcalfe Act, with respect to the registration of press. According to this act, every printed book or newspaper had to have legibly printed the name of the printer, and publisher along with the place of printing. To add on further, it was required that within one month of a publication of any book or a paper, it was to be submitted to the local government completely free of charge. There was another act that was passed in 1870. It was to amend the Indian Penal Act. The Vernacular Press Act, 1878: This act was designed especially to keep a hold on the vernacular press and to have a better control by punishing and repressing seditious writings. According to this act: 1. The District Magistrate had the authority to call a publisher and printer of any vernacular newspaper and get them to sign a bond saying that they would not print anything that would create a feeling of dissatisfaction against the government or incite any feeling of differences based on caste and religion. Also, a security amount was required to be paid in case the concerned people disobeyed the laws. At the same time, if the law was broken, the press equipment would be confiscated.
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2. The Word of the Magistrate was supposed to be regarded as final and could not be further challenged. 3. The Vernacular press would be exempted from the above two clauses if they submitted the proofs of their paper to the censor board. This act was nicknamed as the ‘Gagging Act'. The Newspaper Act, 1908: During this period, there were many papers that spoke against the government policies. The government also followed an oppressive policy by inciting to offensive actions. According to the act: 1. The Magistrate had the authority to confiscate the press equipment as well as property that was related to the press if they published anything that might be objectionable. 2. The actions of the Magistrate were regarded as final and there was no provision for making an appeal against it. 3. The editors and the printers were given the authority to make an appeal to the High Court within 15 days if there was any kind of document that was published. According to this act, the government launched prosecution against the newspapers and there were seven presses that were confiscated. The Press Act, 1910: This act was further passed with an aim to strengthen itself to take actions against the Indian press. The people were reminded of Lytton’s act of 1878. According to this act: 1. The press had to submit two copies of every issue that was published by them, free of charge, to the government. 2. The Customs Officer was given the charge to detain all the material of the press that was being imported in case it contained any obje ctionable material. The Indian Press Act, 1931: This act gave tremendous powers to the provincial government in order to control the propaganda created by the Indian Civil Disobedience Movement. In 1932, this act was further amplified with the criminal amendment act of 1932. During this period, all that was written about the Congress activities was declared as illegal. The Press Act of 1951 (Objectionable matters): By this time, India had achieved its freedom. Hence, the entire objective of the press had undergone a complete change. Therefore, this act was comprehensive. It
82 replaced all the Central as well as State legislative acts. The act further empowered the government to demand and forfeit security from press and newspapers for the publication of any objectionable matter. The government also had the authority to forfeit certain publications, prohibit the transmission of objectionable journals or newspapers, seize and destroy unauthorized newspapers and presses. These were the rules that existed in 1946. In the Indian Constitution, there is no separate guarantee regarding the freedom of the press. It is included under the clause ‘freedom of expression' which is a liberty granted to all the citizens of the country. It is necessary to understand what exactly is included under the restriction of the press. But before that let us understand the concept of restriction on the press. If there is a restriction on the right to publish any kind of information or circulate it, would be regarded as a restriction on the freedom of the press. The right to publish would mean publishing of one's own views as well as the views of one's correspondents. The circulation would refer to both the matter being circulated and its volume. To ask a newspaper to reduce its space for news so as to print an advertisement would affect the space of its content. Therefore the increase in the price would be a considerable issue. Fixing the maximum page or the price would directly affect the volume of its circulation. Restriction on the usage of paper can affect the volume of production and circulation. Therefore while defining the freedom of press the following factors would be legitimate for consideration. Restriction of freedom of expression that would curtail circulation and thereby reduce the scope of information or falter the freedom of the press. It would be incorrect to burden the press with too many restrictions or impose a penalty on the rights to choose its instruments. Even imposition of unnecessary taxes upon the press would put a limitation on its circulation of information. It would be wrong to cancel a declaration under the press or even a book act without granting the concerned person a fair chance to express his side of the story. It would be unfair to impose upon the press to reduce its number of pages or increase their price which would make them less competitive as compared to other newspapers. It would be further unfair to impose a mandate on the press with respect to its wage structure. Because these factors would primarily depend upon the financial
83 capacity of the press. It would be wrong to demolish a building if the intention of the demolition is to stop the business of the press in that particular building. Thus in the above study, we took an entourage through the entire legal journey of the press. It can be seen that the journey was full of ups and downs and the print media today has come a long way. 3.7 Origin of Print Media in Maharashtra: In the post-independence period states were created according to languages spoken in the country. Therefore local language of each state was given priority. Automatically newspapers in regional language were in great demand in local market. Hindi being the major language & English being the universal language, a number of newspapers in both these languages got an advantage for more circulation in the country. Within Maharashtra with the population of Marathi language and though literacy ratio has not increased substantially, Marathi newspaper has expanded in Mumbai, Pune & Nagpur. The percentage of the sale of Marathi newspapers in these 3 cities is almost 60% of the total sale of Marathi newspapers. Marathi journalism has made the remarkable change in the quantity of the newspaper. It is no more a political journalism. Though politicians & political news is a priority, many subjects such as cinema, national & International sports, business, education has a detail description, reviews in today's newspapers. Changes have been made content wise according to the target audience. Contents related to all classes of the society, all members of the family are included in the Marathi newspapers. When readers get sufficient material which holds their interest then do not have many complaints about the editorial articles. Production of a newspaper is no more restricted to a regional cause or some mission; it is focused for the upliftment of the masses. Due to the development of printing technology, marketing, manpower etc. required newspaper industry for larger investments. Therefore businessmen, politicians, to capture the fourth estate have invested in the newspaper industry. The need of a newspaper is no more for a national cause or for independence or for social welfare. In earlier days, sacrifice and the social cause was the only investment, and it was not a profit making business either. But cost implications of Revenue and Expenditure or Viability are not taken into accounting & auditing in the short-run. However, in the long run, it cannot be neglected.
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Trends in Marathi Newspapers Contents - Though Darpan was the first Marathi newspaper, Dyanprakash (1849) was the first Marathi daily newspaper. The format they had adopted was - news & information but things like temperature, Market rates, Govt. notifications, panchang, features, wanted, court news crime news was included. It was the customer related format. Kesari, Maratha, Kal, Sudharak, Mukanayak were started as views paper. In those days we could find two pages editorial discussing Principles, politics and various conflicts. Editor view was important and varied information from the foreign country, social and technological changes were reported in the newspaper. Period of the first century in the history of Marathi journalism was the period of revolution in political, social, economic, cultural and technological crystallization. British brought all divided parts and region under one roof. Because of British education system and communication system the flow of information initiated discussions about various conflicts. Even the theory of Carle Marks was reported first time in India by Lokmanya B. G. Tilak. Economic calculation concept of wealth, effects of imports and exports, technological research were discussed. And Marathi newspapers did their duty to make the common man aware of these changes in the west and within the country. Lokmanya Tilak used Kesari as a weapon to educate and mold common man for Swaraj in all respect. Few editorials like Punyatil Pahili Chimni, Hey Amche Guru Navet , Sugar Industry and subjects about democracy, labour movement, cultural bounds, economics, education upliftment of backward class, freedom of women, religion are the some of the subjects. As information flow was limited to print media every newspaper in Marathi or in any other language tried to print International news. Various news agencies like Rauter came into existence. In India UNI and PTI news agencies were established. This helped newspapers to Communicate International, National and State news in short time and cost. For the first time my grandfather Shri Jayantrao Tilak introduced concept of Sunday supplement in Marathi journalism. My grandmother Indutai Tilak introduced magazine for children. Whereas my father Dr. Deepak J. Tilak introduced supplements on various subjects in Marathi journalism. All the marathi newspaper prepared a format for supplements which can satisfy all the members of the family. This was the step towards customerization. Dr. N. B. Parulekar who was educated abroad started 'Daily Sakal' and introduced various customer oriented contents to
85 attract middle class. That was the starting point for transformation from views paper to the newspaper. The present format of the MaCdonalised newspaper is based on the above history. The introduction of television media and satellite channels International, national news became less important. During this period few evening newspapers were introduced to bridge the 24 hrs time gap. Labours and servicemen, readers were focused. Lack of distribution organization restricted the effort of evening newspapers. In order to sustain readership newspapers concentrated on state, regional and local news. Contents shaped to local flavors and views on local conflicts. Surfacing of channels, language barrier and primetime became difficult for television channels to cater and concentrate on all cities, towns and villages. Newspaper industry took advantage of these restrictions with help of multiple editions and reached interiors with local news. Free flow of information technology will take few more years to reach the common uneducated man. No one can predict future technology. Competition of local television channels and cable network has got limitations because of TataSky. Newspaper industry will have to be flexible in the future. 3.8 Social Responsibility and Media After all the above studies, it can be said that the print media has been analyzed in many different perspectives. But there are two more factors that have not been touched. 1) Functions of the Press and 2) Print Media as a social responsibility. In the coming paragraphs, press has been analyzed in terms of the functions of the press. Functions of the Press: The most important factor of Press is the fact that the media plays a crucial role in the formation of the public opinion of the society. It also helps in shaping the public policy which is based on the major political, social and economic issues. It has been observed that important matters such as hunger, deprivation and a sudden collapse of the Government, delivery of timely and relevant information contributes to the qualitative opinion of the public. All these factors contribute to the reputation of the professional journalism. Professional journalism is also influenced by factors like the independent role played by the media, the political system, and the constitutional and legal safeguards, information that prevails in the country etc. This is the Print Media that plays a vital role in the formation of the public opinion. The reasons are
86 twofold. The first is the existence of the print media right from the historical times. Therefore this media was in a better position to set up a broad frame work and providing credible information which has been investigative and adversarial. This media has evolved over the time making it one of the oldest and authentic forms and has won over the hearts of the common man. The second function of the press is the critical adversarial function of credible information which is very substantial with relation to the society. It also plays the role of a watchdog, by involving itself in constructive co- operation in the public interest. This would lead to improvement in the government or reforming of the system. It is very important that the press is independent. It has the power to prevent the government from pursuing disastrous policies. It is thus important for the press to be dependable to gain loyalty from his readers. Another function of the press is engaging the readers entertaining them and delving them into life’s small pleasures, by covering hobbies and recreation through crosswords, Sudoku, comic section which will lighten the heavy and ponderous journalism. Freedom of Press: Freedom of Press is a fundamental right although it is not explicitly mentioned in the constitution of India. It has been said that outsiders are envious of the freedom that they have observed with the press in India. But Indians feel that the liberty of the press in India is slightly offset due to the nonliberal framework that was set up at the time of the British. Most of the Print media in those days was used to covering criminal and civil gossip which was written for the privilege of English men. There was a lot of judicial and legislative secrecy maintained. But in modern India, the freedom of the press is derived from Article 19 of our constitution. Freedom has been granted or a combination of the two (i) freedom of speech and expression and (ii)freedom to carry out any profession, occupation, trade or business. But in the same article, there are some reasonable restrictions issued in the public interest. Newspapers in India, as compared to the other forms of media do not have to undergo the system of registration as there is no process of licensing. This is in contrast to the media like All India Radio and Television.
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Media as a Social Responsibility: The Print Media has a responsibility of carrying out an independent, all- inclusive and practical perspective towards the Indian culture, its practices and the ethics that should be followed in order to maintain the regulatory and government mechanisms. The same should be practiced with an aim to support its personal integrity and freedom while taking care of its ethical standards and following best practices. The press needs to perform functions with an active consciousness, with the realization of the role they need to play in the society by following the higher professional norms and standards by setting a benchmark to create a better informed socio- political and ethical side by continuously monitoring their performance by maintaining an internal accountability by volunteering responsibility and playing an indispensable role of democracy and by showing that it is the just system of the society. After an entourage of the Print Media in a multi-dimensional perspective, it is utmost important to compare ourselves with the Print Media stories of other countries. To look into the world history of Print Media, one would have to go five centuries behind, to Europe. Newsletters from Germany were the first form of newspapers. They had hand written information that included topics like weather forecast conditions, economic conditions, wars as well as human interest oriented stories. America was a step behind in those days. The first authentic newspaper in English was ‘The London Gazette’ which was published later in the year 1666. Without going deeper into the foreign history of print media, it is important to understand the current status of the emerging in the field of mass media. The emergence of television, internet and radio, has been considered to have an impact on the Print Media. This could be possible because of the time factor. Electronic media has accelerated the speed at which news may be carried to the masses. The latest news is brought in the fastest way through the electronic media. But the concept of the longevity of the print media is much more than the electronic media. We can owe it entirely to the written work that has given us a clear picture of the past history. The electronic media depends on electricity. Thus accessibility to electronic media becomes difficult for the rural areas where there are frequent power cuts. Thus newspaper continues to remain irreplaceable in a country like India; the newspaper is an affordable media as compared to any other media and can be made available in the remotest pockets of the country. It is the media that gives information
88 about the local events that connect people of that area, making print media more effective. Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that the media acts like the whistle blower of the society and a watchdog over the government. The rate of distribution of newspapers has increased to a great extent. Thus it is evident that print media has the ability to give a tough competition to the other forms of media. The demand for newspapers has motivated the print media to improve its quality by making newspapers more attractive. The boost in the literacy rate has also let to the increase in the demand for newspapers. Thus along with the subscription rate, there is an increase in the readership as it is assumed that one newspaper is read by more than one person. It has been observed that in countries like U.K. and U.S.A., the young readers are shifting their interests from reading the newspapers to online news which is an advance form of print media. To conclude, it may be said that each form of media has its own significance, impact and role towards the society. But the phenomenal role played by the print media has left a great impact and will continue doing so in the developing countries like India.
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