History of Journalism In India

 History of Journalism In India

What is the first thought that comes to the mind when you think of the word journalism History of journalism in India? For some it might be newspapers, some of you may think it’s related to the news on the TV or for some of you it might be both. But what journalism truly means is the production and distribution of various reports on the recent happenings or events. It simply means collecting, analyzing, creating and presenting information and news. And, like every other existing thing on this planet, journalism has its own history. journalism in India has been full of twists and turns since it’s very inception. So, let’s dig deeper into the history of journalism in India.

Quick question- How many pages do one find in an average newspaper? It may range anywhere from 15 to 40 depending upon the type of newspaper, language, font, and so on. The first newspaper published in our country had only 4 pages.

James August Hickey started the first newspaper in India in the year 1780. The paper was called the Bengal Gazette(later called the Hicky’s Gazette). It started out as a weekly political and commercial newspaper and was called a paper that was open to all and influenced by none.

There was political and social corruption was everywhere here among the British ruling the country. Hicky was a printer by profession. He launched the newspaper to target British authorities, individuals and their private affairs. But, his journey in journalism was short lived as he was arrested and jailed in the year 1781 for openly criticizing the policies of the government and the East India Company. The topic of the history of journalism in India began with James Hickey and his newspaper.

After that few more newspapers were published that obeyed the government and abided by all the publishing rules. One of them was the Madras courier that was officially permitted to print government notifications and the other was the Bombay Herald (merged with the Bombay Courier later).

The birth of a free press had already

commenced with more newspapers coming up along with various papers in regional languages spreading awareness about various matters. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a social reformer also came up with his Persian newspaper Mirat- ul- Akhbar. His main emphasis was the social upliftment of people. He stopped publishing his periodical as a protest to the government’s regulations. Later, he launched a magazine in English by the name of the Brahmanical Magazine. It aimed at counteracting the propaganda of Christian Missionaries.

Thus, India has a very large and rich History of Journalism. While, most of the Britishers initially started the papers, the people of the Country, gradually took over with great gusto the pen- a tool mightier than the sword. The newspapers indeed became a channel of Information education and major contributor in the freedom struggle under the patronage of Stalwart leaders.