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Rise & growth of Hindi Journalism. How it started. Hindi Journalism started because of 5 main reasons Love for Hindi language Love for Hindi literature Love for Journalism & journalistic activities To rid the society of social evils To propagate religious values. Initial phase.
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How it started • Hindi Journalism started because of 5 main reasons • Love for Hindi language • Love for Hindi literature • Love for Journalism & journalistic activities • To rid the society of social evils • To propagate religious values
Initial phase • Concerned solely with social & religious matters • Not much involvement in political affairs • Singular attention to ridding society of social evils like Untouchability, lack of education especially girl education, sati, dowry, child marriage, widow remarriage etc
Change in tone • Hindi press transformed to political & nationalistic Press with a demand for self governance when • Racial discrimination became rampant • Grievances of people against the rulers multiplied
The beginning • 1826, 1st Hindi NP- weekly started in Calcutta, Oodunt Martand • Editor- Jooghul Kishore (Jugal Kishor) • Pioneer of Hindi journalism in India • Faced many difficulties in running it • Needed postal facilities to dispatch it outside Bengal- but denied by the Govt. • Also refused postal concessions
Unable to face high postal rates • Closed down the paper within an year after 79 issues • Made an attempt to start another newspaper in 1850 called Samyadani Martand- but this too failed • 1829, Bangadoot, owned by Rajarammohun Roy, sister publication of Bengal Herald (Eng weekly), Ed- Nilratan Haldar
Vehicle for propagation of Roy’s views- attacked Hindu orthodoxy & social vices • Also published in English, Persian & Bengali • Prajamitra- 3rd Hindi journal to appear in Calcutta • 1854, 1st Hindi daily- Samachar Subha Varshan, • Ed- Shyam Sunder Sen
1850-1857 • Many newspapers started- BenarasAkhbar, TathwaBodhini, etc • Sudhakar- sustained campaign against missionary activities, Ed- Tara Mohan Mitra, Bilingual newspaper • Language used- KhariBoli • Saraswathy- literary Hindi magazine, set high standards for future Hindi journals, Ed- Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi • Standardized the style & pattern for Hindi journalism- included literary criticism, book reviews, poetry etc,
1st world war years- 1918 onwards • Birth of many Hindi dailies in Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Patna etc • Most prominent ones: Sri Venkateshwar Samachar, Bharat Mitra, calutta Samachar etc • Bharat Mitra- became leading Hindi NP of its time in Calcutta, Eds- B Gupta, A P Bajpai • Main rival- Viswamitra in 1918
After 1st World War • Hindi Journalism- made rapid progress • Most reporters & journalists were writers who had interest in Hindi literature & consequently in Hindi journalism • Produced outstanding J’s- M.P Dwivedi, C Ram Shukla, Shiv Ram Pandey, LaxminarayanGarde, Narmada Prasad Misra etc • Other distinguished writers include: MunshiPremchand, MahadeviVarma, Ela Chandra Joshi, Chandradhar Sharma Guleri etc
Freedom for the country- sole mission • Masses influenced by regional language NPs, especially Hindi, as Hindi widely spoken • English not half as effective • Leaders wanted dissemination of news & views on freedom struggle through widely read Hindi papers • Reporters & writers had one foot in prison & the other in Ed office
Aaj • 1920, started in Banaras • Notable part in Indian Independence struggle • 1st Ed- Sri Prakasa- freedom fighter • Espoused the national cause & waged a never ending battle against the British • Assisted by Baburao Vishnu Pararkar- contribution to development of Hindi journalism immense
Sold at half anna • Often compared to The Times, London • Main aim of the NP was to spread the message of freedom to Hindi speaking masses of UP, Bihar & MP • Was a strong supporter of the INC • Famous for- impartial & objective reporting & fearless editorials • Covered both national as well as international news
Desh • 1920, Patna weekly, influential paper, mouthpiece of the Indian National Congress • Proved valuable for nationalist propaganda • Founded by Babu Rajendra Prasad • Not a profitable venture, incurred huge losses • Made the mistake of gradually reducing ad rates • Hence, circulation increased and losses kept pace • End of non cooperation movement spelt doom
Dailies Vs Weeklies • 1924, 102 papers in India • 4 dailies: Aaj- Banaras, Swatantra- Calcutta, Arjun- Delhi & Calcutta Samachar- Calcutta • But , Hindi dailies were not as successful as Hindi weeklies • Their get up & printing was poor, content clumsily written, had countless errors & editorials were very lengthy • Weeklies better edited as they had more time at disposal
Some well known weeklies • In 1920’s, the previous ones and the following • Bhavishya- Kanpur, Sainik- Agra • In 1930’s, • Savadho Bharat- Bombay, Lokmat- Jabalpur, Vartaman- kanpur, Milap- Lahore, Lokmanya- Calcutta • Most played a notable role in our struggle for freedom
Hindustan & Aryavart • Started in 1936 • Sister publication of Hindustan Times • Wide news coverage & variety of special features • Had high circulation, a very popular paper • Aryavart- started in 1940, sister publication of Indian Nation – exercised considerable influence
Popular newspapers • Navbharat Times of the Times group- started in 1950 in Delhi • One of the largest circulated daily today • Many editions- from Maharashtra, MP, Chattisgarh • Popular for its coverage of national & international news and views on domestic affairs • Amrita Patrika- Allahabad, notable Hindi daily notable for its trenchant editorial
Some important NPs today • Dopahar Ka Saamna- Mumbai • Swatantra Chetna- Gorakhpur • Hamara Mahanagar- Mumbai • Jansatta- Delhi & Kolkatta • Amar Ujala- UP • Sanmarg- Calcutta • Kuber Times- Delhi • Nai Duniya- Indore • Hindi Milap- Hyderabad • Rajasthan Patrika- Rajasthan • Hindi Tribune- Chandigarh
Hindi Press- leading the way • Largest no. of Hindi papers- UP (In 1982- 2052) • Oldest surviving Hindi newspaper (as on 1984)- Jain Gazette- weekly from Lucknow, started in 1895 • Hindi Press as a whole commands maximum readership • More newsprint exists in Hindi than in any other language
Best in Hindi journalism- was seen in periodicals- stronghold of Hindi journalism • Better style, better made & more appealing • E.g., Ravivar (Hindi weekly of Sunday Group) & Hindi Blitz from Bombay • Main centers of Hindi publications- UP, MP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi
Popularization of Hindi • 1918, Mahatma Gandhi advocated the need for recognizing Hindi as the national language • Several politicians & educationists supported him • Stressed the need for introducing Hindi as the medium of instruction in schools • Campaign for popularization of Hindi got an impetus- Millionaire philanthropist of Benares, Shiv Prasad Gupta launched Hindi NP Aaj in 1920
Paper was sold for half an anna • Wanted the paper to become as influential as The Times of London • When suggestions were raised to have a common script for all Indian languages, Gandhi asserted use of Devanagari (Roman script was used till then) • Indian Army used Roman script to write Hindi, it continued till 1951
Bitterness caused by Partition checkmated the effort to have a common script for Hindi & Urdu • Though they have lot in common in the spoken form, their scripts have different origins • Hindi developed from Sanskrit, Urdu from Persian & Arabic • Out of 27 Indian States - 8 States use Hindi as the State language (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh,)
Transition pre & post Independence • Writers before Independence were people who had love for Hindi language & Hindi literature • Till Independence, Hindi NPs had a mission- Freedom • Post Independence, this mission became a profession • Industrialists & businessmen took over, gained ownership
Ed lost importance, journalists who disagreed terms & conditions – unceremoniously sacked • Influx of Hindi supplements, weekend magazines, for both literary reasons + entertainment
By 1990’s • Hindi was spoken by 49% of the population • English- 3% • 1978, NRS- Circulation of Hindi NPs exceeded that of English NPs • 1997- 16.1 million Hindi dailies were sold as against 5 million English ones • The gap has widened since then & only increasing
Competition among Hindi NPs • Aaj & DainikJaagran- highly competitive since 1974 • Aaj- audited circulation of about 1,20,000 • By ‘93, published from 12 centers • 1998, Aaj’s circulation- 5,70,000, DainikJaagran- 7 lac from 11 centers • DainikBhaskar- 4.78 lakh copies • Navbharat Times- 2 editions- 4.19 lakh circulation • Navbharat- 7 editions- 4.65 copies
Section of Press- fanning communal passions • Big NPs like DB, DJ hired Journalists who had 4-5 yrs experience in smaller NPs, no training as such • Most J’s came from right wing tinged communities with communal bias against the minority communities • Often brought their prejudices to work • Serious allegations that smaller Hindi NPs distorted news & exaggerated certain communally sensitive matter during the Babri Masjid demolition
Why did Hindi Press grow • More rooted in soil than English papers • Covered the mental gap between the readers in rural areas & the English language NPs • Bridged the distance between a foreign language NP readers & one who can read his own language • Escalation of literacy • Increasing purchasing power • Hunger for news as well as entertainment
Hindi press for developmental purposes • Attempts since 1950’s to exploit the potential of Hindi NPs for developmental purposes • Govt. realized how it could carry the message of planned development • Radio was earlier used to convey such vital info to farmers, agricultural communities • With the progress of the literacy programme, the focus shifted to print media since it had greater credibility
Hindi NPs played a constructive role in promotion of • Family planning programme of the Govt. • Rural health programmes • Literacy campaigns
Politics • Hindi press also helped the rural masses understand the political process • Result- more & more people from rural areas driven to politics + more awareness about our working system • NPs also played imp. role during elections in 2 ways: • Helped candidates get better exposure in small areas • Candidates made Press a part of their campaign to seek rural vote bank
Challenges to Hindi press • More like challenges to regional Press, not Hindi press alone • Maintaining neutrality & objectivity in reporting • Being exploited by powerful politicians & industrialists • Erosion of the authority of the editor • Growing English Press