PRINT REVOLUTION AND TELEGRAPH
Printing is a process of production of text and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing
press. It is often carries out on a large-scale industrial process.
Origin of printing
- First recorded in China in the Tang dynasty, which produced wooden block printing on
paper. The printing was done with individual sheets pressed by wooden block craved with
text and pictures. Printing was done on large scale in 1425.
In 1440, Johann Gutenberg developed printing press. This press can produce up to 3600 pages per
day. He introduced a more durable oil based ink. His two inventions, the hand mould and the
movable type printing press, together drastically reduced the cost of printing books.
The revolution
In Germany, printing had spread to around 270 cities. By 148, there were printers active in 110
different places around Europe. The rapidity of typographical text production, as well as the sharp fall
in unit costs, led to the issuing of the first newspaper which opened up an entirely new field for
conveying up-to-date information to the public. Many of the libraries in Europe and North America
come out with pre-16th century print works.
Economic growth: - Guttenberg’s improved printing press brought a rapid economic and socio-
cultural development in Europe. Printed materials became a source of business and created demand
for the books. Books and printed materials were now a consumable product for literate and middle-
class people. Bible was the most sold book that was produced after the invention of printing.
printing. During Islamic Age, Arabians developed many manuscripts of the holy Qur’an. Those were
converted into books using this print technology.
Technological factors: - Gutenberg combined technology and product into one complete functioning
system, and perfected the printing process through all its stages by adding a number of inventions
and innovations of his own. Gutenberg adopted the basic design, thereby mechanizing the printing
process. Printing, however, put a demand on the machine quite different from pressing. To speed up
the printing process, he introduced a movable under table with a plane surface on which the sheets
could be swiftly changed. Paper manufacturing industry grew up and found a massive expansion of
production. The price of paper fell down extremely with a heavy demand.
Mass production and circulation: - Because of the printing press, the author’s name had come to
forefront and became more meaningful and profitable. It was suddenly important who had said or
written what, and what the precise formulation and time of composition was. This allowed the exact
citing of references, producing the rule, "One Author, one work (title), one piece of information".
For many works prior to the printing press, the name of the author has been entirely lost, the
author was less important. Because the printing process ensured that the same information fell on
the same pages, page numbering, tables of contents, and indices became common, though they
previously had not been unknown. The process of reading also changed, gradually moving over
several centuries from oral readings to silent, private reading. Dramatic rise in adult literacy. Book
production became more commercialised, and the first copyright laws were passed. On the other
hand, the printing press was criticized for allowing the dissemination of information which may have
been incorrect.
Rotary Press
In 1943, Richard M. Hoe invented the steam-powered rotary printing press in the United States,
which produced millions of copies of pages in a single day. Mass production of printed works
flourished after the transition to rolled paper, as continuous feed allowed the presses to run at a
much faster pace.
Rise of Telegraph
Samuel Morse, invented telegraph in between 1830s and 1840s and made a revolution in long-
distance communication. It worked by transmitting electrical signals over a wire lay between
stations. In addition to helping invent the telegraph, Samuel Morse developed a code (bearing his
name) that assigned a set of dots and dashes to each letter of the English alphabet and allowed for
the simple transmission of complex messages across telegraph lines. It then became the standard
way to send urgent messages. In 1844, Morse sent his first telegraph message, from Washington,
D.C., to Baltimore, Maryland; by 1866, a telegraph line had been laid across the Atlantic Ocean from
the U.S. to Europe. By the latter half of the century, most developed nations had created commercial
telegraph networks with local telegraph offices in most cities and towns, allowing the public to send
messages called telegram addressed to any person in the country, for a fee. In early 21st century the
telegraph was slowly replaced by teletype networks like telephone, fax machine and Internet.
Morse Code - The transmission of messages across telegraph wires, created what came to be known
as Morse code. The code assigned letters in the alphabets and numbers a set of dots (short marks)
and dashes (long marks) based on the frequency of use; letters used often (such as “E”) got a simple
code, while those used infrequently (such as “Q”) got a longer and more complex code. Initially, the
code, when transmitted over the telegraph system, was rendered as marks on a piece of paper that
the telegraph operator would then translate back into English. Telegraph was quickly accepted by
people eager for a faster and easier way of sending and receiving information. However, widespread
and successful use of the device required a unified system of telegraph stations among which
information could be transmitted.
EVOLUTION OF PRESS IN US AND BRITAIN
Media has come a long way in its journey of over four centuries from initial days of amateur
publication to multinational corporations using cutting edge technology and shaping the ideas of
mankind. Unlike newspapers in olden days when communication was confined to the educated
sector, today television, radio and internet have shattered the barrier of illiteracy. Hence it becomes
important to understand the evolution of press in developed countries that have dominated the
world during this period to understand the history of press across the world.
USA
USA has led the entire world in its approach towards free speech, democracy and freedom of press.
18th century
Publication of newspapers in America began in early colonial period as the settlers were curious
about what was going on in Europe and in the colonies. In the early 18th century first, American
newspapers were published at a modest scale. Dedicated commercial papers were initially published
by the traders for specific reasons. A publication named The Boston Daily Advertiser was dedicated
for reporting on the arrivals and departures of ships. Most of such papers were much localized
publications with little records available. However, during the American War of Independence, these
publications played a significant role in mobilizing the people against the tyrannical British Empire.
These publications emerged as a strong political force after the war and with the dawn of
democracy, the first amendment to U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom of the press. Like rest of
the world, postal services contributed to the rapid growth in USA. After the introduction of U.S.
Postal Service Act 1792, sending newspaper copies became easier and cheaper. Newspapers could
now be transported up to 100 miles for a penny and beyond that for just 1.5 cents. This not only
opened up a huge market for the newspapers, but strengthened the distribution system. Hence news
organizations could now focus more on the editorial work.
19th century
At the dawn of democracy in USA, both political parties had sponsored newspapers that were
inclined to them. People were also curious about the political experiment that brought them to the
center of the governing system. To exercise the newly found political power, free citizens started
more newspapers to satisfy their curiosity. The first two US presidents Washington and Adams
enjoyed the support of a major newspaper named Fenno's Gazette.
After 1830, American publishers started taking advantage of Penny Press to improve
their service. Eventually faster printing press technology and telegraph made journalism easier.
Especially, telegraph helped the reporters send their news in few minutes for publication. This new
technology and more efficient printing press saved a lot of time for the newspaper houses. The
papers used this time to improve the content quality. More production led to more revenue and
financial conditions of the papers improved.
However, when the rivalry between northern and southern states rose over slavery,
newspapers also took radically different editorial standards. Hard hitting articles with one sided
perspective were very popular and even editors did not hesitate to participate in party politics
openly. During this period, most US newspapers were openly aligned with one political party or the
other. Political organisations would also support favourable newspapers, financially or otherwise.
This phenomenon is called partisan press.
The tradition of editorial writing took shape during this period only. Signed editorials taking stand on
issues and parties with the name of the author were often published but unsigned editorials were
more popular. These editorials were the opinion of the newspaper, not the author. Initially these
were written by the Editor himself. himself. But gradually, newspapers hired professional editorial
writers for this purpose. Later many newspapers across the world followed this norm. Even in today’s
India, this is a standard practice in the field of print media. During this period, when the production
had increased, the new challenge was to sell this surplus quantity of newspapers. This required
professional marketing techniques. To attract more readers, petty politics, scandal, and
sensationalism etc. featured quite regularly in the papers.
Yellow Journalism
A group of commercial newspapers were more concerned about their circulation and profit than
anything else. In this rat race of circulation and profit emerged a concept that plagued the profession
and is still relevant in 21st century. This is called Yellow journalism. In this kind of journalism, scandal-
mongering, sensationalism, and unethical practices in news reporting are very common. Both news
organisations and individual journalists indulge in this kind of journalism. In this type of journalism,
bold and shocking headlines are used to grab the readers’ attention quickly. News that are not very
important were exaggerated with fancy pictures or drawings. Use of fake interviews, false
information and anonymous quotes were common in such reports. This phenomenon is called
“Yellow journalism” because the small newspapers that initially published such stories were printed
on a certain type of yellowish paper. However, later major newspapers also indulged in such
journalism and the term “Yellow Journalism” became a concept rather than a colour reference.
20TH/21ST century
By 20th century major newspapers had become profitable powerhouses of objective news-gathering,
advocacy and investigative journalism. Even common people used to read multiple newspapers. The
trend of reading news and discussing politics and current affairs had become a common pass time for
the common citizen. In the initial half of the century, Radio and telephone technology brought a
significant change in the work culture of the media industry. News was now broadcast on Radio and
reports could be filed through phone and fax. Following the space race, internet and satellite
television started dominating the world rapidly.
In the 21st century, with digital media and TV dominating the media arenas, huge
portions of both readers and advertisers switched to the new platforms. The speed of this decline
increased in 2004 and with major newspapers going entirely online, it seems impossible that the
printed newspapers will ever become the important vehicle of communication for the news business
it once was.
GREAT BRITAIN
Britain was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution and had emerged as an imperial superpower
by the 17th century. By this time, a class of educated and wealthy elites had emerged in the country
which was very active both politically and socially. Catering to this group of audience, some
publishers started regular publications covering news and gossip. Initially there was little government
censorship. Eventually, taxes were reduced and technological innovations took place by the arrival of
the 19th century. This led to a boom in newspaper publishing throughout the century.
17TH CENTURY
Initially “news” publication in Britain did not necessarily stick to news. News, rumours and
advertisement were placed so randomly in a publication, which made it difficult for the readers to
differentiate between news and gossips. However, with emergence of more and more publications,
the profession evolved into a more standardized one. For a major part of the 17th century
pamphlets, posters and ballads co-existed with news periodicals. News periodicals could be
differentiated from these mainly because it was published constantly at regular time interval.
However, a number of news books and newspapers were published at least once a week in the 17th
century. But during the English Civil War, News pamphlets in the period rarely published unbiased
news. They often catered to one side of the conflict.
18th century
Eventually, newspapers started to become more and more influential in the society. Newly emerged
elite as well as the working class was now consuming information regarding happenings in England
and around the world. However, the government of the day, weary of the increasing popularity and
influence of newspapers, tabled a bill in the parliament advocating taxation on newspapers in 1711.
In 1712, the duty was officially levied. Publishers had to pay half a penny on papers of half a sheet
and a penny on newspapers with half a sheet to a single sheet in size.
This century saw the evolution of newspapers with specialized subjects. Purely political journals were
published along with the full-fledged newspapers which were devoted to news, national,
international, and commerce.
19TH CENTURY
In the first two decades, heavy tax was imposed on newspapers. As it happens with most cases of
excessive taxation, an increased tax encouraged many to run their newspapers illegally to evade tax.
These papers were essentially out of the government’s regulatory mechanism and were fiercely
critical of the establishment. Riding the wave of revolutionary ideas, these papers started to make a
huge impact of the contemporary politics. Many of these publishers were prosecuted but such
untaxed newspapers kept popping up. Eventually, British Policy makers realised that they could not
stop the press from becoming a strong socio-political force. Hence, the smarter approach was to sail
with the wind. Following widespread demand for more freedom for press, governments started
reducing regulations. Stamp paper and other duties were reduced drastically in 1836. Technical
advances in newspaper printing and a well-oiled distribution network made newspapers more
marketable. Innovation in the field of communication made reporting easier. News was now reported
within hours of occurrence.
20TH CENTURY
At the same time, increased purchasing power with the newly emerged working class created a huge
market for less intellectual and sensational news coverage. Tabloids and the phenomenon of ‘yellow
journalism’ took shape in this period. After the devastating First World War, bigger publications
indulged in a fierce circulation race. It eventually ate up many smaller newspapers as they could not
simply compete with the giant organizations. Coverage of sports with the latest scores, human
interest stories, stories related to celebrities became popular in this period.
21ST CENTURY
In the 21st century circulation and advertising revenue of newspapers dropped drastically. European
Broadcasting Union research revealed that people in the United Kingdom trusted the written press
less than television and radio. However, most newspapers have ventured into the digital space and
digital media has become the new form of the news business. The brand equity of the newspapers
that was built over decades or centuries, make them more credible sources of news in the age of
fake news.
HISTORY OF PRESS IN INDIA
Medieval India
The concept of communication network started by Aurangzeb. Vaquia Navis were specialist news
writers appointed to the court to summarise important events and incidents. Cofia Navis were secret
spies who collected news from public.
Origin of new era: -
1. Christian missionaries
2. During the 16th century – Printing technology was brought to India by Christians
3. Books, dictionaries, bible translations
4. Sept 15, 1556 – first printing press in Goa
5. Sept 6, 1557 - First book “Doutrina Christ” published by St. Francis Xavier.
Mid-18th century onwards a new mode of communication in the form of press media entered India
along with colonialism for three reasons. First, to inform the metropolis about the new lands
acquired by the empire; Second, to perpetuate the ideology of adjust and liberal governance which
only Britain in their perception could give to India; Third, the purpose of commerce and profit to
colonial state had an ambiguous relationship with the press.
Press and Imperialism
The colonialists were determined to achieve their goal not only by the direct occupation of the
colony but by dismantling all its existing systems of norms and governance. And to achieve this press
became a potential medium for propagating the idea of British colonialism as the agent of
modernization, democratization and industrialization in the colony. As colonialism made deeper
inroads into the colony by adopting new methods of governance, the role of press became very
crucial.
The first newspapers
Therefore, when the first newspaper came to India, introduced by James Augustus Hickey, an Irish
merchant, called the Bengal Gazette India, it ridiculed the life-style and social activities of the
European community in Calcutta. Keeping in tune with the changes taking place in the realm of ideas
and politics in England, James Augustus Hickey was a product of the polemical journalism of the 18th
century which was not anomalous to the environment of Calcutta. The conditions under which the
press operated in Britain and India were not identical, although the press in India was imitative in
style and reporting. The colonial press concentrated in projecting the narratives of heroism of both
Britain and British Imperialism in the face of India’s adverse environment. Hickey’s Bengal Gazette
India was followed by a few weeklies. In Madras and Bombay not, many newspapers came into
existence during the period. In Madras, the Madras Courier which was owned by government printer
came out as a weekly in 1785. In Bombay, Bombay Herald was started in 1789, an official publication.
In [Link] Courier made an appearance. In 1838 and 1861 the Times of India appeared in Bombay
and Englishman came into existence in Calcutta respectively.
Post 1857 Press
However, this bonhomie with the press took a reverse turn with the occurrence of the Mutiny. The
English-owned press now depicted the worst form of racialism. The pretensions of liberalism gave
way to conservatism and authoritarianism. A permanent schism appeared between the government
sponsored press and the Indian native press. Special concessions were now given to the European
community and English press by Lord Canning which further inflamed the feeling of estrangement
between the natives and colonial masters and between the native and European press – never to be
bridged. It is significant to note that colonial records did take note of the elements of India i.e. caste,
tribe, tradition, hierarchy, rituals, transcendence (Y. Singh, 1993), but they intentionally buried the
linkages which showed pre-British and British India as a cultural entity, a civilization containing
elements of diversity and unity. The colonialists failed to mention the unity of the civilization which
could be observed at several levels, for example, role of travelling mendicants, traders, story-tellers,
caravans, craftsmen, artists, pilgrimages, fairs and festivals.
English Hegomonisation
The aim of the colonial authority was to establish cultural, ideological hegemony so as to rule not
only the land but the minds of the subjugated people in order to continue their control. This they
could not achieve only by coercive apparatuses of the state like police, law and army. Therefore, they
created a false sense of consent and unconscious submission by erecting an administrative,
educational, technological and cultural institutions and personnel, whose role was to promote the
interest of the colonialists. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that the colonial press was
intertwined with colonial politics. And though it posed to be neutral and free, the dichotomy was
that the decision of what news was fit to be printed was decided by the “imperatives of colonial rule
and the colonial state’s own vision of how journalism should be conducted.”
Colonial Regime of Control: -
Various methods of controlling and manipulating news were adopted by the state – beginning with
the institution of the Press Commission in 1877-89 to manage the government’s relationship with
the English language press and to monitor the vernacular newspapers, after implementing the
Vernacular Press Act of 1878. 1878. On the one hand the colonial state displayed chest beating over
‘liberty of the press’ and on the other hand it surreptitiously indulged in controlling the activity of
the press by introducing a system of licensing for newspapers, prohibiting ‘seditious’ writing by
withdrawing subscriptions, advertising; refusing to grant postal subsidies; restricting access to
sources of official information and to the technologies used to transmit it. Under Wellesley’s
regulation news item related to military intelligence, commercial information, state of public credit,
finances of the East India Company, shipping news, criticism of government officials and officers wer
prohibited from publication. Ironically, the architect of the regulations of 1799, Lord Wellesley was a
supporter of freedom of press in Britain but in India he suppressed press and made it subservient to
the expansionist policy of the East India Company. By new regulations of 1818 criticism of the East
India Company and other public authorities in England, information which might create alarm or
suspicion among the native population or any intended interference with their religious opinion or
observations were prohibited from being published in the newspapers. To convert India into ‘Brown
Sahibs’ who would be Indian in colour but English in taste, thinking and intellect, they insisted that
only British institutions and the English language could set India on a progressive path and this led to
emergence of new press law drafted by the architect of anglicist view and Law Member T.B.
Macaulay. It was implemented by Charles Metcalfe in 1835. Under this law press censorship was
abolished, the press was free to print comments on Government action if it was not seditious. But
this short romance with freedom of press took a reversal after 1857. The arbitrary nature of colonial
rule and its actions could not sustain it. The Adam Regulations and Canning Press returned in action.
However, with the formation of Indian National Congress in1885, activities of the early Congress
leaders, emergence of nationalist and vernacular press with nationalist leanings, increasing protest
movements culminating in Swadeshi Movement of 1905, Non-cooperation Movement, Khilafat
Movement, Civil Disobedience, Quit India Movement, which is from 1919 to1942, required a new
orientation of governance from the Colonial State. A policy of reform, circumscribed by the policy of
censor was adopted. And thus, a constrained press became an imperative. The Newspapers
Incitement to Offences Act 1908 and Press Act in 1910 put back Adam Regulations into action. From
1914 onwards confrontationist attitude became the nature of relationship between imperialism and
nationalism and the most potent example of it could be seen in the protests over Ilbert Bill and its
reporting in the English press, defense of English press on the Rowlatt Act, the way the English press
and Government responded to the Punjab Wrong in 1919 and so on.
GANDHI AND AMBEDKAR AS JOURNALISTS AND COMMUNICATORS
Gandhi is regarded as one of the finest communicators in the history of the world. Gandhi’s
experience as a journalist is a tale of strong determination and passionate indignation. Similarly,
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was not only one of the prominent leaders of India but also a political and
social philosopher and journalist. His ideas have helped in the greater understanding of our society-
its history and polity, and in shaping contemporary discussions on caste and social justice.
GANDHI
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more fondly known as Bapu or Gandhi is regarded as one of the
finest communicators in the history of the world. His life and personality are not only inspiring but
are professed and preached on. Hence, his ideas and values are followed by people around the
world. However, one of the less acknowledged aspects of his personality is that of an excellent
journalist. Gandhi’s experience as a journalist is a tale of strong determination and passionate
indignation.
Gandhi’s interest in journalism might have begun at the time when at the age of
nineteen he went to England and got to read a number of newspapers for the first time. Later, he
mentioned this in his autobiography saying, “In India, I had never read a newspaper.” This got him
intrigued about the contours of journalism. During his three year stay there, he articulated and
contributed a total of nine articles on diet, festivals, and customs of India thus, emerging as an
independent journalist. On his journey back to India, the ship he was traveling in faced a bad storm,
describing which, he wrote an article for the Vegetarian. He worked as a “War Correspondent”
during the Boer War of 1899, with his group of Indian volunteers treating the wounded and offering
his services to the victims of war. With the help of the Indians living in South Africa with him, he
started the publication of his very first newspaper – ‘Indian Opinion’ on June 4th, 1903 intending to
express the voice of the oppressed Indians under the worst effect of Apartheid. This paper was
published in four different languages of English, Hindi, Gujarati, and Tamil. The first editorial
published in this newspaper, ‘Ourselves’, was unsigned but written by Gandhi. The three main
objectives behind its publication were firstly, to represent the grievances of the Indians to the rulers
in South Africa, secondly, to unite the diaspora and finally, to make Indians there aware of their
shortcomings. This paper still carried on the fight on behalf of the Indian community even after the
departure of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa in 1914. He left this paper in charge of Mr. Henry
Polak, one of his close associates. Later in 1916, he sent his son, Manilal Gandhi, to South Africa, to
look after the Gujarati edition of the Indian Opinion and to take charge of the English edition who
continued this till 1956.
When Gandhi reached India, he was disheartened to see the miseries that existed
amongst the fellow citizens and he knew only effective communication can rekindle the spirit of
national consciousness in them. The first opportunity for him to write for magazines in India came
when two young supporters of Home Rule League, Umar Sobani and Shankarlal Banker, who had
fought for bringing self-rule in India, offered him the editorship of their weekly journal that went by
the name: Young India. He accepted their offer with grace. Around the same time in October 1919,
Gandhi also offered the editorship of Indulal Yajnik’s Gujarati monthly Navjivan ane Satya by the
later. He accepted this offer too, quiet readily, and took charge of the Gujarati journal that came to
be known as Navjivan. Although he dropped the title of Satya from the name. Young India was
published in English. He used this journal as a means of spreading his ideas on non-violence and
organisation of movements. Through it, he urged the national leaders to consider, organise, plan, and
employ ideas to achieve India its independence from the British Rule. He explained his preference to
communicate with the public through Indian regional languages by saying: “Navjivan will take every
possible occasion to show that it is in vain that we are so infatuated with English. I don’t mean to say
that English has no place at all in our studies or in our life. I only insist that our present use of English
is indiscriminate”. Under the leadership of Gandhi, Young had no choice but to turn it into a weekly
newspaper. The period from 1919 to 1921, saw a steep rise in the circulation of these two weeklies
which he ran from Ahmedabad. Also, this period saw a rise in the momentum of the Indian Freedom
Movement. Gandhi himself analysed the statistics on the circulation of these journals and noted:
“Both of them reached a very wide circulation which at one time rose to the neighbourhood of forty
thousand each. While the circulation of Navjivan went up faster, Young India increased only by slow
degrees”. There was a drop in the circulation of these two magazines when Gandhi served prison
time on the charges of sedition for writing two articles in Young India. Despite this, he termed
Navjivan as a “weekly report on the progress of Swaraj”. Gandhi was very punctual with regards to
any work related to the publishing of this journal and while travelling he would send his articles by
post. Hence, these magazines transformed into media through which he could interact with the
masses. In all of this, Mahadev Desai, his multitalented secretary was of great help to him. Well
versed in both English and Gujarati, he would often help in articulation and discussion of important
issues of the magazines. Despite all this, the publication of both of these journals was closed down
due to Gandhi’s arrest and suppression of the Satyagraha movement in 1931. Navjivan’s last regular
issue was published on 10th January, 1932. Still this didn’t end his venture into journalism. It led to
the establishment of 'Harijan', 'Harijanbandhu', 'Harijansevak' in English, Gujarati, and Hindi,
respectively in 1933 by him. Harijan means the “Child of God’’ and was a term coined by the
Mahatma to acknowledge people belonging to the untouchable castes. These newspapers were the
weapons of his crusade against untouchability and poverty in rural areas of India. They published no
advertisements but still enjoyed a wide circulation. All of these three newspapers focused on the
world’s and most importantly, India’s social and economic problems during the freedom struggle.
Radio journalism was not a forte of M.K. Gandhi for he was a shy person by nature but he did appear
on the radio for AIR (All India Radio) after much persuasion. 12 November 1947, was the first and
only time Gandhi visited the Broadcasting house, Delhi. It was the day of Diwali. He was
accompanied by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.
Gandhi’s ideals of Journalism
Gandhi’s wide experience in journalism had helped him in acquiring certain principles that he lived
by and preached as his ideals on journalism. Chalapathi Raju, an eminent editor described Gandhi as
probably the greatest journalist of all time. He further said that the weeklies run and edited by
Gandhi were probably the greatest weeklies the world has known. He wasn’t wrong in saying this.
Each of these weeklies had a certain purpose for which they were started and they did achieve their
desired goal in due course of time. Gandhi was in favour of the freedom of the press. He often said,
“Freedom of the press is a precious privilege that no country can forgo”. He implemented this
thought in his newspapers and journals too. He launched the Satyagraha movement against the
Rowlatt Act and the massacre in Jallianwala Bagh in 1919. He had learned in South Africa how
important the press and public opinion could be in politics. And with time, he taught himself to use
the written word as effectively as possible. His note of boldness and sacrifice gave a new impetus to
the evolution of the press as a tool for Satyagraha. He also said, ‘'Newspapers are meant primarily to
educate the people. They make the latter familiar with contemporary history. This is a work of no
mean responsibility. It is a fact, however, that readers cannot always trust newspapers. Often facts
are found to be quite the opposite of what has been reported. If newspapers realized that it was
their duty to educate the people, they could not but wait to check a report before publishing it.
Often they indeed have to work under difficult conditions. They have to sift the true from the false in
a short time and can only guess at the truth.
Gandhi was against the publication of advertisements in newspapers. He believed
that it is an established practice for newspapers to depend on the publication of advertisements for
revenue rather than on subscriptions. This has led to a deplorable state where the very newspaper
that writes about the adversities of drinks, publishes advertisements on the selling of those drinks. It
is unethical on the part of the print publication to do so, as they are on one hand, warning the public
against something and on the other hand, are participating in an inclination of its sale, even if
indirectly. Also, he had once said, in the context of editorship that, “When one takes up the
responsibility of editorship, he must discharge it with a full sense of duty. That is the only way
journalism should be practiced.” He was against sensational writing and writings which encouraged
communal tension. He believed in self-discipline and self-control on the part of journalists. Gandhi
was a great communicator which is evident from the above accounts of his way of connecting with
the masses. It is observed that his success in this field as a communicator was due to the various
strategies. He had a commendable command over the language and most importantly, his simple
style of writing in Indic languages was the reason behind his success. Gandhi as a journalist was not
only a man of ethics who praised and preached an idealistic way to pursue this profession but also a
social thinker who with his strong will and determination, helped win humanity the battle of
inequality by establishing strong communication, uplifting the undermined and preaching
nonviolence, which will be remembered by the world for ages to come as a journalist who served
humanity.
DR. BR AMBEDKAR
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was not only one of the prominent leaders of India but also a political and
social commentrator. His ideas have helped in the greater understanding of our society- its history
and polity, and in shaping contemporary discussions on caste and social justice. This is the reason
why there has been a resurgence in writings on him, in the recent times, in the wake of rising radical
Social Justice Activism and, has affected hugely the course of anti-caste Social Justice Movement in
India. However, the journalistic aspect of his carrier was no less fascinating.
Ambedkar set foot in the newspaper industry with the publication of his very first
newspaper, Mooknayak (meaning, the leader of the voiceless) on January 31st, 1920. Unlike his
other writings which were published in English, his journalistic writings were written in Marathi.
Mooknayak was a fortnightly newspaper published on Saturdays from Bombay and Ambedkar
became its editor. He flagged the issue of social justice in the very first issue of this paper and
highlighted the tremendous efforts that would be required to free people suffering from social and
economic disadvantages in Indian society. However, due to serious financial and management issues,
its publication was shut down after three years. He also went ahead to establish three other
newspapers-Bahishkrut Bharat (1927-1929), Janata (1930-56), and Prabuddha Bharat (1956).
Bombay. Due to a shortage of finances, there was a shortage of staff and hence, for a certain period
of time, Dr. Ambedkar wrote, reported, and edited the Bahishkrut Bharat, which is beyond
commendable. His newspapers played an eminent role in setting the tone and tempo of the social
justice movement. Ambedkar is credited to have shaped the dynamics of Marathi Literature. In spite
of having English-medium schooling, he developed commendable articulation and had a remarkable
command over the language. Not only that, but it is also observed that his experience of editing of
Mooknayak, might have led to the cultivation of an argumentative form of writing on his part. His
ideas about journalism are both fascinating and idealistic. He believed that newspapers must be
careful while publishing advertisements and even criticised them, in one of his editorials in
Bahishkrut Bharat, of encouraging irresponsible advertisements in the lieu of acquiring finances,
which had a negative impact on the readers and gave rise to inequality and ritualism. On the other
hand, his firm stand on the issue of advertisement is one of the causes of the low acquisition of
finances for his newspapers and which eventually lead to their closedown. He believed that,
journalism should frame itself as such as not to cater to the needs of the people blindly, rather be
opinionated in leading the mass towards the path of righteousness and establish democratic ideas in
the minds of the masses. Ambedkar’s newspapers focused on highlighting the problems of the
society, which were often quite controversial too. Two of which are - caste violence and communal
conflict. The root of caste violence lay in the existence of a society divided by caste. This was often
expressed exclusively in the writings of the Mooknayak and Bahishkrut Bharat. Ambedkar strongly
put forward the fact that a nationalist consciousness cannot be developed by denying social equality.
He further said that a society that doesn’t allow socialisation of its members due to socio-religious
fragmentation will only be harmful to the unity and the integrity of the nation. These papers have
also criticised the Congress for its lack of concern towards the discrimination of people on the basis
of caste. Not only his newspapers but also his later periodicals effectively questioned the caste
violence and published reports of violence against underprivileged people in that region. Many
editorials written by him were read publicly in the gatherings and where the proof of how much of
an efficient communicator, he was. Ambedkar’s struggle in the print media lasted for a span of four
decades, in which, his time in active journalism was brief as he had a very busy schedule embedded
with political activities and undertaking of various assignments as the member of the Viceroy’s
Council or even as the chairman of the drafting committee. In spite of this, he devoted his time to
the writing and editing of articles for his publications as much as he could. While on tours outside of
India or during the time he attended the Round Table Conference, he would send editorials and
commentaries to be published in his newspapers. However, 1930 onwards, he delegated this task to
some of his colleagues. One other interesting fact to be noted is that Dr.B.R. Ambedkar and M.K.
Gandhi were contemporary journalists. The decade of 1920, saw a rise in the popularity of Gandhi.
He was soon accepted as the people’s leader. By the time Ambedkar was expressing his thoughts
through Mooknayak, Bahishkrut Bharat, Janata, and Prabuddha Bharat, Gandhi was doing the same
though “Young India” in the 1920s and “Harijan” in the 1930s, which is around the same time.
Gandhi has also been regularly mentioned in the Mooknayak and Bahishkrut Bharat. Although
Ambedkar’s editorials have criticized Gandhi for the Non-Cooperation movement, they did praise
him for his courage and leadership and most importantly, he was admired for his stand against social
inequality. Ambedkar’s journalism is said to be the journalism of regeneration and reconstruction. He
professed it in order to unchain the exploited and uplift the excluded. This was evident in the very
titles of the newspapers he established which echoed with his determination to enable social justice
and rejuvenation of the society. According to Ambedkar, the weakening of public reasoning in
journalism shall weaken the foundations of democracy. Ambedkar’s slogan -"Educate, Organize and
Agitate", has been quite popular. In fact, his journalism is based on the principles of Education,
Organization, and Agitation. By giving importance to education and relating it to Organization and
Agitation, he gave rise to a revolutionary idea of social change through effective and constructive
efforts. His editorials conceptualized the idea of social change without the use of violent methods.
His ideals of journalism stand relevant in today’s world.
EMERGENCY AND POST EMERGENCY ERA
The growth and development of press in India has a long history. Press has struggled against
continuous suppresive measures pre-independence as well as post- independence. Freedom fighters,
social reformers and intellectuals helped nurture the press and considerably contributed towards the
development and growth. The tallest stalwarts of the freedom movement like Mahatma Gandhi,
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the social reformers and liberal thinkers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
Surendranath Bannerji and Gopal Krishna Gokahale were themselves editors and pioneers in
establishing well known newspapers. Therefore, the history of journalism has been inextricably
linked with the growth of national consciousness and the progress of freedom movement. In fact,
the press journalism nurtured the national consciousness and freedom movement in the country and
in turn was nurtured by it.
In 1966 Indira Gandhi was first appointed as Prime Minister of India and had emerged as a towering
leader with tremendous popularity. This was also the time when competition in the party was
becoming bitter and polarised. Tensions between the government and judiciary were on the rise with
Supreme Court of India finding many initiatives of the government violating of the Constitution. To
counter this, the Congress party took the position that the stand of the Court was against principles
of democracy and parliamentary supremacy. The Congress also alleged that the Court was a
conservative institution and it was becoming an obstacle in the way of implementing pro-poor
welfare programmes. The parties opposed to the Congress felt that politics was becoming too
personalized and that governmental authority was being converted into personal authority. The split
in the Congress had sharpened the divisions between Indira Gandhi and her opponents.
Can include Bihar and Guj movements, Conflict with judiciary
On 25 June 1975, the government declared that there was a threat of internal disturbances and
therefore, it invoked Article 352 of the Constitution. Under the provision of this article the
government could declare a state of emergency on grounds of external threat or a threat of internal
disturbances. The government decided that a grave crisis had arisen which made the proclamation of
a state of emergency necessary. Technically speaking this was within the powers of the government,
for our Constitution provides for some special powers to the government once an emergency is
declared.
Press censorship during emergency: - After declaring emergency, Indira Gandhi immediately took
control of the press, prohibiting their reporting of all domestic and international news. The
government expelled several foreign correspondents (mainly American and British) and withdrew
accreditation from more than 40 Indian reporters who normally covered the capital. In recent years,
this has probably been the most important development in the life of the Indian press. From the very
beginning of independent India, the Congress Party of India remained in power in one form or
another until March 1977. At the inception of national independence, the country adopted
democratic principles and pronounced India a democratic socialist nation. However, several incidents
that occurred during Indira Gandhi’s reign indicated that the country was drifting away from
parliamentary democracy. The declaration of a national emergency, which is justified under the
Indian Constitution, lasted for about 19 months. The emergency resulted in silencing of all dissenting
voices from the media. It is obvious that, unlike the American Constitution or others in which
freedom of the press is mentioned as one of the fundamental rights, the Indian Constitution doesn’t
specifically mention freedom of the press. However, the fundamental Rights Clause of the Indian
Constitution treats freedom of the press as an integral part of the larger “Freedom of expression.”
Based on the First Amendment Act of 1951, the Indian courts, in the past, have considered press
freedom as a fundamental right. The second part of Article 19 of the Indian Constitution enumerates
limitations on the various types of freedom. It mentions that the “states shall be authorized to make
any law restricting the exercise of the freedom of speech in the interest of the security of the state,
friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, and decency and good conduct.” The states
have also been authorized to restrict press freedom” in order to check slanderous articles and
promotion of disaffection towards or contempt of court.” Indira Gandhi’s government used the
“security of the state” and “promotion of disaffection” as its defense for imposing strict control on
the press. And with the airwaves already under government ownership, Indira Gandhi successfully
controlled the mass communication system in India for over a year and a half. During censorship,
most of the nation’s domestic dailies, however, gave up the battle for press freedom. Their pages
were “filled with fawning accounts of national events, flattering pictures of Gandhi and her ambitious
son, and not coincidentally, lucrative government advertising”. But two tough, prominent publishers
of English language dailies, The Indian Express and The Statesman, fought courageously against
Indira Gandhi’s opposition of the Indian press. Despite some bold fights and stubborn stands taken
up by these publishers, it was quite clear that Indira Gandhi had as strong a grip on the Indian press
as she had on Indian politics, at least during the government- imposed emergency. India, a nation
which had always cherished democratic principles and had admired Mahatma Gandhi‟s ideals of a
democratic society, was quickly set on the road to dictatorship. For Mahatma Gandhi, freedom of the
press was “a dear privilege.”He urged the editors to express their ideas fearlessly: We must devised
methods of circulating our ideas unless and until the whole press becomes fearless, defies
consequences and publishes ideas, even when it is in disagreement with them, just for the purpose
of securing that freedom ... It is a negation of one’s calling for an editor to have suppressed his best
thoughts. However, Indira Gandhi’s call made editors suppress their best thoughts, and for the Indian
mass media, freedom became a matter of history.
METHODS OF PRESS CONTROL: INDIRA’S WAY
Indira Gandhi’s first attempt was to impose “thought control” on the populous. For her, this was to
be effectuated not merely by controlling the Indian mass media but also by molding the media to her
own purpose. It has now become a well-known fact that during the emergency Indira Gandhi had a
firm grip on the Indian mass media. This was especially true since radio and television in India are
government owned and operated; for Indira, there was the simple matter of controlling the
newspapers in order to achieve a total control of the mass media. She used at least three methods in
manipulating the newspapers:
(1) Allocation of government advertising;
(2) Shotgun merger of the news agencies; and
(3) Use of fear-arousal techniques on newspaper publishers, Journalists and individual shareholders.
The Indian newspapers depend a great deal on governmental advertising; without such revenues, it
would be difficult for many Indian newspapers to stay in business. Unfortunately, this has kept many
of them vulnerable to government manipulation. The large scale possibility of such manipulation,
however, was not fully demonstrated until Indira Gandhi‟s government decided to take advantage of
this unique circumstance. In the beginning of censorship, when a few leading newspapers such as
The Indian Express and The Statesman refused to abide the governmental censorship, the
government withdrew its advertising support from these newspapers. Later on, this type of financial
castigation was used on several other rebellious newspapers. The second and perhaps more
profound way of manipulating the news flow resulted from the governmental decision to bring about
a shot-gun merger of the four privately-owned Indian news agencies; the main purpose behind this
merger was to alter the management and control of the Indian news agencies and thus to control
much of the content of the leading newspapers. Since these agencies had been acting as the
gatekeepers of information, it was essential for Indira Gandhi and her Information and Broadcasting
Minister, Mr. V.C. Shukla, to control the gatekeepers. To effect such a merger, the government carried
through various successful tactics. First of all, pressure was put on the members of boards of these
agencies. Then the financial squeeze was applied to the agencies themselves by withholding
governmental subsidy. Thirdly, the government introduced the threat of cutting-off the tele printer
services, the lifelines of a news agency. For example, the government- owned Post and Telegraph
Department ordered to impose a suspension of services to the United News of India if it resisted the
merger. The manipulation of these four news agencies was so effective that hardly a voice was raised
to resist the governmental perfidity. Soon after this, Shukla reported to the Indian parliament that
these four news agencies accepted the merger “voluntarily.” A third and an equally effective method
applied by Indira Gandhi were to use fear-arousal techniques on the newspaper publishers, editors,
reporters and shareholders. Such techniques were imposed by making false charges with regard to
tax arrears, possible reductions in newsprint quotas, imprisonment of publishers and their
immediate families, threats of shutting down the press, and removal of governmental housing and
other facilities for Delhi-based journalists.
In any event, after 19 months of national emergency and the control of the mass
media, Indira Gandhi became so confident of her continued success that she called for a
parliamentary election in March of 1977. Simultaneously, she also removed press censorship. The
results of the national election, however, turned out to be frustrating for Indira Gandhi, her son, as
well as for some of her closest advisers. An overwhelming public outcry against the atrocities of
Indira Gandhi’s regime brought about a coalition government of several small political parties.
