Morning Messenger of Every Malayali – Malayala Manorama
A newspaper with over 2.3 million daily readers [1] is one of the tops circulating daily in the state of Kerala and in the places over the globe where the Malayalis reside. Once started in a small district named Kottayam in Kerala as a weekly, it now owns 11 printing presses [3] in the state and eight distributed inside and outside the country [4]. In the modern, fast-growing world, this media organization has started online and television channels to bring the news to the users as quickly as possible. Malayala Manorama has helped reform Malayalam alphabets and the style of writing followed across the state.
Malayala Manorama began as a weekly in 1888 during the period of the British in India [11]. This organization was owned by a family group using shares collected by the community. Kandathil Varghese Mappillai and KC Mammen Mapillai, then head of the organization, started printing the papers using a Hopkinson and Cope press imported from London on 14 March 1888 [12][13]. Within a decade, the production became bi-weekly, then tri-weekly [13]. From 1928 onwards, it remained a daily. Due to some controversies in 1938[13], printing had to be stopped as the order of the Diwan at that time. But after the country’s independence, printing restarted, and circulation increased exponentially. The growth of the readers is depicted in the image given above.
Going through the history of the founder KC Mammen Mappila, we know he was an Indian Independence activist [7]. In 1888, there were not enough newspapers to reach people who only knew their native language, Malayalam. In that context of the politically unstable state, it was very relevant to have a newspaper. The same reason inspired him to bring up the organization that helps spread the news in the native language. Kandathil Mapillai, on the other hand, utilized the same medium to nourish and flourish Malayalam literature through the weekly [13]. Conflicts during those days led him to two years of jail time and closure of the press. But after the independence, the press was restored. Down the line, the organization helped reform the old Malayalam alphabet to the current form. Also, standard Malayalam, which we see in literature today, originated from central Kerala (Kottayam). Newspaper media started in the early 1888s, like Deepika or Malayala Manorama took their slang from the same region [11]. Therefore, the standard Malayalam is the form that the newspaper media brought.
Manorama captured this reachability because of the newspaper and additional subsidiaries tailored to the population’s different ages and tastes. The state of Kerala, with 14 states with varying vibrant cultures from north to south, with highly literate people [2]. Each state has its flavor, culture, slags, and interests in politics, religion, and technology. So the media houses must keep a keen eye on the content they deliver to the users. MMCL did this by introducing 13 different editions of the newspaper. Each edition of the paper focuses on the local coverage of the news and, at the same time, gives glims over the neighboring district news. General and international news are delivered along with this without localizing. Other subsidiaries were added down the line to get different people, like Balarama for kids [2].
The first online Malayalam version of the paper was done in 1995; three years later, an English version was released under the name Onmanoram. These websites have continuously improved to support mobile and traveling users. Currently, on the home page, live and prominent news are displayed. As per the interest of the user can surf through different sections of the web page for their content. Each of the news are well categorized and maintained by professionals.
As cable televisions became popular in Kerala in the early 2000s [14], five years later, the MMCL established another subsidiary named Malayala Manorama Television (MMTV). Over seven million users watch the channel daily across the world [15]. The same strategy used for the newspaper to get viewership was followed for the channel allocating different timing to focus on local, general, and global news. In the fast-changing world, people are more inclined to know the news as quickly as possible. Live telecasting of the news became the new normal. This trend in any other news channel in the world is also followed by MMTV.
As time passed, YouTube became a new trend in society. TV at your fingertips was the new sensation. One who couldn’t have time to go home and see the live news can see it through youtube on phones. MMTV started its Youtube live streaming in 2014 [8]. Now there are over eight billion subscribers to the channel [8]. In this dynamic world, one may not find time to see the news at the right time. Revisiting the news in their leisure time became possible with the advent of youtube channels.
In the present times, the world is ruled by data. One who analyses the data, knows their users well, and provides the most customized service will succeed in the business. Customized news is a new trend that we have seen recently. Media houses analyze the comments on other social media platforms and deliver the trending news. MMTV started its Twitter [9], Facebook, and Instagram handles for the same.
There is some cultural inclination that remained to date from the beginning. As with any other news media in India, a significant portion of the news in the media remains politics and sports. However, the founding family and the organization have remained true to their roots throughout. Most of the time, the government had to react to the news being broadcasted through this channel in their favor due to the large viewer base and the inclination [5].
We have seen how the news organization has evolved from an essential printing medium to a customized digital news-selling organization. Lending the quote from Marshal MacLuhan, we see the medium becoming the message. It has massaged the users with what they want and changed their perspective of the world. News media has involuntarily enforced the standard and tone of the government’s language, literature, interest, emotions, and direction as it progresses.
Word Count – 1288
References:
- “Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) (January-June 2013)” (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on Jul – Dec 2019. http://www.auditbureau.org/files/JJ%202022%20Highest%20Circulated%20(across%20languages).pdf.
- Who owns your media: How Malayala Manorama struggled with a steep fall in ad revenues: https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/07/21/who-owns-your-media-how-malayala-manorama-struggled-with-a-steep-fall-in-ad-revenues.
- Malayala Manorama,outside India and online editions: https://www.printweek.in/Features/newspaper-notes-millennium-25342#:~:text=Established%20in%201888%2C%20Malayala%20Manorama,outside%20India%20and%20online%20editions
- Malayala Manorama to come up with more editions in Kerala – Exchange4media: https://www.exchange4media.com/media-print-news/malayala-manorama-to-come-up-with-more-editions-in-kerala-25151.html
- Malayalam language: Is Malayala Manorama politically biased?: https://www.quora.com/Malayalam-language-Is-Malayala-Manorama-politically-biased
- Manorama News Youtube https://www.youtube.com/@manoramanews/about
- Manorama News Twitter https://twitter.com/manoramanews
- 22nd March 1890 Newspaper – Source:https://indianjournalismreview.com/2014/03/13/the-quasquicentennial-of-malayala-manorama/
- Robin Jeffrey. India’s Newspaper Revolution: Capitalism, Politics and the Indian-language Press, 1977-99 C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000.
- The Rise Of Cable – encyclopedia.com. Television https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/rise-cable-television
- Advertising in Manorama News: https://www.excellentpublicity.com/television/manorama-news
