{"id":2138,"date":"2023-08-07T23:14:32","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T17:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/?page_id=2138"},"modified":"2023-08-10T15:53:24","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T10:23:24","slug":"saumyadeep-feature","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/saumyadeep-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature Post – Saumyadeep"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Brief History on India\u2019s Oldest Regional Newspaper: The Legendary Anandabazar Patrika<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Newspaper is an integral part of Indian life. Various newspapers starting from English-written to the vernacular, dominated the market in India from 1779 onwards. Each newspaper\u00a0has its own distinctive quality regarding the quality and type of news it publishes.<\/p>\n

Anandabazar\u00a0<\/em>Patrika<\/em> is one such newspaper that dominates the market of West Bengal. One of the oldest\u00a0published in India, the Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> (now a part of the ABP Group), has shown its\u00a0influence in shaping the mainline Bengali thought and opinion for more than nine decades,\u00a0with its successful campaign Anandabazar ki bollo? (What does Anandabazar say?) [1]<\/p>\n

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Figure 1: <\/strong>Anandabazar Patrika<\/em>: Informing the masses since 1876 and a perfect blend for tradition and modernity. [1]<\/p>\n

Patriotic Beginning:<\/strong>
\nThe newspaper has a colourful beginning. It was first started by Sisir Kumar Ghosh and\u00a0Tusharkanti Ghosh (father-son duo) in 1876 in a small village, Magura, in Jessore district, now\u00a0in Bangladesh. The newspaper was named after Tusharkanti’s grandmother’s sister
\nAnandamoyee. Initially, the paper did not do well and stopped publishing after a few\u00a0publications.\u00a0[2]<\/p>\n

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Figure 2:<\/strong> Pioneer of Anandabazar Patrika: Sisir Kumar Ghosh (left) and Tusharkanti\u00a0Ghosh (right). [2]<\/p>\n

It was around 1922 when the newspaper came back again with the help of Prafulla Sarkar\u00a0and Suresh Majumder, both of them were the journalists as well as the editors of newspaper. It\u00a0first appeared publicly on the evening of 13th March 1922 under their ownership on a festive\u00a0day of Holi intentionally. The paper had four pages having a cost of 2 paise with a remarkable\u00a0selling of 1000 copies. [3]<\/p>\n

Some lines in the paper were printed in red colour. The red colour always being a symbol of\u00a0\u2018danger signal\u2019, was the main thought to use it as a medium of fear. The paper was marked\u00a0with a strong sense of love for the country. The dual purpose of using the words \u2018Bande
\nMataram\u2019 on the paper were, working in favour of Indian Independence from the hands of\u00a0British domination and working for the development of the nation after being self-dependent.\u00a0The paper had to face the aggressive red eye of the British Government. They tried to ban the\u00a0newspaper by putting the editors, journalists and other associated persons into jail for long\u00a0duration from 1922 to 1947 for taking sides of Indian citizens.\u00a0[4]<\/p>\n

The formidable paper increased its number of pages from four to six including several\u00a0cartoons and characters. From 1923 onwards the paper turned into a daily morning newspaper\u00a0and also launched new editions twice a week for the appreciators.\u00a0[4]<\/p>\n

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Figure 3<\/strong>: First publication of Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> (13 March 1922). [5]<\/p>\n

The newspaper started gaining immense popularity among Bengali people more than any\u00a0other newspaper in terms of circulation. [5]<\/p>\n

Some years later, in 1931, the newspaper was forced to stop its publications for several months\u00a0by a press authority under British using a Draconian Law called Vernacular Press Act to curtail\u00a0criticism of government in local language press. But the paper always showed their never-give\u00a0up attitude and came back with more powerful zeal than before. Anandabazar Patrika covered\u00a0the devastating earthquake of Bihar with authentic pictures which occurred in 1934.\u00a0Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> was the first ever and only Indian regional newspaper to take the
\ncoverage of Berlin Olympics of 1936 with its own journalists and reporters live from the place\u00a0it took place. After 1996, this Indian newspaper again proved itself to be the only one to send\u00a0their reporters and journalists to Stockholm to make a coverage and report on Amartya Sen\u2019s
\nNobel Prize ceremony. Apart from these events, the newspaper was also said to be the first to\u00a0help the Indians to know about the fearless escape of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in 1941.\u00a0Lord Mountbatten expressed his gratitude towards this newspaper for reporting Gandhiji\u2019s
\nassassination as \u201cgreatest homage to the Mahatma\u201d in 1948.\u00a0[5]<\/p>\n

According to the report of the Commission of Press, Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> had become a giant in terms of the circulation of newspapers from a single venue throughout the country. Anandabazar Patrika<\/em>\u00a0occupied a significant amount of space within the heart of the majority of Bengalis and\u00a0become an undivided soul of Bengali cultures and traditions. It was around 1992 that the newspaper\u00a0gained more popularity as it introduced the district pages that cover the particular news related\u00a0to that district. The newspaper also brought several magazines into the limelight. Some of them\u00a0are, Businessworld<\/em> (sold out in 2013), Sunday<\/em> (not functioning at\u00a0present), Sportsworld<\/em> (handed over to Sportstar later on) and Anandalok<\/em> (a magazine for\u00a0celebrities, their lifestyle and others). In the same year, two more newspapers were brought by the Patrika<\/em>, namely, The Telegraph<\/em> and The Business Standard<\/em>. The newspaper also started an online version from 2001 onwards, which is still adored by Bengalis throughout the world. [5]<\/p>\n

Several Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The newspaper was technologically advanced in terms of printing even then. It is one of the\u00a0first newspapers in the country that introduced full offset printing and a modular layout for its\u00a0content. It also pioneered the blueprint of the Bengali linotype, which gave rise to the first
\n\u2018Bengali and Hindi typewriter. Later, the Patrika\u00a0<\/em>played an important role in introducing\u00a0Bengali characters in word processing without manipulating the language to fit the software.\u00a0This preceded Microsoft\u2019s Unicode by almost a decade. [5]<\/p>\n

Dominating The Market:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since its initiation, the newspaper has dominated the market of Bengali newspapers. Even\u00a0though the newspaper is considered expensive in comparison to other newspaper like\u00a0Bartaman<\/em> or Sambad<\/em>, in terms of circulation and advertising and popularity, no other\u00a0newspaper has reached its level. According to some reports, the newspaper market is\u00a0estimated to be more than \u20b9900 crores.\u00a0[5]<\/p>\n

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Figure 4<\/strong>: Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> completed its 100th anniversary on 13 March 2022. [5]<\/p>\n

Ownership Structure:<\/strong>
\nThe ownership of paper is controlled by ABP Private Limited which in turn is controlled by the\u00a0Sarkar family. Aveek Kumar Sarkar, the Editor Emeritus and the vice chairman of the ABP\u00a0Group of Publications, who is also the grandson of Prafulla Kumar Sarkar is the current
\nowner of the newspaper. He was described as \u201cIndia\u2019s most sophisticated newspaper\u00a0proprietor\u201d by Nicholas Coleridge, the author of Paper Tigers<\/em>. He further describes him as \u201ca\u00a0man of impeccable tastes and choices from the food he has to his wardrobe\u201d. [5]<\/p>\n

According to Media Ownership Monitor, Aveek Kumar Sarkar holds 19.5% of the share while\u00a0Arup Sarkar, Atideb Sarkar and Shithi Sarkar each also holds 19.5 of the total share. The\u00a0remaining 21.9% share is held by ABP Holding Private Limited. The share is divided equally\u00a0at a rate 25% among Aveek Kumar Sarkar, Atideb Sarkar, Shithi Sarkar and Arup Sarkar.\u00a0Therefore, the Sarkar family holds total of 99.99% share of ABP Private Limited.\u00a0[5]<\/p>\n

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Figure 5<\/strong>: Aveek Kumar Sarkar, the Vice-chairman of ABP Group of publications as well as\u00a0the director of ABP News Network Private Limited (left) and his nephew Atideb Sarkar, the\u00a0Executive Director of ANN Pvt. Ltd. (right). [5]<\/p>\n

List of Editors:<\/strong>
\nBelow is the list containing all the name of those persons who took the responsibility of editorship of this 100 years old newspaper. [5]<\/p>\n

Prafulla Kumar Sarkar (1 June 1922 – 6 October 1923)<\/p>\n

Satyendranath Majumder (7 October 1923 – 31 October 1930)<\/p>\n

Makhanlal Sen (1 November 1930 – 26 November 1930)<\/p>\n

Bankim Chandra Sen (27 November 1930 – 10 June 1931)<\/p>\n

Satyendranath Majumder (11 Jun 1931 – 6 January 1941)<\/p>\n

Prafulla Kumar Sarkar (7 January 1941 – 14 April 1944)<\/p>\n

Chapalakanto Bhattacharya (16 April 1944 – 24 June 1954)<\/p>\n

Nalini Kishor Guha (25 June 1954 – 3 October 1954)<\/p>\n

Chapalakanto Bhattacharya (4 October 1954 – 31 January 1959)<\/p>\n

Ashok Kumar Sarkar (1 February 1959 – 17 February 1983)<\/p>\n

Aveek Kumar Sarkar (18 February 1983 – 22 June 2016)<\/p>\n

Anirban Chattopadhyay (23 June 2016 – 31 May 2020)<\/p>\n

Ishani Dutta Ray (1 June 2020 – Present)<\/p>\n

The Bengali community contributed much to the long running of Anandabazar Patrika<\/em>. Later on,\u00a0the love and affection for this newspaper crossed the boundary of Bengal culture and is now\u00a0accepted and admired nationally as well as internationally. [5]<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. History of Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> Newspaper | Newspaper Advertising Encyclopedia. 31\u00a0May 2020.<\/p>\n

2. Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> . http:\/\/india.mom-gmr.org\/en\/media\/detail\/outlet\/anandabazar-patrika\/.<\/p>\n

3. \u201cAnandabazar Patrika<\/em> : Informing the Masses since 1876.\u201d BLoC, 29 June 2018.<\/p>\n

4. \u201cAnandabazar Patrika<\/em> : A Perfect Blend of Tradition and Modernity.\u201d Communication\u00a0Today<\/em>, 20 Sept. 2014.<\/p>\n

5. “A Hundred Years of Anandabazar Patrika<\/em> : In Black and White and\u00a0Red.”\u00a0Business Standard<\/em>, 22 Mar. 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Brief History on India\u2019s Oldest Regional Newspaper: The Legendary Anandabazar Patrika Introduction: Newspaper is an integral part of Indian life. Various newspapers starting from English-written to the vernacular, dominated the market in India from 1779 onwards. Each newspaper\u00a0has its own distinctive quality regarding the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2138","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2138"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2138"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2469,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2138\/revisions\/2469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}