Article | Odia Journalism

Odia Journalism in its Sesquicentennial year

Marching Ahead

Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee

Many historians opine that Madala Panji could be taken as the first instance of journalism in Odisha, as it systematically chronicled events related to Jagannath Temple, Puri in particular and Odisha in general.

Some also believe that Kujibara Patra deserve that distinction. In 1769, the Mahant of Kujibara Math in Choudwar, Sadhu Sundar Das circulated a periodical called the Kujibara Patra. This palm leaf periodical of irregular frequency included homilies on social and religious issues. It also included news items based on political, administrative and socio cultural matters.

However, the birth of print media and its wide circulation in Odisha owe it to the Christian missionaries, who came to Odisha on February 12, 1822 according to the Government Gazette. They established the first printing press at Cuttack in 1837 known as Cuttack Mission Press to print the New Testament and other religious books. By this time, however, development in publication of non-religious, general interest and text books had taken place in other states of India with adoption of Lord Maculay’s educational policy in 1935. Spread of Western education infused a spirit of learning. Odia was adopted as the court language in 1839 after prolonged demand.  All this created an atmosphere conducive to publication of books and periodicals. Cuttack Mission Press brought out the first Odia journals Gyanaruna (1849) and Prabodha Chandrika (January, 1856). Arunodaya, another magazine was published in 1861. Reverend C. Lassey was the editor of Gyanaruna. Some historians believe he was also the editor of Prabodha Chandrika. The editor of Arunodaya was, however, not known.  Their circulation was restricted to Cuttack, which was then the sociopolitical hub of the state. Gyanaruna closed down after few issues but Prabodha Chandrika continued for three years. It was basically a religious-literary magazine, aimed to propagate Christianity, which also contained few news items - from Britain, other states of India and Odisha. Arunodaya also lasted for three years. In 1861 Bodha Dayini was published from Balasore. However, these periodicals were considered to be the missionaries' mouthpiece for propagation of their religion. As a result, they failed to cover the news in real sense and lost their popularity and subsequently their publications were closed.

The first Odia ‘newspaper’, in the real sense, to be published was the weekly Utkal Deepika by Gourishankar Ray on August 4, 1866. Considering this fact, August 4 is celebrated as Odia Journalism Day. Utkal Deepika was born at a time when Odisha was beleaguered with many problems. A devastating famine (Na-anka Durbhikha) was underway, which wiped out one third of the population Odisha. Odia language was under attack. Odia literature needed a strong fillip. The society weighed down by superstitions and badly needed reform. A nationalist movement was slowing taking shape. It was in this critical juncture that Utkal Deepika took birth and it played a very significant role in sociopolitical life of Odisha. It brought the plight of common people to the notice of the concerned authority. It constantly highlighted the impact of the famine and suggested measures that should and could be taken.  It strived for the development of Odia language and literature and protection of Odia interests. It fought for the amalgamation of outlying Odia-speaking areas, which remained scattered under different provincial administrations by launching a vigorous campaign. It tried to engage with people’s issues. It encouraged people to write letters to the paper regarding their problems. Utkal Deepika continued publication till 1936.

With the publication of Utkal Deepika, the journey of journalism began in Odisha. A number of newspapers were published in the last three and half decades of the 19th century, prominent among them were Utkal Dipika, Utkal Patra and Utkal Hiteisini from Cuttack; Utkal Darpan and Sambada Vahika from Balasore, Sambalpur Hiteisini from Deogarh, etc.

In the early part of twentieth century swadeshi movement in Bengal had gained momentum and it had great impact on Orissa’s political and social life. This period was also marked for the spread of journalism in different parts of Orissa and publication of more papers from Ganjam and Cuttack.

The first Oriya Daily Dainik Asha was published from Berhampur in 1928 by Sashibhusan Rath. It was a turning point in the history of Oriya journalism. It demonstrated the power of press in uniting people for a cause- in this case first unification of the outlying Oriya areas under one administration and then freedom movement.

Pandit Gopabandhu Das founded Samaja as a weekly in 1919 to support the cause of freedom struggle of the country. It was made a daily in 1930. Samaja played an important role in freedom movement in Orissa. So did papers like Prajatantra.

Post independence Orissa saw expansion in the media both in number of newspapers and circulation. It also saw an attitudinal change. From being a mission- it slowly began to turn as a profession. It also became a stepping-stone for many to enter politics. Politics and literature has had a very close relation with Oriya journalism. Journalism as a separate, distinct profession with specialized set of skills began to gain ground very slowly after independence. It gained momentum only after 80s.

It was in 1980s that a change swept through Oriya media. As Robin Jeffrey wrote, “Until the 1980s, Oriya newspapers fell starkly into a particular category: they were put out by people of influence to demonstrate and bolster that influence.” Unlike the other states Orissa had a press managed by politicians, and not businessmen.  Some newspapers were run at a loss because their proprietors valued the prestige and leverage within the tiny elite that dominated Orissa politics from the 1930s. Circulation, technology, advertising and profit were not the key considerations of owners; status, influence and ‘education’ were.

But in the 1980s, this began to change. Between 1981 and 1991, daily circulations quadrupled and the proportion of Oriya newspaper readers went from roughly 7 per 1,000 to 22 per 1,000. By 1992, circulation of Oriya newspapers had moved from being the lowest of 12 major languages to being eighth, ahead of Telugu, Kannada, and Punjabi.

Spearheaded by Sambad, a daily launched in 1984, Odia newspaper industry came of age. Photo typesetting and offset printing was introduced. Content, presentation, layout and distribution pattern- everything underwent radical change. This was a turning point in newspaper industry in Odisha. The 1980s also saw rapid rise in Television all over the country including Odisha, which was one of the six states chosen for SITE (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment) in 1975-76.

The nineties and subsequent decades saw more expansion in the media scene with publication of more Oriya dailies and consolidation of the established ones. Several major Oriya dailies also started publishing from more centers in the state, a trend started by Sambad with their first edition from Berhampur in 1990. Almost all major dailies started regularly printing in colour. All of them began to publish several supplements and pull out. Competition for readership began to hot up, which had definite influence on the look and content of newspapers, also on the marketing style and strategy. Private Television and Radio Channels mushroomed. Internet arrived in media world of Odisha by late 1990s.  By mid 2015, Internet had made huge difference in news collection, collation and distribution pattern in Odisha. There are several web-exclusive news portal. There are also Internet enabled particular delivery platform centric news aggregation and distribution outfits. Traditional media like newspaper and radio are reinventing their strong points.

Media in Odisha, as well as in the country are at an exciting cross road. Consider the numbers, relating to Odisha. There are 62 plus daily newspapers, over a dozen 24x7 news channels, 11 AIR stations, 6 Private Radio and 6 Community Radio Stations (CRS), the largest number of CRS among Eastern Indian states. The readership, viewership and number of listeners are rapidly growing, which indicate growing engagement of people with news media.

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22.7.2015

The author, a journalist turned media academician presently heads the Eastern India campus of Indian Institute of Mas Communication (IIMC) located in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He has authored ‘History of Journalism in Odisha’. Its Odia version has been published in January 2015.

He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com

Published in Political and Business Daily, 4 Aug. 2015