NEW TRENDS IN MODERN TELUGU LITERATURE AND PRESS:
A RETROSPECTIVE
“Journalism is literature in a hurry”
-S.T.Coleridge.
Telugu literature and Journalism go hand in hand. Many Journalists were writers and thus penned great works and several writers were Journalists too…
The earliest Telugu journals, like in several other languages, were promoted by the missionaries and were mostly intended for religious propaganda. The first Telugu journal, a monthly, titled Satya Doota was published from Bellary in 1835. Printed in Madras (now Chennai) it concentrated on propagating the gospel of Christ. Several such journals were published subsequently. The Hitavadi, which was published weekly, ceased to exist after a few years. The Canadian Baptist Mission published the weekly Ravi from Kakinada, giving space to news as well as religious matters. Rao Bahadur K. Veeresalingam Pantulu, scholar, educationist and social reformer, made a beginning in Telugu Journalism with his weekly, the Vivekavardhani, devoted to social and language reform. A competing paper was the Andhrabhasha Sanjivini, edited by Venkataratnam Pantulu, also a scholar and socio-religious leader. These two papers carried on a lively controversy on the common subjects in which they were interested.
ANDHRA PATRIKA: THE BEGINNING:
The first Telugu news weekly Andhra Prakasika was published in 1886 by A.P. Parathasarathi Naidu from Madras (now Chennai). It supported the National Congress. It continued for 25 years after which it was converted into a bi-weekly and again into a weekly. It ceased publication in the late twenties of the 20th Century. Telugu journalism played an important role in unification of Telugu-speaking areas and the formation of a separate province of Andhra Pradesh, a dream which materialised long after independence in 1956.1 Sasilekha (1894) was the first weekly to campaign for this. From the late 18th Century, the bulk of the Telugu area remained under the composite Madras Presidency and the remaining part in the Nizam’s territory. It was because of this that for a long time Madras remained the centre of Telugu journalism. The credit for starting a Telugu daily paper goes to Devagupta Seshachairao who started the Desabhimani, first as a fortnightly, then as a daily newspaper in the last decade of the 20th Century.
At about this time, a controversy arose between the champions of literary Telugu and simple popular versions of the language The Andhra Sahitya Parishad Patrika published by the Parishad in 1911 took the cause of simple Telugu. The foundations of modern Telugu were, however, laid in the journal Janata published and edited by Viswanadha Satyanarayanana and Ramakoteswara Rao. Andhra’s first successful daily paper the Andhra Patrika, that is still published, was started as a weekly from Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1908 by K. Nageswara Rao Pantulu. He was a businessman, who sold pain balm. Patriotic instinct led him into journalism.2 He moved the weekly to Madras in 1914 and after a few years, converted it into a daily. The Andhra Patrika acquired its form and character under the editorship of Seshagiri Rao. After his death, Nageswara Rao himself took over the editorship. He favoured sober advocacy of the Andhra cause. The daily and the weekly as well as the monthly Bharati, started in the late 1920s, became an institution widely patronised by the Telugu-reading public. The paper was dominant in spreading Gandhiji’s ideals in the nooks and corners of Andhra. After the death of Nageswara Rao in 1938, the Patrika was managed by a trust. It shifted to Vijaywada in 1965 after Andhra province was formed. Later it started publishing from Hyderabad too. A popular rival of Andhra Patrika was the Andhra Prabha, first published in 1938 by the Express Group. Its first editor was Khasa Subba Rao. N. Narayanamurti followed him as the editor.
Narala Venkateswara Rao was the most famous editor of Andhra Prabha, who set a high benchmark for Telugu journalism. A versatile and well-read person, Rao, besides playing a vital role in shaping public opinion on several pressing national and regional issues, also coined scientific Telugu terminology. He loved his freedom. He resigned from the Andhra Prabha and became the editor of Andhra Jyoti, which was started in 1960 in Vijaywada. In Telugu language, interestingly, weekly papers by and large fared well both in terms of circulation and the quality of content than the dailies. The Krishna Patrika started in 1902 by Konda Venkatappayya and Dasu Narayana Rao and edited later by M. Krishna Rao and K. Ramakoteswara Rao espoused the Telugu cause. A weekly titled Zamin Ryot was published from Nellore Andhra Pradesh in 1930. It espoused the cause of the zamindari system abolition. In fact, it was an offspring of this movement in India. The stalwarts of the Freedom Movement, including Mahatma Gandhi, N.G. Ranga, Biswanathadas Mahoopadyaaya and Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu had acknowledged the contribution of Zamin Ryot in the abolition of Zamindari System in India. The weekly is still being published, becoming one of the oldest surviving Telugu publication. Among the other successful weeklies were the Prajamitra. Anandavani, Janavani, Prajabandhu, and Swatantra once edited by the legendary Khasa Subba Rao. The formation of the Andhra Pradesh state in 1953 gave a fillip to Telugu journalism. Four dailies which were started at around this time were: Andhra Janata (from Hyderabad), Andhra Bhoomi, Rajahmundry Samacharam (Rajahmundry) and Vishalandhra (Vijaywada). However, it was the daily Eenadu that brought about a new surge of dynamism in Telugu journalism. It was launched in Visakhapatnam on August 10, 1974, and a year later in Hyderabad. C.V. Ramoji Rao, the publisher of Eenadu, single-handedly changed the way journalism was practised in the Telugu media. He made journalism a vehicle of the masses, with need-based content, racy language and attractive layout. Telugu people adored it and it grew at a phenomenal speed. Ramoji Rao began to expand his operations. He started another edition of Eenadu from Vijaywada in 1978, Tirupati in 1982, Anantapur in 1991 and Karimnagar and Rajamundry in 1992. By mid 2011, it was published simultaneously from 23 printing centres and its circulation was over 17 lakh (1701145 copies according to ABC Jan-June 2011 figures) a day, making it one of the largest circulated newspaper in the country.3 Ramoji Rao established ETV and expanded it as a national network comprising multi language channels. Vaartha, a daily newspaper was published in 1993 by the Sanghi group. Telugu newspapers, like in other states, went for multiple and multi-location editions in a big way. Andhra Jyoti, which was first published in Vijaywada in 1960, started editions in Hyderabad (1986), Tirupati (1987) and Visakhapatnam (1991). Andhra Prabha of the India Express group, which played an important role in freedom movement spread out from its base in Vijayawada to Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, and even outside Andhra Pradesh to Bangalore and Madras to serve the Telugu speaking people there. By the new millennium, many Telugu newspapers were being published from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and other places. The trend of newspapers venturing into other publications and media and gradually becoming a multi ‘product’ media house started with Telugu papers too. Almost all the big newspapers started sister publications and began to venture into other media such as television, radio, film production, book publishing, etc. Eenadu started a farmer’s monthly, the Annadata, and two literary monthly publications, Chatura and Vipuala. It also published an English daily, the Newstime from Hyderabad but it could not survive for long. Andhra Jyoti published a weekly and children’s monthly called Bala Jyoti. Andhra Bhoomi published a weekly titled Sachitra Vara Patrika. According to the RNI 2007-08 figures, there were 2168 Telugu newspapers in the country, including 405 dailies, 372 weeklies, 340 fortnightlies and 971 monthlies. As per the IRS Q-2, 2011 results, the top five Telegu daily newspapers in terms of readership were Eenadu (Readership: 59.5 lakh), Sakshi (50.56 lakh), Andhra Jyothi (21.1 lakh), Vartha (3.44 lakh) and Andhra Bhoomi (2.53 lakh). Radio and television By mid 2011, Andhra Pradesh had about 20 AIR stations and over 20 private radio stations including Red FM, Big FM, Radio City, Radio Mirchi and Visakha FM. There were four campus radio stations, including Bishnu FM (Campus Radio of Shri Vishnu Engineering College for Women, Bhimavaram in West Godavari District), Bol Hyderabad (Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad), Sri Venkateswara Oriental College Radio at Tirupati and Gyan Vani. There were two community radio stations: Deccan Radio, Hyderabad and Sangham Radio in Medak district (run by Deccan Development Society) By mid 2011, Andhra Pradesh enjoyed wide television coverage both in terms of geographical coverage, audience and number of channels. The Doordarshan Telugu channel Saptagiri was the first TV channel launched in Hyderabad in the early 1970s. By 2011, Doordarshan transmitted two terrestrial television channels and one satellite channel from Hyderabad. Many private regional television channels began broadcasting from the early 1980s. Among the major Telugu television satellite channels broadcast from Hyderabad were: DD-Saptagiri, ETV Telugu, ETV2, Gemini TV, Teja TV, Maa TV, APtv, ATV, Vissa TV, Raj News, TV9, Sakshi TV, Zee Telugu, HMTV, Studio N, I News, Gemini News, NTV, TV5 (India), Channel 4 HyTV, Jagruti News, ABN Andhrajyothi, T news (Telangana news channel), etc. Telugu media has taken to the web medium in a big way. Several newspapers have their e-paper edition. The Eenadu first started e-paper edition. Presently almost all the major papers including Andhra Jyothy, Vaartha, Sakshi have e-paper editions. By mid 2013, there were a number of Telugu-people centric stand-alone news sites. (The author, a journalist-turned-media academician, presently heads the Eastern India campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication located in Dhenkanal, Odisha. This article is the seventh in a series on the history of regional language journalism in India. The ones on Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Tamil journalism have appeared in previous issues.) October-December 2013
According to the RNI 2007-08 figures, there were 2168 Telugu newspapers in the country, including 405 dailies, 372 weeklies, 340 fortnightlies and 971 monthlies. As per the IRS Q-2, 2011 results, the top five Telegu daily newspapers in terms of readership were Eenadu (Readership: 59.5 lakh), Sakshi (50.56 lakh), Andhra Jyothi (21.1 lakh), Vartha (3.44 lakh) and Andhra Bhoomi (2.53 lakh). Radio and television By mid 2011, Andhra Pradesh had about 20 AIR stations and over 20 private radio stations including Red FM, Big FM, Radio City, Radio Mirchi and Visakha FM. There were four campus radio stations, including Bishnu FM (Campus Radio of Shri Vishnu Engineering College for Women, Bhimavaram in West Godavari District), Bol Hyderabad (Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad), Sri Venkateswara Oriental College Radio at Tirupati and Gyan Vani. There were two community radio stations: Deccan Radio, Hyderabad and Sangham Radio in Medak district (run by Deccan Development Society) By mid 2011, Andhra Pradesh enjoyed wide television coverage both in terms of geographical coverage, audience and number of channels. The Doordarshan Telugu channel Saptagiri was the first TV channel launched in Hyderabad in the early 1970s. By 2011, Doordarshan transmitted two terrestrial television channels and one satellite channel from Hyderabad. Many private regional television channels began broadcasting from the early 1980s. Among the major Telugu television satellite channels broadcast from Hyderabad were: DD-Saptagiri, ETV Telugu, ETV2, Gemini TV, Teja TV, Maa TV, APtv, ATV, Vissa TV, Raj News, TV9, Sakshi TV, Zee Telugu, HMTV, Studio N, I News, Gemini News, NTV, TV5 (India), Channel 4 HyTV, Jagruti News, ABN Andhrajyothi, T news (Telangana news channel), etc. Telugu media has taken to the web medium in a big way. Several newspapers have their e-paper edition.
The Eenadu first started e-paper edition. Presently almost all the major papers including Andhra Jyothy, Vaartha, Sakshi , Prajashaki, Vishalandhra and even some small dailies like Satyam (eveninger-Srikakulam) are hainvingve e-paper editions. By mid 2013, there were a number of Telugu-people centric stand-alone news sites. (The author, a journalist-turned-media academician, presently heads the Eastern India campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication located in Dhenkanal, Odisha. This article is the seventh in a series on the history of regional language journalism in India. The ones on Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Tamil journalism have appeared in previous issues.)
By mid 2011, Andhra Pradesh had about 20 AIR stations and over 20 private radio stations including Red FM, Big FM, Radio City, Radio Mirchi and Visakha FM. There were four campus radio stations, including Bishnu FM (Campus Radio of Shri Vishnu Engineering College for Women, Bhimavaram in West Godavari District), Bol Hyderabad (Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad), Sri Venkateswara Oriental College Radio at Tirupati and Gyan Vani. There were two community radio stations: Deccan Radio, Hyderabad and Sangham Radio in Medak district (run by Deccan Development Society) By mid 2011, Andhra Pradesh enjoyed wide television coverage both in terms of geographical coverage, audience and number of channels. The Doordarshan Telugu channel Saptagiri was the first TV channel launched in Hyderabad in the early 1970s. By 2011, Doordarshan transmitted two terrestrial television channels and one satellite channel from Hyderabad. Many private regional television channels began broadcasting from the early 1980s. Among the major Telugu television satellite channels broadcast from Hyderabad were: DD-Saptagiri, ETV Telugu, ETV2, Gemini TV, Teja TV, Maa TV, APtv, ATV, Vissa TV, Raj News, TV9, Sakshi TV, Zee Telugu, HMTV, Studio N, I News, Gemini News, NTV, TV5 (India), Channel 4 HyTV, Jagruti News, ABN Andhrajyothi, T news (Telangana news channel), etc. Telugu media has taken to the web medium in a big way. Several newspapers have their e-paper edition. The Eenadu first started e-paper edition. Presently almost all the major papers including Andhra Jyothy, Vaartha, Sakshi have e-paper editions. By mid 2013, there were a number of Telugu-people centric stand.
Over the last century writing in Telugu had moved from a grandhikam ( traditional) to a simpler one referred to as vyavahaarika bhasha (write as you speak/colloquial language). This had been largely due to the efforts of people like Gidugu Ramamurthy Pantulu, Gurajada and other towering personalities in Combined Andhra Pradesh.
, Gidugu Ramamurhty garu who was one of the pioneers of the principle of utilizing commonly spoken language for his written work from the early 20th century. This became more pronounced after 1947 – regional literature began to carve a place for itself after India attained political independence. Since then, magazines and books have used language that is easy to understand. Therefore, contemporary Telugu books (of any genre) and other literary publications such as journals and magazines are rarely penned in a high flown language.
It is interesting and important to note that there is a key point being raised about current writing in Telugu. This is about the emergence of literature (over the last ten years) in dialects that are specific to certain districts or locations in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Referred to as maandalikam (regionalism), this type of writing tends to bring various social issues, cultural traditions and other local aspects to the forefront and may gain acceptance and popularity with persons who hail from those places. All the same, such work might not be easily understood by people in other areas in the state owing to the distinctions in socio-cultural practices as well as Telugu idioms, linguistic usages et al. For example, Naamini Subrahmanyam Naidu who had been writing in the widely spoken language of Telugu (with or without specific dialectic and other influences), has used the dialect of the Rayalaseema region in his novel Munikannadi Sejhyam. This is one of the books that has contributed to the ongoing debate on whether maandalikam will prevail in the future, or vyavahaarika bhasha. The language spoken in Telangana is different from Rayalaseema and the language used in Andhra Pradesh differs from the language of Telangana and Rayalaseema. Also there is a difference of language used in Coastal Andhra and the remaining Andhra Pradesh places.
Some Newspapers like, Eeenadu used colloquial language and attracted the readers. While some kind of experimentation in the manner and subject of writing is welcome and perhaps necessary, it must transcend regionalism so that everyone understands what is being conveyed. But at present, the argument regarding dialect and area specific writing is being pulled in different directions.
However, Newspapers like, ANDHRA PRABHA usedGrandhika Bhasha for long. EENADU started using Prajala Bhasha. In journalism, we believe, “ Write as you speak”, is paramount important when writing news or reporting an event.
This has been highly popularized by media experts, Sh.Narla and Sh.ABK Prasad. Later a writer cum journalist, KNY Pathanjali popularized the colloquial language and he ran an eveninger from Visakhapatnam before joining Saxi daily(many are unaware about this). Thus writers and journalists and journalists cum writers influenced the Telugu journalism and media in Andhra (Combined).
Dr.GKRao,IIS, Ph.D.(Journalism-AU), PGDIL,SPGDIS, DIH.,
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