Hicky’s Bengal Gazette was the south-Asian country’s first newspaper, started in 1780 under colonial rule. This led to the establishment of other newspaper houses, which covered news of the British Raj. The oldest Asian newspaper is the Bombay Samachar which still prints in Gujarati. What was about 200 dailies published post-independence now amounts to over a 100,000 registered newspapers and periodicals as of 2015 according to the Registrar of Newspapers for India.
The most popular daily in the country is Dainik Jagran, published in Hindi. Among English speaking Indians, The Times of India had the highest average readership in 2017. Regional publications which are read avidly include Malayalam Manorama, Daily Thanthi in Tamil, and Eenadu in Telugu.
Increasing literacy and the optimistic Digital India initiative are catalysts to the news industry in the country. While the young population embraces news on their screens, the shortcomings of a dramatized news coverage and an inadequate internet infrastructure will not compete with print news anytime soon. With publishers keeping subscription costs low and providing news with clarity and credibility, the Indian print market sees growth in the years to come, providing steady employment to everyone in the business, including the paperwallahs (scrap paper dealers).
