The Free Press Journal
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![]() Front page of the Mumbai edition of The Free Press Journal (1 June 2012) | |
Type | Daily Newspaper |
---|---|
Format | Broadsheet |
Publisher | Indian National Press |
Editor-in-chief | G. L. Lakhotia |
Associate editor | S. S. Dhawan |
Founded | 1928 [1] |
Language | English |
Headquarters | Free Press House, Free Press Journal Marg, 215, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021 |
Circulation | 154,000 |
Sister newspapers | Navshakti |
Website | www |
The Free Press Journal is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a supporter of the Independence movement. It is published in Mumbai, India.
History[]
The Free Press Journal is one of the oldest English daily newspapers. Established in 1928 by S. Sadanand, The Free Press Journal is the first Indian-owned English daily newspaper published from Mumbai. The newspaper has been in forefront in ferociously raising India’s voice during the freedom movement, by covering all important events such as the Quit India Movement of 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in India and also the Royal Indian Navy mutiny or revolt, also called the 1946 Naval Uprising.
During the early days of its existence the newspaper had to face the wrath of the British Empire, who harassed the paper, wherever it could by seizing the machines, cutting of power supply and arresting the founder editor S. Sadanand several times using the draconian Criminal Amendment Act for daring to publish freedom struggle news that the British thought amounted to sedition. The publication was suspended several times by the British authorities under the infamous Press Act, which gave the rulers blanket power to seize any press or forfeit any publication. Despite all the strong-arm tactics used by the authorities, The Free Press Journal continued its interrupted publication for more than 9 decades.
The Free Press Journal was also the first Indian entity to establish its own news agency “Free Press of India”, which had presence in many counties. It established offices in London, Cairo and New York and engaged top newsmen in several countries.
Post-Independence, The Free Press Journal was the first to cover all important historical events from the 'Tryst with Destiny' midnight speech of the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Partition of India, 1948, 1965, 1971 and Kargil Wars with Pakistan, 1962 war with China, Emergency, Economic Liberalisation etc. The Free Press Journal continuously strives to provide authentic and unbiased news to its readers till date and does not have any affiliation with a political party or business house.
Notable former employees[]
The Free Press Journal, was the first newspaper to publish a full-page devoted to sports edited by the legendary A.F.S. Talyarkhan, popularly known as Bobby Talyarkhan, who was the pioneer in sports journalism in India. Another first to The Free Press Journal’s credit is a full-page dedicated to Business news, started by Shanti Lal Shah. The Free Press was also the first newspaper to offer an open platform to cartoonists. The world-renowned cartoonists like R.K. Laxman, Balasaheb Thackeray, Shankar and Kutty adorned its desk. The veritable who’s who of Indian journalism have worked with the publication, S. Sadanand, Dom Moraes, S. Natarajan, T.J.S. George, M.V. Kamath, Rajat Sharma, M.J. Akbar, S.A. Sabavala, Ashok Mehta, Janardhan Thakur, A Hariharan, K Srinivasan and many more.
Support to Jewish refugee medical doctors[]
It supported the practice rights of Jewish doctors who had taken refuge in Mumbai fleeing persecution in Germany, in the 1930s. Indian doctors opposed their right to practice claiming that Germany did not have reciprocal arrangements for Indian doctors. The Free Press Journal argued that this was against the "ancient Indian traditions of affording shelter from persecution".[2]
Circulation and Outreach[]
At present, in terms of circulation, The Free Press Journal is the 3rd largest publication in the city of Mumbai. We also have strong readership base, in the state of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, where it is published simultaneously from Mumbai, Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain. The newspaper has a strong network of correspondents in major cities like New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Lucknow, Kolkata, Patna, Bhopal, among other cities, who work tirelessly in timely updating the news from their respective states.
The Free Press Journal is also available online on Free Press Journal with a large viewership base. During the pandemic COVID 19 and subsequent lockdown in the country, the citizens were facing difficulty in receiving the authenticated news from the print media as the delivery of newspapers at the door step of readers was restricted. Our dedicated team of reporters played an important role in constantly updating the news on our portal. Further, when most of the publications restricted free access to electronic version of their newspapers, we were the only one to provide free access to copies of our ePaper to everyone.
To further expand its reach, the Free Press Journal teamed up with popular Mobile Apps like PayTm, Jionews, PhonePe and MyGate, wherein millions of Mobile users of these Apps on their devices could download the newspaper and keep them abreast of news. We also joined hands with Business organisations like IMC, and educational institutes such as IIM-Indore, IIT-Indore, ICSI, ITM and many others, wherein students and employees of these institutions are getting PDF copies of our newspapers daily through e-mail and WhatsApp. During the lockdown, our ePaper witnessed the phenomenal growth in terms of direct downloads from our website.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "Website showing 1928 written beneath "The Free Press Journal"". Free Press Journal. Free Press Journal. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ Joan G. Roland (1998). The Jewish communities of India: identity in a colonial era. Transaction Publishers. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-7658-0439-6.
- ^ Details about The Free Press Journal
External links[]
- 1930 establishments in India
- Indian news websites
- English-language newspapers published in India
- National newspapers published in India
- Newspapers published in Mumbai
- Newspapers established in 1930