Role of Newspapers in Development

This chapter is an intellectual speech delivered by India's tenth President, K.R. Narayanan, on April 8, 1999, at the Diamond Jubilee of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS). A distinguished diplomat and academician, Narayanan held the distinction of being the first Dalit President. In this address he celebrates the history of the Indian press while delivering a pointed critique of how modern journalism must balance commercial success with social responsibility.

The birth of the INS and press freedom

Narayanan congratulates the INS on completing sixty years. Born out of the harsh exigencies of World War II, when newspapers banded together to fight for scarce newsprint, it quickly evolved into a fearless champion of press freedom. He traces this spirit back to the Indian Renaissance, quoting Raja Rammohun Roy, who described the Press as 'the vehicle of intelligence'.

He notes that the press has successfully spread intelligence among the masses, jokingly adding that in the classified sense of 'intelligence', the Indian press often leaks plenty of it.

The supremacy of the printed word

Addressing the anxiety that electronic media will destroy print journalism, Narayanan firmly rejects this fear. He asserts that the printed word will maintain its supremacy because of the soul-stirring communion it demands: unlike a video or oral speech, reading requires active communion between the reader and the page.

When a person reads, their entire physical, intellectual and emotional being reacts to the text, making the printed word a powerful, soul-stirring instrument. He notes that when global thinkers were asked to name the greatest invention of the last two millennia, they chose the printing press over modern electronic devices.

Indian newspaper explosion vs. Western decline

Narayanan highlights a remarkable contrast. In America, a recent audit showed a steady downward trend in newspaper circulation as readers abandoned print for television. In India, by contrast, there has been an unprecedented 'explosion' of newspapers and periodicals.

He attributes this to the role newspapers played as crusading instruments of national liberation during the freedom struggle, and pays tribute to Mr. Mammen Mathew and Malayala Manorama for their heroic crusade for press freedom in Kerala. He notes that vernacular newspapers have now fully come into their own, their circulations vastly exceeding those of English-language dailies.

The danger of trivialization and a call for responsibility

Despite his praise, the President warns of an 'irresistible tendency' to trivialize and commercialize serious national events in order to compete with electronic media. He illustrates this with a striking contrast between two simultaneous events: the Khajuraho Festival, a deeply significant celebration of India's ancient art, architecture and heritage which he inaugurated, and a commercialized New York cat fashion show, where cats were dressed in miniature outfits with trendy crop-cut hairstyles.

He reveals his disappointment that major Indian newspapers splashed colourful pictures of the cat fashion show while completely ignoring the Khajuraho Festival, calling this an 'irresistible tendency to trivialize' that erodes cultural identity. Concluding, he emphasises that newspapers have become the 'staple diet' of the Indian people, and because they hold immense influence over the public mind, he appeals to editors to act with deep social responsibility, cultivating authentic moral values and preserving cultural heritage instead of copying shallow commercial trends.