The 61-year-old Visalandhra daily maintained the quality of information it provides and has not deviated from its principle of highlighting the problems of the people since its inception, which is a difficult task, Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University G.S.N. Raju said here on Saturday.
The daily would improve its presence in the people since it takes care of their concerns, Prof. Raju said while addressing a meeting organised on the occasion of 61 anniversary of the newspaper.
Editor of Visalandhra K. Srinivasa Reddy said the newspaper came into being during the period when only Andhra area was considered as Telugu area and a need for uniting the Telugu-speaking people was felt.
The paper which was started in Vijayawada was the first to be established in Andhra Pradesh and also first to be started by a cooperative society — the Visalandhra Vignana Samiti.
Talking about journalism and its trends Mr. Srinivasa Reddy said what ever published in a major newspaper should not be considered as truth and that the news published in a small newspaper or a newspaper with not much circulation was not true. “News items published in Visalandhra have been developed into major stories by many major papers”, he said.
Chairman of Visakhapatnam Cooperative Bank and former MLA of CPI Manam Anjaneyulu recalled his association with the newspaper as a sub-editor for four years. It was a difficult period for the newspaper as top journalists like ABK Prasad and Koteswara Rao quit overnight but the newspaper could manage its affairs well, he said.
In-charge of Visalandhra at Visakhapatnam M.V.R. Varma said it was for the first time that the anniversary celebrations of the newspaper were being held at a place other than Hyderabad and Vijayawada. CPI district secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy and secretary of Visalandhra Vignana Samiti B.S.R. Mohan Reddy also spoke.
Members of AP Praja Natya Mandali sang songs about Visalandhra and people’s struggles.
