At a time when newspapers around the world are pulling down the shutters, when new media experiments seem to launch every day, one newspaper is getting closer to its 200th birthday.
On July 1st, Mumbai Samachar , a Gujarati newspaper founded in 1822 by Fardunjee Marzban, a Parsi scholar, completed 195 years of its existence. Maharashtra’s Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the newspaper’s office to congratulate the staff. A weekly at the beginning, Mumbai Samachar turned daily after 10 or 15 years. It is especially favoured by the business community, for its focus on that area.
Nilesh Dave , the paper’s current editor, told The Hindu that the paper had become a national daily, with its circulation in every part of the country where there was a Gujarati community. On its survival for almost 200 years, Mr. Dave said the newspaper always believed in two principles: it had always stayed away from controversy; and it only published authentic news, preferring to publish late to authenticate what it prints.
Mr. Dave says: “We’ve planned to start the editions in 5 cities in the next one year, to connect all the people of the Gujarati community across the nation. We hold many events every year, where our writers and readers meet, so that the writers could actually know what the readers want.”
