The Hindu — A Journey of Journalism Excellence Spanning Over 145 Years
Started back in September 1878 in Madras (now Chennai) as a weekly newspaper, The Hindu became a daily In 1889, and from then, it has been witnessing steady growth in its majority of business operations — be it printing or e-paper — The Hindu is known for its reliable and balanced editorials. Commenced by four law students and two teachers — T. Rangacharya, P. V. Rangacharya, D. Kesava Rao Pantulu, and N. Subba Rao Pantulu, under the leadership of G. Subramania Iyer and M. Veeraraghavachariar.
The Hindu, in 1905, was purchased by S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, who took several initiatives to turn this newspaper into a voice for Independence from British Rule. By 1921, Mahatma Gandhi became a contributor to this national newspaper, and when India gained its independence from the British Raj, The Hindu played a key role in covering the transition to freedom. In 1960, it launched the Hindi Edition of The Hindu Newspaper, making the editorials available in the country’s more common language.
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In 1962, It became India’s first newspaper to charter a plan to deliver its newspapers to long-distance readers. With this bold and strategic step in India’s journalism history, one of the oldest newspapers became the world’s first publishing house to operate a fleet of aircraft. Due to increasing costs and uncertain weather conditions, the newspaper replaced the aircraft operations with new methods of inter-city transmission by the late 1960s.
The Hindu, with its commitment to truthfulness and independent, balanced editorials, accolades from The Times, London, and was selected for World’s 10 Best Newspapers, 1965. On this occasion, The Times wrote, “It might fairly be described as a national voice with a southern accent. The Hindu can claim to be the most respected paper in India.” It has been appreciated several times for its support for the Indian Freedom Struggle, stand on The Sri Lankan Tamil issue, and notable initiative on widow marriage, along with raising voice on several other issues.
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The newspaper equipped itself with new Japanese printing machines to cater to the growing demand for its newspapers and enable even high-quality colour printing, which was replaced effectively by 1997 with even more sophisticated Japanese machines. The Hindu was India’s first publishing house to launch an internet edition by 1995. The digital editions of The Hindu website further extended its reach among the growing audience base. In 2005, the newspaper’s official website underwent a comprehensive redesign by Mario Garcia, while in 2006, it launched The Hindu e-paper and The Hindu Center for Politics and Public Policy in 2013.
During the South Indian floods in 2015, the first time since its inception in 1878, the newspaper didn’t publish the print edition on December 2, all because its workers couldn’t reach the press building. In 2016, the official website of this national newspaper, thehindu.com, earned gold for the Best News Website at WAN — IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards. In the continuance of digital expansion to cover a large audience and make its news and editorial content available to the masses, the paper introduced Briefcase, a paid mobile app.
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Apart from publishing the morning English daily, The Hindu Group, owned by Kasturi and Sons Ltd, under the leadership of N. Ram, the director, THG Publishing Pvt Ltd, the Publishing Company of Hindu Group, and N. Ravi, Chairman of Kasturi & Sons Ltd, publisher of the Hindu and other issues of the Hindu Group and with the strength of over 2400 workforce, publishes business papers including The Hindu BusinessLine, a leading business and financial news website, Sportsstar, a sports news website, and Frontline, a magazine providing in-depth analysis on political issues, economic news, and social issues.
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