The longest-running newspaper in India, Mumbai Samachar has reached its 200th year on July 1. It started as Bombay Samachar by a Parsi scholar named Fardoonji Murazban in July 1822. The publication exchanged several hands over the last two centuries. The Cama family has remained its publisher since 1933 and Hormusji N Cama works as the director of the newspaper.
Its head office is situated in a red, art deco building at Horniman Circle in the fort area of Mumbai. Now, Mumbai Samachar operates offices from 5 centres including Mumbai and has more than 200 staff. Nilesh Dave is the Editor of the Mumbai Samachar.
Mumbai Samachar was first published on July 1, 1822. The format of the publication was three small quarto sheets of 10 X 8 inches and a half-page supplement containing a total of fourteen pages.
The Editor of Mumbai Samachar, Nilesh Dave, said, “Mumbai Samachar is not only India’s but Asia’s first newspaper publication to have celebrated its 200th year. To be part of Mumbai Samachar has seen history spanning two centuries, feels incredible.
“Over the past couple of years, the whole news media industry witnessed a huge blow due to the pandemic. But, we did comparatively good because of the trust our subscribers have in us. For two centuries, our newspaper witnessed many hurdles. There were big and small challenges and we fought them successfully.
On the achievement of the big milestone, we have planned to organise cultural activities, literature programs, social awareness programs and book fairs throughout the year. Our objective is to work towards the welfare of the Gujarati community, upholding our values, culture and literature,” Dave added.
Reporting events impartially, honestly and ethically has been at the core of the editorial policy of Mumbai Samachar. They value journalism ethics highly and do not sensationalize the news.
The Mumbai Samachar was a weekly publication till 1832. It evolved to a bi-weekly till 1855 and a daily since then. It became one of the leading newspapers in Western India and is read by a large number of the Gujarati-speaking population in the country and abroad. Mumbai Samachar has also harnessed the power of digital media just like any other publication today.
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