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The Times of India
20 August 2013 front page of the Kolkata edition of The Times of India
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)The Times Group
PublisherThe Times Group
Editor-in-chiefJaideep Bose
Founded3 November 1838; 185 years ago (1838-11-03)
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersMumbai
Circulation3,057,678 Daily[1] (as of Jul−Dec 2015)
Sister newspapersThe Economic Times
Navbharat Times
Maharashtra Times
Ei Samay
Mumbai Mirror
OCLC number23379369
Websitetimesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Times of India (TOI) is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is the fourth-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest selling English-language daily in the world according to Audit Bureau of Circulations (India).[1][2] It is the oldest English-language newspaper in India still in circulation,[3] with its first edition published in 1838. In 1991, the BBC ranked The Times of India among the world's six best newspapers.[4][5]

It is owned and published by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family. In the Brand Trust Report 2012, The Times of India was ranked 88th among India's most trusted brands and subsequently, according to the Brand Trust Report 2013, The Times of India was ranked 100th among India's most trusted brands. In 2014 however, The Times of India was ranked 174th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.[6][7]

History

Times of India Buildings, ca. 1898

Beginnings

The Times of India issued its first edition 3 November 1838 as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce.[8][9] The paper published Wednesdays and Saturdays under the direction of Raobahadur Narayan Dinanath Velkar, a Maharashtrian Reformist, and contained news from Britain and the world, as well as the Indian Subcontinent. J.E. Brennan was its first editor.[10][11] In 1850, it began to publish daily editions.

In 1860, editor Robert Knight (1825–1892) bought the Indian shareholders' interests, merged with rival Bombay Standard, and started India's first news agency. It wired Times dispatches to papers across the country and became the Indian agent for Reuters news service. In 1861, he changed the name from the Bombay Times and Standard to The Times of India. Knight fought for a press free of prior restraint or intimidation, frequently resisting the attempts by governments, business interests, and cultural spokesmen and led the paper to national prominence.[12][13] In the 19th century, this newspaper company employed more than 800 people and had a sizeable circulation in India and Europe.

Bennett & Coleman ownership

Subsequently, The Times of India saw its ownership change several times until 1892 when, Thomas Bennett and Frank Morris Coleman, who later drowned in the 1915 sinking of the SS Persia, acquired the newspaper through their new company, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

Dalmiya ownership

Sir Hubert Stanley Reed edited The Times of India from 1907 until 1924 and received correspondence from the major figures of India such as Mahatma Gandhi. In all he lived in India for fifty years. He was respected in the United Kingdom as an expert on Indian current affairs. He christened Jaipur as 'the Pink City of India'. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Reed_(British_politician)#/editor/

Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd was sold to sugar magnate Ramkrishna Dalmia of the then-famous industrial family, the Dalmiyas, for Rs 20 million in 1946 , as India was becoming independent and the British owners were leaving.[14] In 1955 the Vivian Bose Commission of Inquiry found that Ramkrishna Dalmia, in 1947, had engineered the acquisition of the media giant Bennett, Coleman by transferring money from a bank and an insurance company of which he was the Chairman. In the court case that followed, Ramkrishna Dalmia was sentenced to two years in Tihar Jail after having been convicted of embezzlement and fraud.[15]

But for most of the jail term he managed to spend in hospital. Upon his release, his son-in-law, Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain, to whom he had entrusted the running of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. rebuffed his efforts to resume command of the company.[15][16]

Jain family (Shanti Prasad Jain)

In the early 1960s, Shanti Prasad Jain was imprisoned on charges of selling newsprint on the black market.[17][18] And based on the Vivian Bose Commission's earlier report which found wrongdoings of the Dalmia - Jain group, that included specific charges against Shanti Prasad Jain, the Government of India filed a petition to restrain and remove the management of Bennett, Coleman and Company. Based on the pleading, Justice directed the Government to assume control of the newspaper which resulted in replacing half of the directors and appointing a Bombay (now Mumbai) High Court judge as the Chairman.

Under the Government of India

Following the Vivian Bose Commission report indicating serious wrongdoings of the Dalmia–Jain group, on 28 August 1969, the Bombay High Court, under Justice J.L. Nain, passed an interim order to disband the existing board of Bennett Coleman and to constitute a new board under the Government. The bench ruled that "Under these circumstances, the best thing would be to pass such orders on the assumption that the allegations made by the petitioners that the affairs of the company were being conducted in a manner prejudicial to public interest and to the interests of the Company are correct".[19] Following that order Shanti Prasad Jain ceased to be a director and the company ran with new directors on board, appointed by the Government of India, with the exception of a lone stenographer of the Jains. Curiously, the court appointed D K Kunte as Chairman of the Board. Kunte had no prior business experience and was also an Opposition member of the Lok Sabha.

Back to the Jain family

In 1976, during the Emergency in India, the Government transferred ownership of the newspaper back to Ashok Kumar Jain (Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain's son, Ramkrishna Dalmia's grandson and the father of Samir Jain and Vineet Jain).[20] The Jains too often landed themselves in various money laundering scams and Ashok Kumar Jain had to flee the country when the Enforcement Directorate pursued his case strongly in 1998 for alleged violations of illegal transfer of funds (to the tune of US$1.25 million) to an overseas account in Switzerland.[21][22][23][24]

During the Emergency

On 26 June 1975, the day after India declared a state of emergency, the Bombay edition of The Times of India carried an entry in its obituary column that read "D.E.M O'Cracy, beloved husband of T.Ruth, father of L.I.Bertie, brother of Faith, Hope and Justice expired on 25 June".[25] The move was a critique of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's 21-month state of emergency, which is now widely known as "the Emergency" and seen by many as a roundly authoritarian era of Indian government.[26][27]

The Times in the 21st century

In late 2006, Times Group acquired Vijayanand Printers Limited (VPL). VPL previously published two Kannada newspapers, Vijay Karnataka and Usha Kiran, and an English daily, Vijay Times. Vijay Karnataka was the leader in the Kannada newspaper segment then.[28]

The paper launched a Chennai edition, 12 April 2008.[29] It launched a Kolhapur edition, February 2013.

TOIFA Awards

Introduced in 2013[30] and awarded for the second time in 2016,[31] "The Times of India Film Awards" or the "TOIFA" is an award for the work in Film Industry decided by a global public vote on the nomination categories.[32]

Editions and publications

TOI's first office is opposite the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai where it was founded.[9]

The Times of India is published by the media group Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. The company, along with its other group of companies, known as The Times Group, also publishes Ahmedabad Mirror; Bangalore Mirror; Bangalore Times, Delhi Times; The Economic Times; Ei Samay, (a Bengali daily); the Maharashtra Times, (a Marathi-language daily broadsheet); Mumbai Mirror; the Navbharat Times, (a Hindi-language daily broadsheet); and Pune Mirror.

The Times of India has its markets in major cities such as Mumbai,[33] Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Calicut, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Guwahati, Hubli, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolhapur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Mysore, Nagpur, Nashik, Panaji, Patna, Puducherry, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi, Surat, Trichy, Trivandrum, Varanasi , Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.[citation needed]

Times Group Network

  • Zigwheels: A website focused on cars, including reviews, road tests, and other special features.
  • Speaking Tree: A spiritual network intended to allow spiritual seekers to link spiritual seekers with established practitioners.
  • Healthmeup: A health, diet, and fitness website.
  • Cricbuzz: In November 2014, Times Internet Acquired Cricbuzz website, a website focused on cricket live updates, news etc.

Notable employees

References

  1. ^ a b "Submission of circulation figures for the audit period July - December 2015" (PDF). Audit Bureau of Circulations. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  2. ^ "National Newspapers Total Circulation". International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circulations (IFABC). 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  3. ^ S. B. Bhattacherje (1 May 2009). Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. A126. ISBN 978-81-207-4074-7. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  4. ^ C. V. Baxi; Ajit Prasad (2005). Corporate Social Responsibility: Concepts and Cases : the Indian Experience. Excel Books India. pp. 167–. ISBN 978-81-7446-449-1. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  5. ^ Vir Bala Aggarwal; V. S. Gupta (1 January 2001). Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 128–. ISBN 978-81-7022-880-6. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  6. ^ "India's Most Trusted Brands 2014". TRA. November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Samsung named India's most trusted brand". Times of India. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  8. ^ "The Times of India". Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  9. ^ a b "The Times of India turns the Times of Colour". Televisionpoint.com. 30 April 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  10. ^ Asima Ranjan Parhi (2008). Indian English Through Newspapers. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 32–. ISBN 978-81-8069-507-0.
  11. ^ Rangaswami Parthasarathy (1989). Journalism in India: from the earliest times to the present day. Sterling Publishers. p. 273. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  12. ^ Hirschmann, Edwin (2008). Robert Knight: Reforming Editor in Victorian India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-569622-6.
  13. ^ Kartar Lalvani (10 March 2016). The Making of India: The Untold Story of British Enterprise. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 383–. ISBN 978-1-4729-2484-1. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  14. ^ Asha Kasbekar (January 2006). Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. pp. 112–. ISBN 978-1-85109-636-7. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  15. ^ a b "Citizens Jain - The New Yorker". The New Yorker Magazine. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  16. ^ Auletta. Page 55.
  17. ^ "This is why Times of India is pro-Congress, Jain brothers owe their wealth to Gandhis". OpIndia.com. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Indian Millionaires arrested". Reuter (The Herald (Glasgow)), May 5, 1964. Retrieved 6 May 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ P. Menon Malhan, Sangita (2 August 2013). THE TOI STORY: How A Newspaper Changed The Rules Of The Games. Noida: HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 212. ISBN 9789350296646. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  20. ^ Subramanian, Samanth (1 December 2012). "Supreme Being: How Samir Jain created the modern Indian newspaper industry". The Caravan. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  21. ^ "Trying times: Editorial changes in The Times of India raise disturbing questions". India Today. 7 July 1997. Retrieved 10 November 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  22. ^ "Ashok Jain arrested". The Indian Express. 4 July 1998. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  23. ^ Mahalingam, Sudha (18–31 July 1998). "Ashok Jain is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate". Frontline. ISSN 0970-1710. Retrieved 10 November 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  24. ^ "A newspaper scandal: Editorial changes in The Times of India raise disturbing questions". Fontline. 6–19 June 1998. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  25. ^ Austin, Granville (1999). Working a democratic constitution: the Indian experience. Oxford University Press. p. 295. ISBN 978-0195648881. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ "New book flays Indira Gandhi's decision to impose Emergency". IBN Live News. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  27. ^ Desai, Akshayakumar Ramanlal (17 November 1986). Violation of Democratic Rights in India. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. p. 208. ISBN 978-0861321308. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  28. ^ "Times Group acquires Vijayanand Printers". The Times of India. 15 June 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  29. ^ "TN CM launches Chennai edition of Times of India". The Economic Times. 13 April 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  30. ^ "TOIFA 2013 nominations". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  31. ^ "TOIFA 2016: 'Bajirao Mastani' Bags 6 Awards, Celebs Have a Rocking Night". India-West. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  32. ^ "About TOI Film Awards 2016". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  33. ^ "Online Mumbai Newspaper". Mid Day. 24 April 2014.

Further reading

  • Auletta, Ken: "Citizens Jain – Why India's Newspaper Industry is Thriving". The New Yorker, 8 October 2012, Pages 52 to 61.
  • Hirschmann, Edwin. "An Editor Speaks for the Natives: Robert Knight in 19th Century India," Journalism Quarterly (1986) 63#2 pp. 260–267
  • Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers (1980) pp. 330–33
  • Menon Malhan, Sangita P. "The TOI Story: How a Newspaper Changed the Rules of the Game" (2013) HarperCollins India
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