Master Class on History of World Journalism (03th December 2024)
Event Date: 03th December 2024
A master class was conducted in the School of Media and Communication Studies, Galgotias University on the topic "History of World Journalism" by Prof. Kripashankar Chaubey, Senior Journalist and academician. as the chief guest. He has authored several books. He has vast experience in the media industry, having worked for Jansatta, Swatantrata Bharat, Prabhat Khabar, and Sahara Samay. He began the session with a welcome address by Prof. A Ram Pandey, DEAN, SMCS.
A master class began with a mention of Acta Diurna, a daily government gazette that published court news and orders of Roman emperors, started by Julius Caesar. The origin of Acta Diurna was discussed in Jim Bernard's book How Newspapers Get Their News and Alexander Andrews’ The History of British Journalism. Prof. Chaubey then talked about the first use of paper in 105 AD by Cai Lun of China, as mentioned in the book From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg by John Naughton. He also reminded us of the struggles of Shyamcharan Dubey, a prominent Hindi writer, who used 14 different names to publish articles in the Saraswati Gazette (1903-1920) just to continue the publication. His work played a vital role in the formation of Hindi literature. He then spoke about the Peking Gazette started by Jing Bao, which was published in China from 1618-1912 AD. The world’s first magazine was started in China, a court bulletin named Kai Yuan Za Bao (713-734), which was unique for being written on silk. The audience was informed about the world’s first printed newspaper, Relations, started by German philosopher Johann Carolus in Strasbourg. He also discussed the culture of newspapers in different countries.
In France, the first newspaper, La Gazette de France, was started by Renaudot on May 30, 1631, and lasted until 1915. In Britain, the first newspaper, The Oxford Gazette, was started by Charles II on November 7, 1665, by royal decree. The name was later changed to The London Gazette when Charles II returned to London after the plague outbreak. The first newspaper of Spain was Gaceta de Madrid, started in 1661, and the first newspaper of Portugal (Dutch) was Curanto, started in June 1618 in Amsterdam. The first newspaper in the USA was Public Occurrences, edited by Benjamin Harris, which started on September 25, 1690.
The story of Benjamin Harris is similar to that of James Hicky, who started the first newspaper in India, The Bengal Gazette, in 1780. Both were refugees who were jailed for their critical statements against the government in their newspapers. The guest concluded the session by sharing an interesting fact that Bengal was the origin of the first newspapers in four different languages in India: Jam-i-Jahanuma (Urdu) by Harihar Dutt, started in 1822; Mirat-ul-Akbhar (Persian) by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, started in 1822; Udant Martand (Hindi) by Pandit Jugal Kishore Shukla, started on May 30, 1826; and Hicky's Bengal Gazette (English), started in 1780.
Professor Kripashankar Chaubey's final advice to the students was a statement from the Bengal Gazette by Hicky: “Open to all but influenced by none.” The special session ended with a vote of thanks delivered by Prof. Tasha Singh Parihar.
Event Outcome
- Engagement:Around 50 students and faculties of Galgotias University attended the master class.
- Educational Impact:The master class aimed to raise awareness about Journalism’s history.
Mentor Name – Dr. Bhawani Shankar
Department Name – Department of Media and Communication Studies
Related Goal