''Andhra Prabha'' - ''Journalism first'' is a

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fami ...

daily newspaper of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

sold mostly in the states of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...

. The newspaper is one of the oldest running Telugu-language daily newspapers of

. The newspaper and website (''www.prabhanews.com'') were owned by the

New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

Group of Companies but the newspaper was sold to entrepreneurs from

Kakinada Kakinada (List of renamed places in India, formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population, sixth largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra P ...

. The newspaper is owned by Mootha Gopalakrishna (spelled as "Muttha Gopalakrishna"), former M.L.A of

Kakinada city (Assembly Constituency) Kakinada City Assembly constituency is a constituency in Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh, representing the state legislative assembly in India. It is one of the seven assembly segments of Kakinada (Lok Sabha constituency), along with Tuni, ...

. The newspaper publishes neutral news not in support of any political organisation and is the one of the most balanced and close-to-reality

daily newspapers.

Early history

Andhra Prabha was started in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) on August 15, 1938 by

Ramnath Goenka Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He launched ''The Indian Express'' in 1932 and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.''A doyen of Indian Jou ...

under his ''Indian Express'' group and published from major towns inside

from the 1950s to challenge the prominence of the then leading Telugu newspaper, ''

Andhra Patrika Andhra Patrika was the weekly newspaper of the nationalist movement in the Telugu speaking region founded by Kasinadhuni Nageswara Rao in 1908. It later transformed into a daily newspaper before it closed down in 1991. It helped to shape both mo ...

''.G. Ram Reddy: "Regionalism in India : A study of Telangana", Concept Publishing Company, 1979, ASIN:B0000E9UDF In 1960, ''Andhra Prabha'''s circulation was 53,000 for its two editions from

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises NT ...

and

Chittoor Chittoor is a city and district headquarters in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal and divisional headquarters of Chittoor mandal and Chittoor revenue division, respectively. The city has a popul ...

. Ten years later, then publishing from Vijayawada and

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

circulation reached 1,16,000, vastly surpassing that of ''

''. A reader from

Ballari Bellary, officially Ballari, in the eponymous Bellary district, is a city in the state of Karnataka, India. History Bellary was a part of Rayalaseema (Ceded Districts) which was part of Madras Presidency till 1 November 1956. The Balla ...

originally suggested the name "''Andhra Prabha"'' and the management of the newspaper awarded him with the sum of ₹116 as a token of their gratitude. Retrieved on 8 May 2010. The paper was initially edited by Khasa Subba Rao (joint editor of ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'') who was succeeded by Nyayapati Narayana Murthy. In 1942,

Narla Venkateswara Rao Narla Venkateshwara Rao or V. R. Narla (1 December 1908 – 13 March 1985) was a Telugu language writer, journalist and politician from Andhra Pradesh in India. He was Rajya Sabha member twice from 3 April 1958 to 2 April 1970, and wrote a sataka ...

was promoted from news-editor to editor of the paper. He held this position for seventeen years, a period of time that is considered epochal in Telugu journalism. He was responsible for many revolutionary changes in headline and caption writing, in the framing of action photos, in news display and in page make-up. It was during Narla's editorship that the paper was closed down for a brief period during the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

. The newspaper was shut down for a few months in order to protest the British Government's attempt to impose censorship on the press. The ''Andhra Prabha'' was also banned from the State of Mysore and the

State of Hyderabad Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

because it opposed the feudal nature of these regimes.N.V.R.Jyoti Kumar: "Newspaper marketing in India: a focus on language press", Anmol Publications, 2003, Narla later tendered his resignation when he had a falling out with Ramnath Goenka over his sympathy with the workers in the press which resulted in a strike in

. He was succeeded by Neelamraju Venkataseshaiah. Venkataseshaiah was succeeded by Panditharadhyula Nageswara Rao, from 1969–1976. In July 2018, it entered into broadcasting space by launching a nationwide English news channel named " India Ahead". It became the first English News Channel to be beamed out of South India.

Editions

Currently there are editions of ''Andhra Prabha'' in Bangalore,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, Chennai,

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

and Vijayawada. Until 1959, ''Andhra Prabha'' was published only from Chennai. In 1960, anticipating the impending launch of Andhra Jyothy, ''Andhra Prabha'' launched its second edition from Vijayawada. A Chittoor edition was brought out briefly in the early 1960s which was shifted to Bangalore in 1966. A Hyderabad edition was launched in 1977 and, in 1985, to counter the launch of ''

Eenadu ''Eenadu'' () is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...

Features and supplements

The paper carries the following features regularly - Muhurtam, Graha Balam, Kreeda Prabha, Aurah!, Nayika and Chintana.
Supplements include: *Monday : Sahiti Gavaksham, Chintana, Life *Tuesday : Kulasa, Chintana *Wednesday: Yuva, Chintana *Thursday : Chitraprabha *Friday : Sirigamulu *Saturday : Bala Prabha (Entertainment and Knowledge for kids), Chintana *Sunday : A 32 Page Mini Weekly

References

External links

Official Website''Andhra Prabha'' ePaper
{{Newspapers in India Telugu-language newspapers Daily newspapers published in India Mass media in Andhra Pradesh Indian Express Limited 1938 establishments in India Newspapers published in Vijayawada Newspapers published in Hyderabad