''Prajavani'' (

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

:''Voice of the People'') is a leading Kannada-language broadsheet daily newspaper published in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Having a readership of over 2.01 million, it is one of the largest circulated newspapers in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

History and ownership

Prajavani was founded in 1948 in Bangalore by K.N. Guruswamy. The Printers (Mysore) Private Limited, the company which owns the newspaper, continues to be privately held by members of the founding family.

Stance

Prajavani (PV) has a history of being a politically independent newspaper, although it tends to opine with a liberal tilt. It is known for espousing the causes of

Dalits Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

, encouraging women's empowerment and taking pro-poor positions on economic issues. It has managed to maintain an independent position, despite an increasingly polarized media landscape in Karnataka. Prajavani uses the tagline "the most trusted Kannada daily newspaper", which appears below its masthead.

Position in the market

Prajavani was the leading Kannada newspaper for decades, until it was overtaken in circulation by ''

Vijaya Karnataka ''Vijaya Karnataka'' is a Kannada newspaper published from a number of cities in Karnataka. The newspaper is published from Bengaluru, Hubballi, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Gangavathi, Belagavi, Davanagere, Hassan, Chitradurga. It wa ...

'' (VK) in 2004. The gulf between PV and the upstart VK became huge for a while, but the two newspapers appear to be competing much more closely as of 2014, with PV having significantly recovered ground according to industry numbers. Some analysts have also attributed this to the launch of

Vijaya Vani ''Vijayavani'' (Kannada: ವಿಜಯವಾಣಿ) is a Kannada-language newspaper distributed in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is published by VRL Group owned by logistics tycoon Vijay Sankeshwar. Having launched on 1 April 2012, Vijaya ...

, by the original owner of Vijaya Karnataka,

Vijay Sankeshwar Vijay Sankeshwar is an Indian businessman from Dharwad, Karnataka. He along with Anand Sankeshwar (managing director) is the chairman of India's largest logistics firm VRL Group. He is also known for being the owner of the largest fleet of comm ...

and his

VRL Group VRL Logistics Limited (formerly ''Vijayanand Roadlines Ltd.''), commonly known as the VRL Group, is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Hubballi, Karnataka, India with operations in around 23 states and 4 union territories in the countr ...

, which has apparently eaten into the readership of ''Vijaya Karnataka''. Other regional competitors include ''

Udayavani ''Udayavani'' ("Morning Voice" in Kannada) is a Kannada daily newspaper with editions from Manipal, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hubballi, Davanagere and Gulbarga. Launched in January 1970 by Mohandas Pai and T. Satish U Pai, Udayavani with a combined ci ...

'', ''

Varthabharathi ''Vartha Bharati'' ( kn, ವಾರ್ತಾ ಭಾರತಿ) also spelled as ''Vartha Bharathi'' is a prominent Kannada daily News paper (ಕನ್ನಡ ದಿನಪತ್ರಿಕೆ) published simultaneously from Bangalore , Mangalore and S ...

'', '' Kannada Prabha'' and ''

Samyukta Karnataka ''Samyukta Karnataka'' is a major Kannada newspaper which has its headquarters in Hubballi, Karnataka. It is also published from Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Bagalkot, Kalaburgi and Davanagere. The incumbent editor is Hunasavadi Rajan. The newspaper ...

''.

Sister publications

* ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Print ...

'', a daily English newspaper *'' Sudha'', a Kannada weekly magazine * '' Mayura'', a Kannada monthly magazine

References

External links