The Statesman

"The Statesman" is among the leading daily newspapers of India. It is published simultaneously in Calcutta, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneshwar. Established in 1875, it has its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national editorial offices in Statesman House, Connaught Place, New Delhi. It is a member of the Asia News Network.

History

It was incorporated and directly descended from two newspapers: "The Englishman" and "The Friend of India", both published from Calcutta. "The Englishman" was started in 1811. An Englishman named Robert Knight founded the new newspaper with a name of "The Statesman and New Friend of India" on 15 January 1875. Soon after, the name was shortened to the present "The Statesman". During the British era, it was British run and managed, but after independence, control passed to Indians.

Character

It is known for its vehement anti-establishment stance. It opposed the shifting of India's capital from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911 in the following terms: "The British have gone to the city of graveyards to be buried there".

It strenuously opposed Indira Gandhi's Emergency in 1975-77.

The Statesman Award for Rural Reporting is presented to outstanding journalists every year, irrespective of affiliation, for furthering the social uplifting of Indian indigents. The awards are presented on 16 September every year, the death anniversary of Justice Sudhi Ranjan Das, former Chief Justice of India's Supreme Court and chairman of The Statesman during the tumultuous Emergency years.

Over the past few years, the newspaper had adopted a pro Trinamool Congress approach in its news reporting.

From once being the most widely read English daily in West Bengal, the Statesman has lost ground to the Telegraph and the Times of India (Kolkata edition) in the state.

upplements

Notable among all of the daily supplements of is the Thursday supplement called "Voices". "Voices" has gained enormous popularity since its inception in 1995. It gives the opportuniy to school children to showcase their writing skills with research articles, poems and short news clips.

"Voices" boasts of a large number of "Coordinators", or school reporters who form the basic framework of "Voices" and the conduit between "The Statesman" and school children. Among other activities every year, "Voices" hosts the 2-day long festival called "Vibes" in Calcutta, which showcases inter-school competitions in different fields and also shows by popular musicians and bands.

Key Editorial Personnel

Ravindra Kumar is Editor of The Statesman. Usha Mahadevan is Resident Editor of The Statesman, Delhi. K. Ravi is Resident Editor of The Statesman, Bhubaneswar.

ister Publication

Dainik Statesman, a daily Bengali newspaper, was launched in June 2004 and is published simultaneously from Kolkata and Siliguri.

External links

* [http://www.thestatesman.net/ "The Statesman"]
** [http://www.thestatesman.net/webclass/ "Online Classified Booking"]