Malayala Manorama

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Tamil actress see Manorama

The Manorama Logo in Malayalam

Malayala Manorama (Malayalam: മലയാള മനോരമ) is a popular Malayalam daily newspaper in Kerala, India. The newspaper was once the largest circulated "regional newspaper". The Manorama group, which manages the newspaper, also runs the Manorama Yearbook, a circulated yearbook in the region. Malayala Manorama, which first appeared on 14th March 1890, as a weekly, currently has a readership of over 15 million, with a circulation base of over 7.4 million copies.Manorama is Kerala's largest selling and most widely read newspaper.

The Malayalam word Manorama roughly translates to "Entertainer."

1 History
2 Controversies
3 Timeline
4 Journalists
5 Other publications
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

A joint stock publishing company, destined to acquire the status of the first joint stock publishing company of Republic of India, was incorporated by in 1888 by Kandathil Varghese Mappillai at Kottayam, then a small town in the state of Travancore, currently, a part of Kerala state, India. The first issue of Malayala Manorama was published on 22nd March 1890. The name Malayalam Manorama was chosen by the poet, Kerala Varma. In a period of two years, from the date of incorporation till the publication commenced, the company witnessed several challenges.The undertaking had pumped money in to the state at a time when money lending and upper class living were just privileges of elite Hindus or royalty. This sudden change in the economy and reform in banking promoted by a minority community (considering the population of Syrian Christians in Kerala) earned the wrath of the ruling Travancore regime. Once the paper was closed down owing to this and a bank owned by Manorama was locked out. Manorama has recently ventured into broadcasting.

[edit] Controversies

Accusations of financial misdeeds have pursued Malayala Manorama from the 1930's. The paper was forced to cease publication and the editor, Mammen Mappillai was sent to prison in 1938. Although there are different versions on the real reasons behind the government's action, a bank owned by Mammen Mappillai is said to have caused financial misappropriation and gone bust in 1938. The government action came in the wake of this alleged scam. Malayala Manorama's alleged promotion of and connection with an erring financial company that went bust in 2006 has been a high profile controversy in the state of Kerala. Integrated Financial Company Limited or IFCL went bust in August 2006. IFCL's former chairman K.M. Phillip is a brother of K.M. Mathew, the chief editor of Manorama. Malayala Manorama and its related publications used to carry IFCL's advertisements proclaiming the company as a sister concern of Malayala Manorama. However Malayala Manorama claims that IFCL is different from the Malayala Manorama newspaper and MRF. [1], [2], [3]

[edit] Timeline

1888 Malayala Manorama founded
1890 First issue of Malayala Manorama was published on 14th March
1892 Publication of Bhashaposhini commenced
1901 Malayala Manorama becomes bi-weekly
1904 Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, the key figure passes away on 6th July
1915 Malayala Manorama commences publication of daily World War I supplements
1918 Malayala Manorama becomes triweekly on 2nd July
1928 Malayala Manorama becomes a daily from 2nd July
1929 On 29th May, Akhila Kerala Balajana Sakhyam formed
1930 Malayala Manorama’s first Annual Number appears
1937 Commencement of Malayala Manorama Weekly from 8th August
1938 Travancore state proscribes Malayala Manorama on 10th September
- An issue appears on 14th September from the state of Cochin
1939 Mammen Mappillai was convicted and imprisoned on trumpeted charges of corruption and fraud
1941 Mammen Mappilla released after being absolved of all false cases
1947 From 29th November, Malayala Manorama re-commences regular publication
1950 Installation of the first rotary press
2006 Malayala Manorama becomes the first regional language dialy in india to cross 15lakh copies,

[edit] Journalists

Prominent journalists who have worked with the Manorama daily or other Manorama publications include Vaikkom Chandrasekharan Nair, E.V. Krishna Pillai, E.V.Sreedharan, T.V.R. Shenoy, K.Gopalakrishnan, Babu Chengannoor, K.R. Chummar, Moorkoth Kunjappa, K.M.Tharakan, T.K.G. Nair, VKB (V.K. Bhargavan Nair) and K. Padmanabhan Nair.