During the early decades of the nineteenth century, due to the proselytizing work of the Christian missionaries in these regions, a large number of people had begun to embrace Christianity.  To keep the neo-Christians together and to provide them with information on religious tenets and related topics, the missionaries started issueing evangelical newspapers.  The forerunner of the Malayalam press was one such paper called Rajya Samacharam, published in June 1847 by Dr. Herman Gundert of the Basel Mission from Tellichery in the northern most district of Kerala.  It was a handwritten cyclostyled monthly in demi-octavo size.

Following the pioneering journalistic work of the Basel Mission, the Protestant missionaries and the Italian Carmelite Mission started their own journals.  But most of these journals, besides not being newspapers in the strict sense of the term, were ephemeral, irregular, appearing and disappearing by fits and starts.

Keralamitram, launched in 1881 from Cochin by a Gujarathi business man, was different from the early evangelical journals.  It was the first systematic newspaper organised as a business proposition with a full-time editor.  However, the real pace setter in Malayalam journalism was Kerala Patrika, a weekly founded in 1884 by Chengalathu Kunhirama Menon, often referred to as the 'father of Malayalam Journalism'.  The weekly had lively features on current affairs, politics and literature.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Malayalam press had overcome its teethin troubles, printing material was readly available.  People had begun to develop interest in comtemporary socio-political affairs.  During this period emerged two prominent newspapers of today.  Nazrani Deepika was founded by the Roman Catholic Church at Kottayam in 1887, as a weekly to promote the social, political and cultural uplift of the Christian community.  In 1938 it became a full fledged daily under its abbrevialted title Deepika and with a cosmopolital outlook.  Today it sells over 80,000 copies.

Malayala Manorama, published today from Kottayam, Calicut, Cochin, was established in Kottayam in 1890 as a weekly.  Unlike its comtemporaries, which by and large were sectarian, Manorama opened its pages to all castes and creeds as well as to the three geopolitical areas of Kerala.  In 1928 it became a daily.  For its active involvement in the movement for the establishment of a popular Government in the State, the princely rulers of Travancore confiscated the paper in 1938 and its then editor was jailed.  It resumed publication only after India got Independence in 1947 and soon grew to become one of the powerful publishing groups in India.  Today Manorama daily sells about 600,000 copies.

In the wake of the independence movement came the Mathrubhumi.It could well be described as a people's daily of Kerala, for it was through public collection of five-rupee shares that the paper was launched from Calicut in 1923, to propogate the principles and policies of the Indian National Congress and to involve the people of Malabar in the independence struggle.  Though its circulation in the beginning was modest, its influence was deep and wide.  The British bureaucracy as well as the people took it as the authentic voice of nationalist India.  Today, it is coming out from three centres, Calicut, Cochin and Trivandrum and it ranks second in circulation among Malayalam dailies.

Kerala Kaumudi, the third largest circulated newspaper published from Trivandrum and Calicut, came into being in 1911 as a weekly.  It became a daily in 1940 and got established as a powerful newspaper commanding respect of the successive ruling powers in Trivandrum.  With the introduction of photo composing facility in its Calicut unit and a photo fascimile link between Trivandrum and Calicut four years ago, it became the first Indian language daily in the country to adopt the latest newspaper technology.

All the major political parties in Kerala have their own newspapers with respectable circulations.  Chandrika, organ of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was established as a weekly in 1927 in Tellicherry.  It became a daily in 1939 and was shifted to Calicut, the  present headquarters of IUML in Kerala.

The Communist movement in Kerala led to the setting up of Deshabhimani, a weekly in 1940 in Calicut. In 1944, it became a daily.  Eversince the  split in the Communist party, it is under the control of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI)(M).  Being issued from Calicut and Trivandrum today it commands a circulation of over 60,000.  The Communist Party of India (CPI) publishes its own daily Janayugam from Quilon and Calicut. Veekshanam founded in 1976 is the organ of the Congress in Kerala.  Bharatiya Janata Party brings out its publication Janmabhoomi from Cochin.

Present scene

The Malayalam press is dominated by Malayala Manoram, Mathrubhumi and Kerala Kaumudi, the big three dailies.  Together, they account for over 70 per cent of the total circulation of the dailies.  The big three publish periodicals catering to special audience groups.  The Manorama Weekly, a low-priced magazine for the masses, Vanitha, women's magazine, Balarama, children's magazine, and The Week, an English news weekly, are the other publications of the Malayala Manorama group.  The Mathrubhumi group has a weekly with the same name for general readers, Grihalakshmy, a weekly for women and Chitrabhumi, a film fortnightly.  The Kerala Kaumudi brings out Kala Kaumudi,  a politico-literary weekly,  Film Magazine, a weekly, Katha, a monthly devoted to stories, and Women's Magazine, a Malayalam monthly for women.  The party-owned dailies too have their periodicals.  A couple of publishing groups produce only magazines catering to the popular tastes.  By and large, the magazines have a set content - sensational news features, mostly on local affairs and events, serialized novels, short stories, literary criticism and film gossip with a liberal sprinkling of comics, indigenous as well syndicated.  Some of the sensational weeklies in Malayalam (e.g.Mangalam from Kottayam) have exceeded the million mark in circulation baffling the conventional magazine publishers.

On the whole, the Malayalam press today presents a diverse and impressive picture.  At the end of 1982 there were 802 newspapers consisting of 103 dailies, two bi-weeklies, 120 Weeklies, 103 fortnightlies, 437 monthlies, 123 quarterlies and 14 other periodicals.  Commanding a circulation of 4,535 million it had the third place in the Indian Press as a whole.  This indeed is a creditable achievement in view of the fact that the Malayalam-speaking population constitutes only 3.17 per cent of the Indian population.

Unlike in the other States where the newspapers are concentrated in a couple of cities, in Kerala a large number of newspapers originate from towns.  For instance, of the 103 dailies as many as 70 are published from different district headquarters - 18 from Trivandrum the State capital, 15 from Cochin, 10 from Kottayam, nine from Calicut, seven from Trichur, three each from Quilon, Alleppy and Palghat and two from Cannanore.

Another unique feature of the Malayalam press is its high diffusion rate.  For instance, the Malayalam dailies with a diffusion rate of 56.1 copies per 1000 people speaking the language, were ahead of even the Hindi dailies which claim the first place in circulation and numerical strength.

What makes the Malayalam newspapers tick so well?  There are three mutually reinforcing factors: high literacy, high sociopolitical consciousness among Malayalis, and well-produced editions with high local relevance.

Kerala's literacy is 69.17%, the highest in India.  Besides being literate, people in Kerala show keen interest in social and political affairs of the State.  The employed and the multitude of unemployed are affiliated to one of the scores of political trade union organisations.  In such a milieu, it is natural that news as a commodity sells on a par with consumer goods.  In fact, it is common sight in Kerala to notice newspapers -- displayed prominently in almost all shops selling cigarettes, fruits, and other consumer goods.

The Malayalam Press at the best functions as informer and interpreter in Kerala society.  At times it becomes a critic of the ruling political party.  But seldom does it have a faithful adjutant of the Government.  With the exception of the party-owned newspapers, the Malayalam press in general swinhgs in tune with public opinion, lending ready support to popular demands, be it social or political.

With the constant increase in literacy and well-rooted reading habits among Keralites, and with the reader-oriented editorial policies, the Malayalam press, as a whole registered an annual growth of 99 per cent in 1982.  At this pace, however, it has a long way to go to reach the elusive saturation point.