Media in Gujarati language
Initially the newspapers published business news and they were owned by Parsi people based in Bombay.
After arrival of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian independence movement peaked and it resulted in proliferation of Gujarati media.
Early newspapers in Gujarati are published from Bombay and they covered commercial and business news chiefly.
On 1 July 1822, the first Gujarati newspaper Bombayna Samachar was started by Fardunjee Marzban as a weekly business journal with 150 subscribers.
A year later was renamed Mumbaina Halkaru Ane Vartaman and converted into biweekly which published until 1843.
[4] The Gujarat Vernacular Society of Ahmedabad, founded by British Magistrate Alexander Kinloch Forbes, started Vartaman in 1849.
Social reformer Dadabhai Navroji introduced Rast Goftar (The Truth Teller) to clarify Zoroastrian concepts in 1854 which published until 1921.
Gujarat Samachar was started in 1932 following Dandi March and civil disobedience movement.
Amritlal Seth founded Saurashtra Trust in 1931 and launched Janmabhoomi on 9 June 1934 in Bombay.
He was the driving force of Phulchaab around the years 1932 and later edited the weekly 'Navsaurashtra', a part of the Prabhat Group of Newspapers [12] Following Mahagujarat Movement in 1960, Bombay state was divided into Gujarat, with Ahmedabad as its capital, and Maharashtra with Mumbai as its capital.
Sandesh was headed by Chimanbhai Patel from 1958 who introduced weekly supplements in Gujarat.
Pradyumna Mehta published monthly Hindustan Patrika in Chicago from 1977 to 1981 for Gujarati diaspora.
Other monthlies abroad were Gujarat Vartaman and Bharat Sandesh both based in Chicago and stopped in 1980s.
[19] Gujarat was the first state in India where the rural high frequency television transmitter was established.
The state owned Doordarshan was the first to enter in television and it operates DD Girnar.
The first radio station in Gujarat was founded by Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda State in 1939.
[1] They further grew to 4836 registered publications in 2014-2015 which include 539 dailies, 19 bi/triweeklies, 2189 weeklies, 548 fortnightly, 1324 monthlies, 105 quarterlies, 17 annuals and 95 others as per Registrar of Newspapers for India.
[20] According to the Indian Readership Survey 2013, the top three Gujarati dailies were Gujarat Samachar (4339000 readers), Divya Bhaskar (3770000), Sandesh (3724000).
