Manikonda Chalapathi Rau (1908 or 1910 – 25 March 1983) was an Indian journalist and author who served as the Editor-in-chief of the English daily National Herald from 1946 to 1978.
[7] He worked as an assistant editor of Hindustan Times early in his career and his weekly column under the pseudonym 'Magnus' was one of the most widely read in the country.
[12] Manikonda Chalapathi Rau was born in a Telugu-speaking Kapu family[13][14] in Visakhapatnam district of present-day Andhra Pradesh.
During this time, Chalapathi Rau also wrote for Triveni Quarterly, contributing reviews, translations and articles of literary and political interest.
[2] As per Dasu Krishnamoorty, Rama Rao and Chalapathi Rau together made a formidable force in unearthing British conspiracies to deny independence to India.
[8] National Herald heeded to Mahatma Gandhi's call during the Quit India movement for newspapers to not censor themselves and voluntarily closed in 1942.
[2] He eschewed sensationalism relating to sex, crime, and scandal and emphasised integrity and social vision as journalistic values.
[1] Chalapathi Rau organised the journalistic fraternity on trade union lines for the improvement of its working conditions.
[3][23] He also fought for the setting up of the first Press Commission on whose report the Wage Board was appointed which fixed the salaries and service conditions of journalists of all categories.
[24] Rau was close to the prime minister and accompanied him on most important foreign visits as a representative of the newspaper, but he didn't crave a government position or sinecure.
[7] Dasu Krishnamoorty wrote of him, "His reclusion, his integrity and learning and contempt for revenue-centred journalism explained why editors of his time had high regard for him.
"[8] YV Ramakotaiah noted about him, "Manikonda Chalapathi Rau known for his fearless, unbiased and forceful writing remains the greatest Editor that English journalism in India has seen".
[3] S. R. Nath called him 'India's greatest living editor' in 1966 and remarked as follows, "His articles on the Second World War created a sensation in those days; even to-day they serve as a textbook to aspirants in journalism.