Various organisations, institutes or unions within media help to safeguard the journalists and media houses. One such organisation is Indian Newspapers Society. It is an organization which plays a major role in protecting and promoting the freedom of press in India. The society was founded in 1939. Its headquarters is at New Delhi.
INS is comprises the owners, proprietors and publishers of print media. INS mainly talks about the problems related to the newspaper industry and it also discusses the issue with the government. It is a kind of pressure group which works to protect the interest of newspaper industry in particular and print media in general.
The Indian Newspaper Society Official Website: www.indiannewspapersociety.in
History of Indian Newspaper Society
The history of INS goes back to October 11, 1927. Earlier it was known as ‘The India, Burma & Ceylon Newspapers’ London Committee’. Later the name was changed to ‘Indian & Eastern Newspaper Society (IENS)’ on October 4, 1935.
Then it was based in London and was working for newspapers, magazines, reviews and other journals published in India, Burma, Ceylon and other countries of Asia.
The Indian & Eastern Newspaper Society was inaugurated at a meeting of the representatives of the 14 founding publications on February 27, 1939, at the Statesman House in New Delhi. Mr. Arthur Moore, Editor of the Statesman chaired the meeting. The primary object of this society was of serving as a central body for promoting the common interests of newspapers in India, Burma and Ceylon.
Following publications were the founding members of INS:
- Advance
- The Leader
- The Amrita Bazar Patrika
- The Madras Mail
- The Bombay Chronicle
- The Pioneer
- The Civil And Military Gazette
- The Rangoon Gazette
- The Hindu
- The Statesman
- The Hindustan Standard
- The Times of India
- The Hindustan Times
- The Tribune
Post-independence with the separation of Burma and Ceylon the title of the organisation was changed again. And the word ‘Eastern’ was deleted and the society acquired its present name in 1951.
Functions of Indian Newspaper Society
- To provide assistance to member publications in regard to monitoring the recovery of their dues from Advertising Agencies and Advertisers. And to solve their issues.
- To keep a close watch on all the developments related with the newsprint.
- To maintain relations with the industry and the government.
- To maintain the freedom of the press and takes up related issues.
- To conduct seminars and workshops from time to time for its member publications to keep pace with changing technology.
- To check the accreditation rules.
Objectives of INS
- To promote and safeguard the business interests of members are affected or are likely to be affected by the action of Legislatures, Governments, the Law Courts, municipal and local bodies and associations or organizations commercial or formed for any other purpose and to take such steps as may seem desirable to that end.
- To collect information upon all topics having a practical interest for members and to communicate the same to them.
- To promote co-operation in all matters affecting the common interests of members.
- To hold periodical conferences of its members to discuss and determine action on matters of common interest.
- To make rules to govern the conduct of its members, to provide penalties for the infringement thereof, and to provide means of determining whether there has been such infringement.
Today, the Indian Newspaper Society has a three layered structure of administration with an executive body as top, then regional committee and sub-committee.The executive committee of INS represents the current 990 members from newspapers, journals, periodicals and magazines. Currently, Mr. Rakesh Sharma of AAJ Samaj is the president of the society.
Source: Odisha State Open University
