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A History of Dina Thanthi: Establishing and creating a new readership in Tamil Nadu

As the state is going into what will be among its most fiercely contested elections later this year, the role that the popular Tamil daily Dina Thanthi and the media group’s other outlets in shaping Tamil readers/ viewers views and opinions become as important as it has ever been in its long history.

Tamil Nadu has a long, enduring history of journalism, beginning with the newspaper, Swadesamitran, which began its print-run in 1882 and continued till 1985. The state has a literacy rate of about 80 per cent at last count, and its people have always been ardent followers of news, especially the newspaper. Tea Kadai or tea shop counters filled with the day’s headlines are commonplace across the state. Even though TV news is as ubiquitous as anywhere else in the country, the newspapers still hold pride of place. This is especially because TV news channels still only offer highly biased and politicised versions of current affairs. It should be noted that news channel ownership is also considered a prerequisite in the arsenal of political parties.

Among the newspapers in Tamil, in Tamil Nadu, the prominent players are Dina Thanthi (which leads the pack in terms of circulation), Dina Mani, Dina Malar, Dinakaran, Tamil Murasu, Makkal Kural, Malai Malar and The Hindu (Tamil).

Among these Dina, Thanthi has been a trendsetter ever since SP Adithanar established it in 1942. The paper currently boasts of 16 editions across Tamil Nadu and India and an edition from Dubai. SP Adithanar, belonging to the Nadar community, studied law in England and the US and practised in Singapore before returning to Tamil Nadu to set up the newspaper.

His most significant contribution was the setting up an in-house newsprint factory when other newspapers were paying significant amounts to 8purchase newsprints from elsewhere. The paper also stood out for its non-Brahmin ownership when the Brahmin community predominantly controlled the industry. Instead of presenting an “intellectual” take on current affairs as many of the pre-independence papers tended to do, Dina Thanthi kept its news and terminologies simple.

Athithanar aimed at developing a subscriber base of those who are not fervent readers but of the more common citizenry who are literate enough to read the newspaper. He even went so far as to create a special dictionary for the paper itself, the Ithazhazhar Kaiyedu (A newspaper man’s guide), where he specified the colloquial terminologies to be used to avoid estranging their readership by using complicated words. The paper is also known for its use of onomatopoeia in its large font headlines.

For example, when reporting on a stabbing, it would be common to see headlines such as the following:

“sadak, sadak enru kathi koothu,” which is an onomatopoeic expression roughly translating to “slash, slash he got stabbed”.

Dina Thanthi, with its nearly eight-decade history, is notable for practising a distinct editorial style. The paper also has reporters stationed in all district headquarters and employs stringers extensively across the state.

The contemporary scenario

Dina Thanthi and the Thanthi group is now in their third generation of ownership. After SP Adhithanar, the reigns of the newspaper empire were handed over to his son, Sivanthi Athithan. The latter followed in his father’s footsteps regarding the newspaper’s politics, style and content. He also established the Maalai Malar in 1959, which was Tamil Nadu’s first evening daily. Following his stepping down in 2005, his son S Balasubramaniam Adityan has been in charge of the business and taking it forward into the future.  

Thanthi TV (A 24-hour news channel) and DT Next, an English supplement that accompanies the Tamil daily, were set up in recent years. While the paper retains its populist flavours, there are significant changes in its editorial style.

As things stand now, Dina Thanthi still retains its large circulation figures. The media group, especially the newspaper, still largely works on the tried and tested formulae of running a regional media empire as prescribed by SP Athithanar.

The Dravidian movement and Thanthi

When Dina Thanthi began its print-run in 1942, a strong Dravidian movement with EV Ramasamy or Periyar at the helm was sweeping across the state. The figureheads of the Dravidian movements were taking baby steps into electoral politics and needed taking their message and propaganda to the people then, more than ever.

Periyar was the president of the Justice Party from 1938 to 1944 and went onto establish the Dravidar Kazhagam (Dravidian Party) in 1944. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was also established by Periyar’s protégé CN Annadurai towards the end of the decade. This was also the time when there were strong anti-Hindi sentiments in the state.

The Tamil newspapers present at the time, regardless of being sympathetic or antithetic to the ideologies of the Dravidian movement, had little to no readership outside the Tamil intelligentsia. It was this gaping vacuum that Thanthi filled. SP Athithanar, apart from keeping the goings-on of the Dravidian movement and Periyar at the forefront of his newspaper’s priorities, also established his political outfit a couple of decades later, calling it Naam Tamilar Katchi (We are Tamils Party).

As Arunachalam Mari Sami, 81, who worked at the Thanthi from 1954 till 2007, recounts, “I was based in Tiruchi then and Periyar used to come to town often, staying at the Periyar Maligai.” Sami was the Editor of the newspaper from 1958 to 1962 and then went on to be the Editor of their popular weekly magazine, Rani, for the next four and a half decades. He adds, “I used to interview him often and was encouraged to travel with him across the state as well. At Thanthi, he and the party were highly respected, and we looked to give them as much coverage as possible then.”

Thanthi, whose news style was inspired by that of the Daily Mirror in England, proved useful in developing a cadre-based for the Dravidian parties.  Being the first paper to be printed in various towns across the state, people were, for the first time, delivered immediate news and didn’t have to wait for day-old newspapers that were printed in Madras (Chennai) to reach them. Its simple language style was easy to read and follow and many in the state, who had a cursory education, learnt and developed their Tamil reading skills through the Thanthi.

A voice for the non-Brahmins

The Thanthi was also the first newspaper that directly challenged the dominance of the Brahmin community in the Tamil media landscape. In the 1940s, the other Tamil newspapers, such as the Dina Mani and Swadesamitran, were decidedly under Brahmin leadership. SP Athithanar, who belongs to the Nadar community, was the first media-figurehead to emerge from another community. Since Kayamozhi had a significant Muslim population, many from the community were also hired and offered editorial and non-editorial positions at the Thanthi.

Athithanar predominantly hired from his community, especially his village of Kayamozhi in the Tuticorin district. While their hiring practises were questionable (details of which will be discussed in a later chapter), this developed an editorial team that was completely non-Brahmin.

Their approach to information-gathering, analysis and news priorities were significantly different because of this. With the Tamil language movement growing, the paper and the movement worked well, almost like a symbiotic relationship – with each feeding into the other and helping their respective reach and organizations grow.

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Sibi Arasu is an independent journalist based in Bangalore. He writes primarily on environmental issues and climate change. He has worked as a journalist for more than a decade and has written for several leading Indian and international publications, including the BBC, Hakai Magazine, Caravan magazine, The Hindu, The Times of India, and the Hindustan Times among others.

Link to the first part here.