NEWS FEATURES HOW-TO OPINIONS TOP10 GALLERY VIDEO Aires OO ae en eo PCMag India | Software Reviews | Internet - Products | [Feature Social media has killed the newspaper: Author Andrew Otis talks about India’s first newspaper and more BY JHINUK SEN FEB. 25, 2019, 6:44 P.M. Hicky's Bengal Gazette, where it all started and where it's headed f ¥ in ? Who reads newspapers anymore? This a question we have asked ourselves often. The print is dead, or dying, discussion has been going on since 2012. But yet, newspapers have survived it all. The industry is alive and the press’ are running and there are enough ads to prove all speculations wrong, the revenues keep rolling in And this gets us wondering, where did it all start and where is it all headed? Some of us, thanks to a course called the History of English Literature that we had to study while in college, know that Hicky's Bengal Gazette was India’s first newspaper. But that’s all we knew about it. No details, no follow-ups. Therefore, when we learned about a book called Hicky’s Bengal Gazette: The Untold Story of India's First Newspaper - we had to find out more. We caught up with author Andrew Ortis to find out all about Hicky’s Bengal Gazette and how he thinks the industry has shaped up since. And well, 2018- 2019, we obviously had to talk about fake news and libel and the possible death of the newspaper. Here’s what he had to say: Why and how did you decide that you wanted to write about Hicky’s Bengal Gazette? | knew | wanted to write a book on Hicky’s Bengal Gazette since August 2011, when | researching 18th century colonial newspapers in the British Library in London. | was on a grant from the University of Rochester, where | received a BA | wanted to write a book on Hicky’s Bengal Gazette because it’s an amazing story. | also wanted to correct the historical record and to provide a complete and nuanced view of India’s first newspaper. When | first came across James Augustus Hicky | was surprised that a lot of what | had read about him was rubbish; almost everything about the man who founded India’s first newspaper was so incomplete or biased as to be useless. | fell in love with the story of India’s first newspaper: an editor who sacrificed everything for freedom of the press, called on the people to rebel against the British East India Company, and questioned the Governor General's manhood. There was drama, suspense, and so much nuance. At first, | wasn’t sure if | was the right person to write a book on Hicky. As an American, | felt like an outsider. | knew nearly nothing of Indian or British history. | also didn't want to exoticize India or further colonial narratives. But | thought that being an outsider might give me a fresh perspective. Plus, | had some experience in India — | had lived in Hyderabad as a student for six months, and | had written a thesis comparing struggles for freedom of the press in British South Africa and British India. For these reasons, | thought | could tell the story of India’s first newspaper in a balanced and fair way. What sort of research went into writing this book? About two years of on-the-ground archival research went into my book (the whole process of researching and writing took five years): a little over a year in India, about half a year in England, and another few months in Germany. | read old letters, newspapers, and court documents, working from these sources to construct the story. A lot of my research involved cross checking sources and pursuing leads. | went on a lot of wild chases in India for documents, such as Minutes of the first Supreme Court of Bengal, which had been last seen in 1911. | traveled for weeks to find these old minutes, going back and forth between Kolkata and Delhi. At one point | got myself into the Supreme Court of India, and ended up randomly walking between court rooms and offices, asking anybody if they had seen of these them. | was never able to find the minutes. | tried finding Hicky’s descendants (never found any), but what | really wanted were primary sources, so | avoided interviews. | was devoted to the truth and made sure to source every quote in my book. Hicky’s Bengal Gazette seems to be a great model for print journalism, especially considering what we are seeing in news these days, where do you think Hicky lost ground and stopped publication? (Allegedly Hicky was ‘suppressed’ when Hastings issues fresh lawsuits against him, and the types were eventually seized by the Supreme Court, but was that all that was needed to stop real, and provocative, journalism?) Hicky is a great model for absolute courage in reporting. | like to say Hicky was fearless but flawed. Hicky reported on the corruption of leading East India Company officials. But he was also sloppy and made unverified claims. Hicky wrote that Governor-General Warren Hastings had erectile dysfunction, and reported that one of Hastings’ top military commanders had gotten himself circumcised to be ‘more pleasing’ to one of the Muslim women of his harem I'm skeptical about Hicky’s ability to verify these claims. Hicky was the only person in India willing to publicly oppose Hastings. But Hastings’ used his dictatorial power to suppress Hicky. First, Hastings forbid Hicky from mailing his newspaper through the post office. Then, when Hicky hired his own private mail carriers, Hastings sued Hicky for libel. Hicky didn't stand a chance. Hastings had bribed two of the three judges of the Supreme Court. The judges sentenced Hicky to jail. But Hicky kept printing his newspaper from his jail cell for another nine months (how he did so | could never discover). Finally, Hastings sued Hicky again. The Supreme Court had to issue a special order seizing Hicky's printing press and that was the end of India’s first newspaper. About free speech, libel and false news. Tell us your thoughts. Free speech is one of the most important rights that someone living in a democracy should have. It allows people to criticize their rulers, and have free and open discussion. That right comes with responsibilities, such as treating others with respect and dignity. When politicians preach violence, then that right disappears. No one should ever have the right to threaten or encourage bodily harm against others. | hold this truth to be universal. | don’t know where | stand on hate speech. On one side, jailing someone for being hateful doesn’t make them less hateful or solve root problems of racism. On the other, hate and racism should never be tolerated. | think more is needed than banning expressions, such as increasing acceptance in society. India’s has good laws protecting freedom of the press, but | think they could be stronger. In civil actions, the defendant has to prove that any statements they made were true or were fair comment. | think the onus of proof should be on the prosecution, like in the U.S, where the prosecution has to prove the publisher acted with ‘actual malice’, or with ‘reckless disregard’ for the truth Ultimately, libel should be used to counter malicious falsehoods, such as those spread by conspiracy websites like Infowars. These are the real ‘fake news’, It is hard for most publications to function the way Hicky's Bengal Gazette did, but what can we possibly learn, and execute, from the ‘guys who did it first’ in a very ideal situation? One thing we can learn from Hicky’s Bengal Gazette is the importance of criticizing one’s rulers. A free press that is allowed to investigate and print without restrictions is essential to democracy. No democracy can survive without a free press. Hicky paid dearly for exposing the corruption of his fellow countrymen, spending years in jail, but he never gave up. He was called an ‘insolent scoundrel’ during his time. But ultimately Hicky is now revered as the founder of India’s first newspaper and a tireless champion of freedom of the press. The lesson that modern newspapers can learn is this: history is watching you What do you think plagues newspapers the most these days? | worry that the owners and managers of India's major media companies will not have the courage to defend freedom of the press. The Cobrapost sting deeply shocked me. Two dozen news organizations were exposed offering to write favorable stories in support of the ultranationalist Hindutva agenda in return for cash. These news organization, like the Times of India, should be defending the public interest. Instead they offered to peddle nationalist propaganda. It's totally unethical and a disgrace to journalism. It also reduces public trust in journalists. If the public can't trust journalists then what hope is there for journalists to protect democracy? Would you start your own version of the Bengal Gazette if you could? And what would it do differently from papers we get today? That sounds like a lot of work. If there's anything | think Hicky’s Bengal Gazette would do differently from newspapers today is that | don’t think Hicky would have taken a paid news piece. No amount of money would make him compromise his morals. Are there things you learned while researching for this book that you haven't put it in there? There is one thing | didn’t put in my book because | didn’t want to speculate: who did Hicky marry, or whom did he cohabitate with? Many male Europeans cohabited with Indian ‘bibis’ since there were so many more male than female Europeans in India