Pothan Joseph (1892–1972) was a journalist in 20th-century India whose career spanned the twenty years before and twenty years after India's independence. He worked with notable people of the time such as

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, and

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. He was the first to write a daily political column for five decades, called 'Over A Cup of Tea', sprinkled with Biblical and Dickensian quotes. He also discovered and nurtured the Indian cartoonist Shankar, helping to make political cartoons a staple of newspapers. Pothan started or developed 26 newspapers. These included the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'', the ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...

'', and the ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

''. He was the first editor of ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'' in 1942 while it was based in New Delhi. He left ''Dawn'' to take a position with the government. Pothan Joseph guarded editorial freedom and demanded that editors support those who worked in the editorial wing and never encroach on their freedom. Even before unionization, Pothan also pleaded for proper payment to deserving journalists. His motto during his working life was "courage, vigilance and fidelity".

Biography

Early life and education

Pothan Joseph was born on 13 March 1892, to C.I. Joseph of Oorayil House, Chengannur, Kerala, India. He graduated with a degree in Physics from Presidency College in Madras (Chennai), and then took his LL.B. degree in law from the University of Bombay. He quickly abandoned ideas of a legal career, became a writer for the ''Hyderabad Bulletin'' and finally found his calling when he joined ''The Bombay Chronicle'' in 1918, then edited by B.G. Horniman.

Honors

Pothan served as the president of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists for numerous years. As a rule he shunned formal accolades, saying, "what is the use of moss to a rolling stone?" He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 1973.

References

External links

* J.V. Vilanilam, Former Vice-Chancellor, University of Kerala, in Media Mimosa 2008 January — March 2008, pages 89–93. * T.J.S. George. Pothan Joseph's India. A Biography. First published in 1992 by Sanchar Publishing House, New Delhi and printed by Allied Publishers Limited, New Delhi. A revised edition, under the title Lessons in Journalism: The Story of Pothan Joseph, was published in 2007 by Viva Books, New Delhi. . * cartoonist K. Shankar Pillai
Pothan Family Website
* A lecture series is established as a tribute to legendary journalist Pothan Joseph is part of the Journalism Mentor, India's first mentorship-based journalism course. It is a 14- month program designed for those who are interested in pursuing journalism as a career

* He was posthumously award India's civilian Padma Bhushan award in 1973 for Literature and Education: Padma Bhushan Awards (1970–1979).
History of Oorayil family

History of Thulasserymanapurathu, a family that migrated from west Asia to Kerala (Kollam) in the ninth century AD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Pothan 1892 births 1972 deaths Journalists from Kerala Malayali people Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education People from Alappuzha district Dawn (newspaper) editors Indian Christian writers