Newspapers and journals in early Sri Lanka

Andrew SCOTT

Today Sri Lanka is flooded with all sorts of newspapers and journals and specially the Sri Lankan newspapers continue to influence the lives and activities of all of us. This has been so even during the very early period of the development of journalism in this country and it is quite interesting to delve into the history of early newspapers and journals in this country.

The first Sri Lankan newspaper which, in addition to commercial and administrative news, catered to the literary tastes as well, was the Ceylon Examiner which appeared in 1846. However, though it did not publish anything of literary value, the Government gazette which was started in 1802 is much older. As much as today, even on those days the Government gazette was exclusively for the publication of notices and advertisements.

In 1834, the Observer and Commercial Advertiser was started by a group of planters and later this paper took a political leaning opposed to the administration of Governor Horton. Three years later a group of civil servants started the Ceylon Chronicle, specifically as an opposing factor to the Observer and Commercial Advertiser. Subsequently this paper gave way to the Ceylon Herald.

A unique feature in papers and journals during the British rule was that most of the news and features that were published were about the political climate of London and its social atmosphere. Only a very little space was allotted to local news, however important it was. The Examiner was published as a literary supplement twice a month and this supplement introduced English poets and writers to the English educated people in Sri Lanka.

Until about 1840 literary periodicals in Sri Lanka were in the missionary hands and this had a tremendous impact on the development of English literature in Sri Lanka. During those days the missionaries published many newspapers and journals to spread their gospel. The Church Mission Magazine, the Colombo Religious and Theological Magazine and the Colombo Religious Trust Society magazine were some of the more important periodicals that dealt entirely on religion and doctrinal matters.

The Friend was dedicated to the moral reform and intellectual improvement of the colonial society. Articles on many themes of local interest were published in it. The Friend was very popular and many Sri Lankans made their first acquaintance with English literature through the Friend which became a famous journal even in India.

The Friend was succeeded by the Ceylon Magazine which catered to a variety of subjects. Even local citizens were given an opportunity to contribute articles to this magazine. In the first issue of the Ceylon magazine an article by Casie Chitty entitled ‘A brief notice of the philosophers, poets etc. ancient and modern, among the Tamils of South India and Ceylon’ was published. However, one of the earliest writers to the Ceylon Magazine was James Alwis whose articles were renowned for the intellectual stimulation they gave their readers.

It was only after 1842 that Sri Lankan writers began to publish much of their work, of course imitating the style of English writers. It seems that to people such as James Alwis and Ambrose Lorenz writing in English was an absorbing pastime. It is interesting to note that in the early years of journalism in Sri Lanka criticism of the official conduct of public servants was punished by deportation or even by the seizure of the printing presses which published such criticisms.

The first literary periodical conducted entirely and independently by Sri Lankans was Young Ceylon published in 1850. Young Ceylon had lasted for only two years as its editors returned to England. One of the earliest periodicals published in Sri Lanka was the Ceylon Medical Miscellany which provided a forum for the exchange of legal and medical opinions.

In 1869 appeared Muniandi whose aim was the chastisement of society. In its first editorial itself it stated: “Muniandi, looking down from his lofty perch, greets his cousins. Ages have elapsed since he last held intercourse with mankind, as recorded in the pages of many poets.

The world has since then been deprived of his wise counsel and pungent wit. No wonder that mankind has since then degenerated. Muniandi returns and finds folly and vanity, ignorance and wickedness, rampant.

There is work to do. Folly and vanity must be put down. Ignorance must be annihilated and wickedness must be punished.” This magazine lasted for about two years and during its lifetime it analysed the wickedness and vanity of the colonial society. Subsequently, the Ceylon Quarterly Magazine, published once a month, and a commercial newspaper called Punch or the Ceylon Fire-fly were published. One of the earliest comic magazines was Appuhami, published in 1890.

This was a magazine which directed its attacks on the early Sri Lankan society.

All these early English newspapers and periodicals contributed very much for the promotion of the study and appreciation of English literature (both prose and poetry) in this country and they provided a solid foundation for the development of English journalism in Sri Lanka which has come a long way since then. Today the country is flooded with both English and Sinhala newspapers and periodicals giving the reading public a wide range of reading material to choose from and they continue to cater to the needs of the young and the o ld, the educated and the not so educated. Today throughou t the country, people have become so used to reading newspapers that we cannot even imagine a Sri Lankan society without newspapers.