The Indian Express

The Indian Express is a key voice in the Indian media landscape, covering breaking news, current affairs, politics, business, sports, and culture. Founded in Madras in 1932 and known for its independent, sometimes biting editorial stance, IE, became a leading English-language newspaper under the four-decade leadership of Gandhi freedom fighter Ramnath Goenka.  Goenka's grandson, Viveck Goenka, is the current chairman and editorial director of the Indian Express Group. Journalist, novelist, and mechanical engineer Raj Kamal Jha is editor-in-chief.

In recent times, namely the Modi era, a challenging chapter unfolded for the paper as it fought censorship and suffered an erosion of editorial independence. 

Longtime readers notice the difference. Prateek Dwivedi, lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, has expressed concerns about IE's change in tone: “I have been reading the Indian Express for over two decades, and can safely say that the once staunch editorial page is losing its charm. While they were one of the few organizations to provide a balanced coverage of the Rafale scam (a 2018-19 military contract scandal, with allegations of overpayment to foreign corporations and favoritism in government awards), there has been a marginal but steady decline in the reportage of news that could be construed as government critique.” 

Dwivedi places blame on the increase in government advertisements behind their softer editorial stance and claims that for most media houses, “a major source of revenue are government ads and since 2014, the expenditure on said advertisements has increased significantly. It is common knowledge that most of these newspapers, IE included, are hence inclined to toe the government’s line, or rather go slightly easy on them.” (Note: In financial year 2023, the Central Government’s expenditure on print and electronic media advertisements saw a rise, totaling to ₹375.61 crore—USD$50 million. Source: Hindu Business)

Despite this, Dwivedi finds that Indian Express continues to be the newspaper of choice as it refrains from the blatant bias showcased by many of its competitors. However, he added that most of his colleagues and family members have switched to the Indian Express app, both for convenience and to avoid advertisements. 

The original Indian Express was launched by P. Varadarajulu Naidu, in Madras, now Chennai, in 1932. He sold the newspaper to Swaminathan Sadanand, owner of The Free Press of India news agency and The Free Press Journal the following year. The newspaper expanded to Madurai, introducing a Tamil edition, Dinamani in 1934. Sandanand sold a stake to Ramnath Goenka who subsequently gained full control in 1935. Goenka then bought Andhra Prabha in 1939, a prominent Telugu daily newspaper ("Three Musketeers" was often used to describe the three dailies, Indian Express, Dinamani and Andhra Prabha). The headquarters of the Indian Express shifted from Chennai to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1937, where the newspaper continued to thrive and grow in influence.

The Goenka era was marked by a commitment to free and fearless journalism. The paper actively covered the Emergency (1975-1977), facing government censorship, intimidation and legal pressure for its critical stance.

Over the years, the Indian Express has received numerous awards, including the International Press Institute’s Award for Outstanding Journalism, and continues to be a well-received and commercially successful journal. One of the top awards in India for print and broadcast journalism, The Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards (RNG Awards), are named after Goenka, post his demise.

After Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, two grandsons, cousins Manoj Kumar Sonthalia and Viveck Goenka, divided the parent group into two entities, with Viveck taking charge of Indian Express Mumbai and all North Indian editions, while Manoj claimed the Southern editions called the New Indian Express, under Express Publications Madurai Limited, of Chennai.

The organization has expanded its presence beyond newspapers and ventured into various other media platforms, including television and social media. Notably, IE’s Youtube channel hosts the popular talk show, the Express Adda, which has featured several public figures, including the Dalai Lama and Nirmala Sitharaman. The Adda has a global viewership of over 110 million. 

The Indian Express follows a subscription based business model, starting at ₹3/per day. Main editorial offices are in Noida, outside Delhi (executives and directors remain in IE's traditional base of Mumbai).

Raj Kamal Jha, editor, on Twitter/X and Linkedin