Introduction to Punjabi News Media
If there’s a language that has truly embraced exuberance and hospitality, then it’s the 9th most spoken language in the world, Punjabi. With a history of origin dating back to the 7th century, Punjabi has had an indubitable influence on the Indian subcontinent. It is prominently used in the areas of Punjab (India & Pakistan), Jammu region, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the National capital city Delhi. Despite spoken by over 130 million people in the world, India is the only country wherein it has garnered an official status.
Broadly categorized into 3 major dialects (Malwa, Majha, Doaba), the Majha dialect has been chosen as the standard for all official communications including administration and education. Although Punjabi speaking people are extensively settled in other parts of India, the newspapers and journals are produced and developed in the Northern regions only. Punjabi language newspapers are widely published in India, few areas of Pakistan and western countries such as Canada, USA, UK and Australia.
As far as Pakistan is concerned, the language lacks patronage from the government and thus could never evolve as a mainstream language like Urdu. Therefore, the actual evolution through journalism and activism happened in the Indian part only. Pakistan that has the largest number of Punjabi speaking people in the world but the country hasn’t given the language an official status. Thereby, India leads the newspapers business.
Like most regional languages in India, Punjabi newspapers too rose to mass consumption in early 20th century when the revolutionary sentiment against the British was brimming. Since there wasn’t any better tool of resistance than the newspapers, Punjabi journalism grew explosively through these years. As per the historians, over 80 newspapers and journals were introduced in the starting of the 20th century that were mostly capturing the sentiment of the common Indian against the British rule.
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre & The Indian Freedom Movement
The infamous Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919 was the event that compelled more activism through journalism in the Punjab region. Capitalizing upon the rising independence movement, more newspapers came into existence. Poets such as Charan Singh Shaheed were greatly instrumental in using literature to bank upon the public anger. Followed by more incidents like this, political journalism in Punjabi became more proactive until India gain independence.
Post-Independence era
With the advent of popular newspapers like Ajit (1941), Punjabi newspapers were religiously driven. While the intention of all the publications was to promote Sikhism, most of them continued the overhaul after the partition and reached more people. Ajit and other leading papers such as The Tribune migrated their operations to India and expanded rapidly.
Furthermore, these papers were a great reference for any other publications to venture the markets of Punjab. Prominent names such as The Punjab Kesari was proactive in reporting the militancy in late 70s and 80s. Infact, the publication’s founded Lala Jagat Narain was assassinated for his upfront journalism against the militants.
Punjab Media Today
After 100 years of existence, Punjabi journals have expanded their reach beyond the print media to digital platforms. Though the media is extensively influenced by the communal pitch, the publications have reached Punjabi speaking people beyond Sikhs. Henceforth, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Jain Punjabis are equal contributors to the propelling industry.
Here’s a detailed lineup of the Punjabi media publications broadly categorized into –
A. Newspapers in Punjabi
B. News websites in Punjabi
A. Newspapers in Punjabi
As the language is officially used in the Indian state of Punjab, there’s a swathe of publications that have come up in the past few decades. Here’s a quick run through the top Punjabi newspapers published in India and other countries.
Jag Bani
After tremendous success to the Hindi newspaper Punjab Kesari, popular founders ventured into Punjabi language with Jag Bani in 1978. Jag Bani is a widely read newspaper and often praised for its liberal outlook. Jag Bani came into being at a time when the state of Punjab was drenched in the terror atmosphere.
However, the paper, led by its founder Lala Jagat Narain didn’t surrender to the threats and continued exposing those behind various attacks in the state. Unfortunately, in 1981, the editor was assassinated by a terror organization led by Bhindrawale for exposing the latter’s lies. However, the paper didn’t step back and bravely continued publishing against the terror groups.
Jag Bani benefits from the vast legacy of the parent group and thus was able to connect with the masses in a short time. It is one of those few regional language papers with equal following in the urban as well as rural areas. Till date, the newspaper is hailed for successfully executing unbiased and brave reporting. Jag Bani is also credible for promoting a plethora of independent columnists.
The paper covers a comprehensive lineup of topics such as state and national politics, international news, sports, entertainment, healthcare, real estate, crime, etc. Not to miss, the paper features weekly columns from prominent leaders of different areas such as national journalism, politics, business and more.
Currently, the newspaper is printed from Jalandhar & Ludhiana while it is distributed across the length and breadth of the Punjabi speaking region. The group’s first newspaper Punjab Kesari (Hindi) is one of the most popular regional language newspapers in India and continues to garner widespread readership along with the Hindi Samachar (second Hindi) and the Navodya Times (English) papers.
| Founded by | The Punjab Kesari Group |
| Founded in | 1978, Jalandhar |
| Political ideology | Liberal |
| Headquarters | Jalandhar |
| Reach | Punjab, Haryana & Delhi |
The Tribune
The Tribune is one of the oldest and the most widely read English newspaper in Punjab and surrounding areas. With a rich history dating back to the 19th century, the newspaper was founded by Dyal Singh Majithia in Lahore. As a popular philanthropist, Dyal Singh Majithia wanted the Punjabi population to have their own local publication that could voice their opinion in the state affairs.
Henceforth, on 2nd February, 1881, The Tribune came into being in Lahore as a daily newspaper. However, the aftermaths of partition had adversely affected businesses in Punjab and The Tribune was no different. After the shutting the business for a few months, the publication shifted base to the city of Ambala in East Punjab in India. Within a few years, as the new capital city of Chandigarh came into being, Tribune developed new headquarters and started operating full throttle from there.
As of today, the newspaper is widely published and distributed in Chandigarh, all major cities of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
As a mainstream newspaper, Tribune does comprehensive reporting of happenings in Punjab, India, World, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Politics and Culture. Not to miss, the newspaper is a favorite among editorial columnists.
Given the rise in the readership, the paper soon introduced a Punjabi newspaper known as Punjabi Tribune and Hindi paper known as Dainik Tribune. Managed by the Tribune Trust, the publication follows a Centre Left political alignment.
| Founded By | Dyal Singh Majithia |
| Founded in | 1881, Lahore |
| Political ideology | Centre Left |
| Headquarters | Chandigarh |
| Reach | Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi |
Ajit
Starting with the list, Ajit is one of the oldest and currently the most widely read Punjabi newspaper in the world. Just a few years before the partition (1941) when freedom struggle movement was at its peak, Ajit emerged as a leading medium to spread a word of the leaders in the Punjab region.
Since the Punjabi language was mostly written in the Shahmukhi script at that time, Ajit was an Urdu weekly published from the Shaheed Sikh Missionary College in Amritsar. It was widely distributed in the entire Punjab region (Present day Punjab of India & Pakistan, present day Himachal Pradesh and Haryana).
Ajit Singh Ambalvi was its first editor with a motive to put forward the Sikhism ideologies. A year later in 1942, the paper shifted its base to Lahore which was the epicenter of all the action from the independence struggle movement.
Post-independence, the publication shifted its base to Jalandhar, India while the script was changed to Gurmukhi in 1955. Not to miss, noted freedom fighter and journalist Sadhu Singh Hamdard took charge as the editor in chief.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of Sikh Empire in India, had encouraged the development of Punjabi journalism when he ruled the undivided northern state before Independence. However, Punjabi journalism took its shape after the Christian missionaries brought out publications in Punjabi in the early half of the 19th Century. The first printing press in Punjab was established in Ludhiana in 1809.
Keeping intact its heritage, the newspaper continues to follow a conservative political belief in its opinions with a focus on promoting Sikhism and Punjabiyat across the world. Extensively published and distributed in Northern India, the newspaper business is being managed by the Sadhu Singh Hamdard Trust from the headquarters in Jalandhar. Besides Punjab, the paper is distributed in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Jammu.
The trust also runs a parallel Hindi newspaper titled as Ajit Samachar and an Urdu paper titled as Daily Ajit Urdu. The online portal caters to the audience in the digital space and publishes a lineup of topics.
| Founded in | 1941, Amritsar |
| Founded By | Ajit Singh Ambalvi |
| Headquarters | Jalandhar |
| Run By | Sadhu Singh Hamdard Trust |
| Political Ideology | Conservative |
5 Dariya News
Adding to the lineup of digital publications, 5 Dariya News is one of the most detailed websites in the business. The website, that is available in English, Hindi and Punjabi features news articles from over 50 topics broadly categorized into – Home, National Leaders, Must Read, Entertainment, Sports, Education, Punjab, Haryana, H.P, J&K, Elections and Ladakh.
In fact, it is the only news website that has a dedicated section to feature exclusive news from political parties active in the mentioned areas.
5 Dariya has an interesting context to its name and the philosophy. Dariya means river and hence the name translates into 5 rivers. Further translating it into Persian, 5 rivers means Punjab.
The website is dedicated to the very first map of Punjab that included the present day Punjab, Haryana, H.P, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and selective areas of Pakistan. Not to miss, the paper has an extensive editorial section wherein articles for a diverse range of lifestyle topics are published.
Besides the said geographies, 5 Dariya News has been proactively reporting news features from rest of India and the world. With an impressive social media presence, the website has successfully established a strong foundation among English, Hindi and Punjabi readers. Given such huge audience groups, 5 Dariya News has become one of the top 3 Punjabi news websites.
Launched in 2011, 5 Dariya News is headquartered in the city of Mohali. While the publication uploads daily epapers, they aim to extend the reach of their print papers beyond the local geography.
Rozana Spokesman
Next on the list is Rozana Spokesman, a daily Punjabi newspaper published from Mohali – Chandigarh area and widely distributed all across the state. Ever since its inception, the paper has managed to enlist itself amongst the most popular papers in this league.
While the paper has repeatedly claimed of not having any political inclination, it has been highly critical of the SAD party and their government tenures. Rozana Spokesman was founded as a weekly newspaper by the renowned Lok Sabha speaker Hukam Singh.
He was also He had played an active role in freeing Sikh Gurudwaras from British influence. Later on, he became the governor of Rajasthan in 1967.
As an ardent believer of Sikhism, Sardar Hukam Singh authored many books before venturing into a mainstream weekly English newspaper. Launched in 1951, Rozana Spokesman is one of the oldest Punjabi newspapers of independent India. In 2005, it was graduated as a daily Punjabi and English language newspaper.
As of today, Rozana Spokesman is widely known to cover state and national level politics. Published in English and Punjabi, the paper has a dedicate column for farming that caters to vast literate population of the region indulged in the profession. The paper has a daily blog wherein current affairs across politics, sports, entertainment, health, etc. are written about in detail.
| Founded By | Sardar Hukam Singh |
| Founded in | 1951, Delhi |
| Headquarters | Chandigarh |
| Political inclination | Neutral |
| Reach | Punjab, Haryana & Delhi |
Punjabi Tribune
Punjabi Tribune is one of the top 3 Punjabi language newspapers with an impressive readership count in the urban areas of North India. It is managed by one of the oldest publishing entities in Punjab, The Tribune Trust. Founded by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a banker and philanthropist, The Tribune Trust came into being in 1881 in Lahore as English daily.
In a short span, the publication dominated the English journalism industry in then Punjab region and played a criti8cal role in India’s freedom struggle. However, the aftermaths of partition drastically affected the publication’s business until they shifted base.
Post partition, the trust shifted base to Ambala (then Indian Punjab and now in Haryana) with a vision to expand business in other languages. While the newly built capital city of Chandigarh was catering to an educated population, the publication took no time in establishing a new headquarters building in the city.
After the Hindi-Punjabi agitation that led to Punjab’s disintegration into Punjab, Haryana and Himachal, The Tribune Trust aimed to nullify the communal tensions with its 2 new newspapers each in Hindi and Punjabi in 1978.
With a very lean circulation The Punjabi Tribune is often credited for its utmost modern outlook in columns and opinions. It is printed and distributed from the organization’s headquarter in Chandigarh, India.
The Tribune is looked upon as the regional paper with the most forward outlook and a neutral political inclination. It is being governed by a panel of 5 trustees. The trust’s oldest publication was an English daily titled as The Tribune and one of the most widely read newspapers in the country. The Hindi publication is titled as the Dainik Tribune.
| The Tribune Trust founded by | Dyal Singh Majithia in 1881 |
| The Punjabi Tribune first release | 1978 Chandigarh |
| Headquarter | Chandigarh |
| Political Ideology | Neutral |
Punjabi Jagran
If there’s any newspaper that took detailing to a whole new level, then that’s Punjabi Jagran. It is one of those rare newspapers that have an exclusive edition for more than 10 cities of Punjab. It also has dedicated editorials for Canada, US, UK, Australia and others.
Currently, the newspaper is widely read in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bathinda, and Patiala, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala and other areas of Punjab. It is owned by the Jagran Parkashan Limited, a pioneer publishing house in Indian journalism.
Jagran Parkashan is the largest single group with regional language newspapers most languages in India. They launched Punjabi Jagran in 2011 and in a very short time; it emerged as the fastest growing Punjabi newspaper. Today, Punjabi Jagran has a growing readership across print and digital formats.
Given the strong backing from a national level group, Punjabi Jagran has started to gain traction on the global platform. It has a long lineup of topics such as politics, sports, astrology, religion, entertainment, national current affairs, education, business, Cricket, technology and NRI. Ultimately, the newspaper has become a trusted choice for most advertisers.
| Founded By | Jagran Parkashan Limited |
| Founded in | 2011 |
| Political inclination | Neutral |
| Reach | Punjab, Haryana, Delhi |
Nawan Zamana
Nawan Zamana means ‘New Age’ and signifies India’s vision towards a new era of modernization just after gaining independence. Launched in 1952 by the Arjan Singh Gagraj Foundation, Nawana Zamana has been instrumental in reporting the transforming fate of state politics and its impact on the Punjab region. Since Punjab had to incur huge losses of life and property after the population migration happened during the partition, Punjabi media in those times adorned the responsibility of containing the negative fascist sentiment.
This led to a highly depressed state of affairs. Therefore, newspapers such as Nawan Zamana played a key role in educating the masses about the government policies. Soon after its inception, noted freedom fighter, journalist and parliamentarian Jagjit Singh Anand was roped in as the editor who continued the service for 50 years until his demise in 2015. As a prolific writer, Jagjit Singh Anand never surrendered to the death threats by extremist groups.
During the period of terrorism in Punjab, the paper and its editor faced several attacks for criticizing the separatist movement. However, the publication continued its brave efforts of exposing the illegitimate agendas of the movement. Despite being a parliamentarian himself, Jagjit Singh Anand never looked back from criticizing politicians of all parties.
As of today, the publication has graduated to a digital medium wherein it provides updated news from politics, sports, music, entertainment, national affairs etc.
| Founded By | Arjan Singh Gagraj Foundation |
| Founded in | 1952, Jalandhar |
| Headquarters | Jalandhar |
| Political Alignment | Left Democratic |
| Reach | Punjab |
Sach Kahoon
Sach Kahoon is one of the most widely read Punjabi newspapers in and outside Punjab. Run by the Dera Sacha Sauda Trust, Sach Kahoon claims to have lakhs of readers across its Punjabi and Hindi publications in Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Founded by the hugely controversial public figure, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, Sach Kahoon has been criticized for being a medium of propaganda about its founder. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was a profound spiritual leader with millions of followers in Northern India, mostly Punjab.
Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as successful in using the newspaper as a tool to publicize the social works of his trust across education and healthcare sectors. However, the infamous trial of the leader in cases of rape and murder put all his initiatives under scrutiny including the newspaper. The media house has been blamed for covering up on the criminal cases against the alleged founder Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh by falsifying facts.
As of today, the trust is being closely monitored by the government and so is the publication business.
Sach Kahoon continues to publish the quotes and essays from its founder followed by the standard news coverage in politics, crime, sports, international news, healthcare, agriculture and more. The publication’s headquarter is in the city of SIRSA IN Haryana. Moreover, the publication runs a daily blog, weekly magazines and publishes everyday epapers for all editions.
Sky Hawk Times
Founded by Bhupinder Singh in 1998, Sky Hawk Times was started as an advertisement magazine in Mohali. It is the only daily evening Punjabi newspaper in the tricity region of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. It wouldn’t be wrong to comment that the paper’s growth happened in parallel with that of Mohali.
As of today, Sky Hawk Times is one of the most popular Punjabi newspapers offering press correspondence, newspaper, magazines and advertisement services. The publication also adorned the digital version of the paper in the form of a full-fledged news website.
The newspaper covers an extensive range of national and international news in politics, sports, entertainment, horoscope and weekly editorial columns. The publication also runs an alternative blog by the same name.
This is one of those few Punjabi newspapers that discuss national issues in detail. Moreover, given the impressive popularity of the paper among the urban readers, it plans expanding to other parts of the state.
While daily epapers cater to a wider interested audience outside Mohali, the paper plans to expand its print business to other major cities of the state.
Ajj Di Awaaz
Ajj Di Awaaz is a daily Punjabi newspaper founded in the city of Jalandhar. Despite being fully operated from the Doaba region, this one has a growing following in the Malwa belt that comprises of cities such as Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Mansa, etc.
The newspaper has a neutral political alignment and widely covers news from Punjab, India and the world. Besides a fully functional news portal, the publication uploads daily epapers for all categories.
Not to miss, this is one of those rare papers with exclusive editions for all the major cities. Synonym to its name, the paper has a staunch focus for covering current affairs of mass influence. The paper has dedicated columns for sports, national news, politics, breaking news, etc.
The publication has recently graduated to live video news through an online channel known as the ADA TV (Ajj Di Awaaz TV). Jalandhar continues to serve as the operational headquarters.
Rozana Pehredar
Rozana Pehredar is a daily Punjabi newspaper published from Ludhiana. Founded by the renowned scholar of Punjabi culture and history, Jaspal Singh Heran realized the dearth of a daily paper that would cover national and international news with Punjabi culture as its prime focus.
This was done to attract the interests of all age groups and ultimately sustain the spirit of newspaper reading in the youth. Within a short span from its day of inception, Rozana Pehredar reached impressive readership count in the city of Ludhiana.
Widely popular as the ‘Sikh newspaper’ Rozana Pehredar is widely popular in the Malwa region of Punjab and further distributed to major cities of other belts. Rozana Pehredar extensively covers state and national politics, editorial specials on Sikh history and culture, entertainment, sports and religion. The daily paper is backed by a dedicated blog that caters to global readers through both Punjabi and English languages.
Daily Punjab Times
Daily Punjab Times is a daily Punjabi newspaper most popular in the Jalandhar region. It was founded by the experienced media group PT Live Private Limited under the leadership of Baljit Singh Brar. Started with a mission to promote Sikh culture and report news from the community, Daily Punjab Times has graduated to a full-fledged publication covering news across a variety of subjects such as Punjab, National, International, SUNDAY Magazine, Editorials, Business, Literature, Entertainment, Career and Health. Headquartered in Jalandhar, the publication’s venture into a live news broadcasting service has met with great success.
Punjab Mail USA
Following the official Gurmukhi script, Punjab Mail has a staunch focus towards featuring news from all the parts of the Indian state. The publication features news from a lineup of categories such as politics, sports, crime, entertainment and religion. The paper also features an online news portal wherein daily epapers are uploaded.
Punjab Mail is a daily Punjabi newspaper headquartered and published in Sacramento, California.
Daily Hamdard
Daily Hamdard is one of the oldest and the most popular Punjabi daily newspapers outside India. Started as a weekly newspaper in early 90s, the paper was meant to cater the growing Punjabi population in parts of North America, mostly Canada & the US.
Ever since its inception, the paper focusses on major news from India, Canada and US across a variety of topics such as politics, sports, entertainment and others.
As of today, the paper is run by the Hamdard Media Group, which is one of the most reputed publication houses dealing in Indian regional languages. The paper rolls out 4 exclusive editions for Vancouver, New York, California and Toronto.
With millions of subscribers, the paper aims to fill the needs of other regions wherein Punjabi speaking people thrive for a dedicated newspaper.
Daily Hamdard also runs a news channel that streams on a number of IP platforms. Daily epapers for all the editions can be found on the publication’s official website.
The Times of Punjab
The Times of Punjab is one of the new Punjabi newspapers circulated daily across the major regions of Punjab. With a neutral political alignment, Times of Punjab has been proactively covering news of national importance. However, due coverage to incidents of international significance are also published. Given the rising number of readers in the digital space, The Times of Punjab has rolled out a daily website featuring all the major news, epapers and weekly editorial columns from the experts.
Chardikala
Chardikala means the ‘spirit of culture’ in Punjabi and that’s exactly what the newspaper by the same adheres to. With a publishing presence of over 40 years, Chardikala is one of the oldest newspapers in the Punjabi language. The daily newspaper has a strong foundation in the Malwa region of Punjab with extended distributions in other parts of Punjab, Haryana, J&K, Himachal and Delhi. It is printed in Patiala and Delhi and aims to expand its base in other territories also.
The parent organization, The Chardikala Group is well known for running a chain of educational institutions named ‘Shri Guru Harkrishan Group of Public Schools and Colleges’ in Patiala, Chandigarh and other parts of the state. Given the backing from politicians of the SAD party, Chardikala has a staunch preference towards the group. However, the publication never admitted to it and justified with its inclination for Sikh philosophy.
As of today, the paper is widely known to promote entertainment, Punjabi Virsa (culture), artists, businessmen, sports and politics.
| Founded By | The Chardikala Group |
| Headquarter | Patiala |
| Ideology | Sikhism |
| Allied Publications | Monthly Chardikala, Bharat Desh Hamara |
Daily Aashiana
Daily Aashiana is a popular Punjabi newspaper printed and distributed in the city of Patiala. It covers a wide range of topics such as politics (state & national), sports, entertainment and business. An alternative news portal caters to the Punjabi audience on the digital medium. It is also supported by a web news TV series titled as ATV News (Aashiana TV News). Besides growing readership in the Malwa region, the publication plans to expand to other parts of Punjab. Daily epapers can be accessed from the publication’s website.
Janjagriti
Daily Janjagriti is a daily newspaper published and distributed from Ludhiana to other parts of Punjab. With a focus on covering Punjab in detail, the newspaper includes incidents of national impact also. The alternative blog in Punjabi attracts substantial traffic and stands as one of the popular digital posts.
Jammu Prabhat
Jammu Prabhat is the only newspaper published in the Dogri language. Dogri is an extended dialect of Punjabi language and extensively spoken in the Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the northern regions of Punjab in India. Although it is also spoken in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir but the language enjoys an official status in India only. The newspaper is published in the Devanagari script and claims to have an impressive circulation in the regions. As a leading newspaper of its league, Jammu Prabhat focusses on the political uprising in the region and also translates it into Urdu through a separate newspaper. Since Jammu & Kashmir attract a lot of international readers, Jammu Prabhat epapers are daily published on the official blog site.
Desh Doaba
Desh Doaba is a daily Punjabi newspaper widely read in the Doaba region of Punjab. Doaba in English means the land between the 2 rivers. As the most fertile and prosperous belt of Punjab, Doaba caters to highly literacy rate among the population. Addressing to the same, the paper caters to the readers who are interested in news of national as well as international significance. Alongside the paper, the publication also runs a blog that features daily news among a lineup of categories. Desh Doaba covers news across Punjab, India, World, Sports, Entertainment and Religion. This also makes it one of the first online blogs to have focused on a particular region of the state. Daily epapers can also be read from the publication website.
Akali Patrika
Launched in 1920, Akali Patrika is one of the oldest Punjabi newspapers. Introduced as Akali, the newspaper was aimed at publishing Sikh religious columns. This was done to educate the readers about the major happenings within and related to the community.
Given the brimming independence movement in those years, Akali played a greater role in publishing about major leaders in India and the world. Not to miss, the paper stands witness to both the world wars and the role of British Indian soldiers in those battles.
As of today, it is known as Akali Patrika and managed by the Shiromani Akali Dal which is also a renowned name in Indian politics. Despite a targeted readership in Punjab, the news portal / paper focuses on major issues of national importance also.
Published from Jalandhar, the media wing also has an online news portal to cater to a wider audience.
Awaaz Qaum Di
Awaaz Qaum Di is a daily Punjabi newspaper published from the Malerkotla town of the Sangrur district in Punjab. As a popular newspaper in the region, it covers major political news from the state and the national level. Since, Malerkotla doesn’t have a popular representation in the Punjabi journalism, Awaaz Qaum Di aims to fill the gaps with its epaper service. The epaper services have been kept free to attract more readers.
Desh Videsh Times
Desh Videsh Times is an online newspaper with major traffic flocking from India and Canada. However, the publication has attempted to circulate physical copies in selected areas of both countries with mild success. Headquartered in Ludhiana, the paper, following its neutral political approach widely covers topics such as such as politics, business, market analysis, entertainment, sports and weekly editorial columns from industry experts.
Daily Dharaledar
Daily Dharaledar is a daily Punjabi newspaper published and circulated from the city of Patiala. The paper is decently popular in the Malwa region of Punjab and the adjoining regions of Haryana. Founded by popular journalist Dr Harnam Singh Dardi, Daily Dharaledar aims at covering maximum news in the given space. It is also a preferred paper for readers interested in regional politics and other important news of state and national importance.
Daily Janta Express
As per the name, Daily Janta Express is an evening Punjabi newspaper published every day. Headquartered in Chandigarh, this is one of the rarest Punjabi newspapers that features news and columns of economical and industrial context. With a growing readership among the businessmen, Daily Janta Express is slowly expanding presence in areas of Punjab & Haryana. The paper widely discusses market trends & analysis, politics and government policies. This one is highly popular among the urban population.
Daily Sanjhi Khabar
Daily Sanjhi Khabar is a Punjabi newspaper founded in the city of Fazilka near Bhatinda. Fazilka is one of the most fertile lands for cotton production and exports high quality products to rest of India and the world. Therefore, the newspaper caters to the local industrial community with focus on updated news about the market trends. The paper is also published from the city of Mohali.
Desh Sewak
Desh Sewak was founded by Harkrishan Singh Surjeet under the ‘Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna group’ banner. Started on 1 Jan 1996, the newspaper has its headquarters in Chandigarh with many journalists from The Tribune shifting to the newly launched paper. With more than 2 decades in the business, the paper carries extensive experience in covering political news. Besides, the paper has been instrumental in introducing a series of editorial magazines. There’s also a daily news blog that publishes news of state and the national level in sports, entertainment, healthcare, crime and others.
Doaba Headlines
Doaba Headlines was founded by Ram Singh Aulakh on May 26, 2002 with an ambition to put forward the issues of the Doaba belt. The paper is headquartered in Nakodar, a town that hosts one of the most prestigious Sufi music festivals in the world. Therefore, the paper aims at promoting Punjabi artists across diverse areas. Not to miss, the paper publishes major headlines from those international countries wherein people from the Doaba area have migrated to. The publication does most of the printing from Jalandhar.
Kalam Di Jubani
Kalam Di Jubani is a daily Punjabi newspaper published and managed from the Bassi Pathana town in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. With a focus on rural affairs, the paper has decent presence in regions of Patiala and Ludhiana. The paper uploads daily epapers on its official website. Other major topics covered include state politics, business, crime and sports.
Malwa Mail
Malwa Mail was founded by Phool Mittal in 2006. It is published from the Bagha Purana area of Moga district and widely distributed in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The paper mostly covers regional affairs with respectable focus on national incidents also. Renowned Punjabi writers submit their articles to the paper’s editorial column. As a weekly newspaper, Malwa Mail covers major headlines from around the country. It covers politics, sports, entertainment and other essential news of mass impact.
Rupana Samachar
Rupana Samachar is a daily Punjabi newspaper with a staunch inclination towards promoting Sikh history and culture. As the only newspaper published from Shri Muktsar Sahib, Rupana Samachar is widely distributed in other parts of the state followed by selective regions of Haryana. However, following up with the trends, the paper publishes content in other categories such as entertainment, state and national politics, sports and healthcare. It has a strong presence in the Malwa belt of the state.
Daily Suraj
Suraj is a daily Punjabi newspaper published from Ludhiana and widely circulated in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh UT areas. With a steady yet growing subscriber count, the paper is enables affordable advertisement for small to medium scale businesses. Besides covering usual topics such as politics, crime, healthcare, entertainment and sports, the paper has exclusive sections for poetry and agriculture. Ludhiana being a prominent industrial city, the paper reports trade and business news in detail.
Khuli Soch
Khuli Soch is an evening Punjabi newspaper started in Ludhiana 2012. True to its name that translates to ‘Open Thought’, the paper is hailed for its brave reporting. The paper is printed from Ludhiana, Sangrur and circulated to all parts of the state. Synonym to its name, the newspaper follows a neutral political alignment and does brave reporting of all the issues.
B. News websites in Punjabi
Most contemporary publications in Punjabi media chose to go digital without any presence in the print formats. These include small scale startups that aim to go mainstream after succeeding in the digital space. Punjabi news websites services are available across all major countries with Punjabi population. Here’s a list of the most popular Punjabi news websites and journals.
Yes Punjab
Yes Punjab is one of the fastest growing news websites dedicated to Punjabis in Punjab, Haryana and the rest of the world. The portal was started by journalist HS Bawa in 2012. Given the professional experience spanning over 2 decades, HS Bawa has successfully made Yes Punjab among the top 5 most widely read Punjabi news websites. Ever since its inception, the website has not deviated from covering news from all the regions of Punjab and the neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Available in English and Punjabi, the website publishes news features exclusively for Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, India and the rest of world. Keeping intact to their philosophy of promoting Sikh culture, there’s a dedicated section titled Sikhs that features news and other articles relevant to the community. Moreover, the editorial sections of the website cover entertainment, lifestyle and other trending topics of mass interest.
As one of the most reputed online blogs in the league, Yes Punjab’s venture into videos has met with tremendous success. The portal runs a live news channel to keep the audiences hooked about the happenings in real time. The videos section of the publication is broadly categorized into Movie Trailers, Religious Videos, News Videos, Hindi Movie Trailers and Punjabi Movie trailers. The magazine is widely popular across social media accounts and is being followed by millions of youngsters from all over the world.
Punjabi News Online
Started from a small village in Bathinda district, Punjabi news online In an endeavor to push Punjabi in the digital spectrum, Punjabi News Online was launched as a small scale website publishing news and other general articles in Punjabi. Given the explosive rise in the consumption of digital content, the website matured into a full-fledged news portal. As of today, Punjabi news online claims to have an impressive audience count in 1300 cities across 70 countries. Sukhnab Singh Sidhu dedicated the website to promote Punjabi content and thus encouraged a lot of journalists from different media agencies to make contributions. Operated by the VPO Web International Media, the news website is dually managed by teams in India and Canada.
Ever since then, the portal has been covering news of state, national and international importance in detail. There’s an impressive lineup of categories such as politics, crime, sports, entertainment, business, healthcare and home care. Not to miss, there are weekly editorial columns that cater to different preferences. The website denies having any inclination towards a specific political party. Besides a dedicated column for special editorials, the news website caters to the Punjabi readers abroad through the ‘pravasi’ section.
Quami Ekta
Quami Ekta was started as an online Punjabi newspaper in California in 2002. Since there were not many Punjabi publications active in the region, Quami Ekta aimed to fill the gaps by reporting major headlines especially from India. The major topics covered in the website include Punjab, India, International, Punjabi Culture, Literature, Entertainment, weekly editorials and Sports. Given the tremendous success to the online portal, the paper graduated to a print format and is circulated on a weekly basis. Both the online and the print papers are available in English and Punjabi.
Interestingly, unlike other newspapers, Quami Ekta is available for free which further makes it a popular choice among the migrant workers. In California, it has been hailed as the fastest growing Punjabi language newspaper of the region. As claimed by the publication, this is only Punjabi newspaper that is completely designed and printed in the U.S. Besides the major happenings in Punjab and India, the paper also covers local news.
Nirpakh Awaaz
Translated as ‘Unbiased Voice’ in English, Nirpakh Awaaz is an online news portal in Punjabi with comprehensive coverage of all the incidents. One of the key highlights of the newspaper is the editorial categorization as per the 3 regions of Punjab – Malwa, Majha and Doaba. The publication claims to have maintained a neutral political stand and that clearly reflects in the journalism approach. Also available in English, the news website published weekly columns from popular public figures. Nirpakh Awaaz has dedicated columns for Agriculture, General Knowledge, Entertainment, Crime and Politics. The publication is headquartered in Chandigarh.
Punjab Post
Punjab Post is a Punjabi news website published from Amritsar and has a visible inclination for promoting Sikh culture and traditions. The news portal covers news of state, national and international importance across politics, entertainment, sports, crime and literature. The blog also features a dedicated editorial section that publishes selective articles from different authors. Keeping in mind the popularity of Punjabi content among those living outside Punjab, the blog has started publishing an English news website.
Azad Soch
Azad Soch is a daily Punjabi newspaper published from Patiala and widely circulated throughout the states of Punjab and Haryana. Keeping intact to its name that translates to ‘Freedom of Thought’, the paper puts forth an opinionated approach towards news covered extensively from India. Their alternative news website is daily published with an array of categories such as Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Business and more. Daily epapers can be accessed from the publication website.
Indo Times
Indo Times is one of the most popular Punjabi newspapers in the Australian continent. Founded in 1998, the newspaper catered to the Punjabi readers in Australia and New Zealand. With a focus on reporting news from the Punjabi community in the region, the paper covers important updates from Punjab and the rest of India.
Since immigration holds greater importance for the Punjabi people, the newspaper has been proactive in educating the readers about the updated policies. However, as the paper became more popular, other important topics such as Entertainment, Sports, Food & Health, Business, Religion, Science, Travel, Fashion, Beauty and special editorial columns were included in the mainstream paper.
In an endeavor to reach global readers, the publication introduced their digital platform that features a variety of content alongside mainstream news headlines. Daily epapers are uploaded on the publication’s official website.
Jagat Sewak
Jagat Sewak is a popular weekly Punjabi newspaper published from Bagha Purana in the Moga district of Punjab. The paper is extensively distributed in Punjab, parts of Haryana and Delhi and covers news from various industries. The media house also has a live TV channel on YouTube. The publication aims to make it a daily newspaper and attract more readers.
Punjab Express (Italy)
Punjab Express is one of the very few online news portal published and managed from Italy. Catering to the Punjabi population in Italy and other parts of Europe, Punjab Express focusses on news from Italy, Europe and most importantly India. The online journal has a keen interest in literature as evident from different categories of art, essays and poetry. The different categories in the website translate as National, International, Legal News, Legal Guide, Brotherhood Italy, Chandigarh, Books, Authors, Stories, Video News and Photo Gallery.
Punjab Infoline
Punjab Infoline is a news website and epaper service based in Chandigarh. Owned by the Fastway Media group, the publication reports major political news from the state capital. While the website restricts to major headlines on the website, the epaper does detailed news coverage like any mainstream publication does in a broadsheet format. As Chandigarh is home to people of mixed lingual and cultural backgrounds, Punjab Infoline is available in Punjabi, Hindi and English.
Conclusion
Although Punjabi newspapers and websites have earned a repute in every major country of the world, they have not completely moved on from restricted religious boundaries. Not only is the ideology putting their credibility to question but also keeping the best of the talent at bay. As discussed, most of the newspapers and websites came into being out of an ambition to promote Sikh culture followed by additional reporting on other subjects. In fact, most publications, despite decades of presence have not succeeded as seamlessly as they should have.
Unlike other regional newspapers of India, those published in Punjabi have a greater responsibility of taking a non-communal stance. Keeping intact to their mission of promoting cultural heritage, the media publications must give more space to issues of national and international significance. Punjabi publications must adhere to change and emerge instruments of social and economic betterment.
However, rapid industrialization in the Punjab region and greatly improvised literacy rates have produced a more learned audience. Going forward, a swaddle of new publications in the print and digital space are anticipated to enter the business, making it more progressive and promising.
Amidst all this, the teams at MediaBuzz are committed to feature a thorough coverage of all the publications from the Punjabi media. While our writers carry great zeal to back quality articles, we look forward to the feedback from our readers.
Please help us with your answers for the below questions in the comment section.
- What are the top five Punjabi newspapers?
- Did we miss any deserving newspaper or news website?
- What are your views on the political inclinations of different Punjabi newspapers?
- Which are the top three politically neutral Punjabi newspapers?
- What are the best Punjabi newspapers for business, entertainment and sports news?
- Is there any particular newspaper that caught your attention?
- Which Punjabi newspaper do you read from the above list?
- Do you have any other information related to Punjabi newspapers?
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