Eenadu (; ) is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
It was founded by Ramoji Rao in 1974. He remained Chief Editor till 2020.
Name
Eenadu is a polysemic word which has two meanings in Telugu language "today/this day" and "this land".
History
Early days in Visakhapatnam
Eenadu was launched from Visakhapatnam on 10 August 1974 by Ramoji Rao, a businessman who had previously achieved success with Priya Pickles and Margadarsi Chitfunds. At that time, the Andhra Prabha, owned by the Indian Express Group, was the leading regional newspaper.
Initially, the circulation of Eenadu was limited. When launched in the city of Visakhapatnam, it wasn't able to sell more than 3,000 copies a week. Eenadu found itself struggling to become a daily publication among publication. However, it was popular in certain regions and rivalry was still an issue. Eenadu hired a new set of directors to be part of its key decision and management group which drove it towards what it is today: the most highly circulated newspaper in the region.
Expansion to other regions
Eenadu began with a print order of 4,000 copies, composed by hand and produced using a second-hand printing press. But by the time it was admitted into the Audit Bureau of Circulations in 1976, its circulation had already reached a readership of 48,000. By 1978, Eenadu surpassed Andhra Prabhas circulation and, by 1995, two other rivals Andhra Patrika and Udayam folded, leaving Eenadu with over seventy-five percent of the audited circulation of Telugu dailies.
Its expansion has partially been attributed to its use of regional dialects, colloquialisms, idioms and sarcasm in its reporting, as well as colorful pictures with captions.
When Eenadu expanded to Hyderabad in 1975, it divided the city into target areas, recruited delivery boys three months in advance and handed out the paper freely for a week. During the 1980s, technology enabled Eenadu to spread over larger areas beyond only the main cities. Earlier, it was difficult to manage even the three editions of the 1970s (the Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Hyderabad editions) because the only communication facilities available to the publication at the time were the telegram, telephone, and teleprinter, all of which had limited presence in rural Andhra Pradesh.
Political impact and TDP support
Support of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) by Eenadu has been recorded since the party's foundation in 1982. This has been attributed to Ramoji Rao's disdain for the Congress government, to the point that he planned to create a regional party on his own accord, and a personal rapport he formed with party founder and leader N. T. Rama Rao, who he had first doubted but eventually saw political potential in. Another factor that has been cited is caste politics, with both Eenadu and the TDP being perceived as Kamma-oriented organisations and both Raos being Kammas themselves, although this view has been challenged. During the 1983 elections, the party and the paper formed a symbiotic relationship as Eenadu not only publicised, promoted and ran positive stories on Rama Rao's campaign, but also gave more direct support, such as utilising its network of journalists to inform and advise Rama Rao on local issues for his stops and designing party advertisements through Ramoji Rao's marketing agency. This coverage led to a massive increase in subscriptions, with Eenadu going from a circulation of 230,000 copies to 350,000 in the six months of Rama Rao's electoral campaign and becoming one of the state's most popular newspapers. The TDP would go on to successfully sweep the election, making Rama Rao the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and over half a million copies were printed of Eenadu to declare this victory. Reportedly, Ramoji Rao sent a bill to Rama Rao for 3 million (30 lakh) rupees for the assistance he had given to the campaign. In response, film personality Dasari Narayana Rao and industrialist Gireesh Kumar Sanghi would launch pro-Congress newspapers of their own and eventually become members of the Rajya Sabha on the Congress ticket.