Blitz (newspaper)

Blitz, was a popular investigative weekly tabloid newspaper published and edited by Russi Karanjia from Bombay. Started in 1941, it was India's first weekly tabloid and focussed on investigative journalism and political news.[1] It was published in English, and with editions in Hindi, Urdu and Marathi languages.[2] It ceased publication several years before Karanjia's death in mid-1990s, although there were some attempts to revive it.

For Portuguese music magazine, started as newspaper, see Blitz (magazine).

Blitz
TypeWeekly newspaper
Formattabloid
Founder(s)Russi Karanjia
EditorRussi Karanjia
Founded1 February 1941
LanguageEnglish, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi
Ceased publicationMid 1990s
HeadquartersMumbai, India
CountryIndia

History

First published on 1 February 1941,[3] it was a pioneer in investigative journalism in India,[4] Cartoonist R. K. Laxman's early cartoons were published in Blitz as were Abu Abraham's . Cartoonist Cecil Lancelot Dawes contributed heavily to Blitz and Karanjia. Cecil Dawes was known for his pocket advertisements. He also inaugurated the foundation stone of the Holy Family Hospital with Vice President of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. He also designed the logo for Ambassador Hotel, Delhi and "courage is destiny" for the Frank Anthony Schools in India and others. He was also well known to the founder of Oberoi Hotels. Cecil Dawes painted a huge glass picture for the opening of an Oberoi hotel in Delhi which he destroyed in a rage because Oberoi's son did not come fast enough to say hello to Cecil Dawes's baby son. His daughter Shirley Dawes also worked for Karanjia for many years before migrating to the west. Noted writer K. A. Abbas wrote popular column "Last Page", which ran for over 40 years.[3] P. Sainath, worked as deputy editor with Blitz for over a decade, before starting his career in writing for rural poverty and later winning the Magsaysay Award.[2]

Later in 1975, Blitz also started a film magazine, Cine Blitz, with, Karanjia's daughter Rita Mehta as its editor.[3] In 1983, criminal-politicians Gopal Rajwani and Pappu Kalani executed the brutal knife murder of the A V Narayan, sub-editor of Blitz.[5]

Karanjia founded a morning tabloid called The Daily for some years.[3] After reaching its zenith in the 1980s sales declined in the 1990s. In 1996, Karl Mehta, then managing director and publisher, and Karanajia's son-in-law reached an agreement with the Daily Mirror to publish news from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, The Independent and People magazine. At the time, chairman of United Spirits Vijay Mallya owned 8% stake in Blitz.[6]

Karanjia died on 1 February 2008, on the same day he started his newspaper 67 years earlier.[2]

The Bangladesh tabloid with the same name is unrelated.

gollark: But they might want you to spend money on non-server things.
gollark: I mean, nowadays you can get 128 cores in a single server, and it doesn't even cost that many kidneys.
gollark: Why would you want that?
gollark: I think a few decadollars per day, yes.
gollark: The reason for it over here is sensible if probably annoying for said students: they can charge exactly £9250/year to domestic students, which is magically loaned to you by the government, but no such restrictions exist for international students.

References
  1. The tabloid and the city, in Mumbai Fables, Gyan Prakash, Princeton University Press, 2010, p. 158-204
  2. Kulkarni, Sudheendra (2 February 2008). "He launched Blitz on Feb 1, died on Feb 1-it's no coincidence". The Indian Express. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
  3. "R.K. Karanjia: Living through the Blitz". The Hindu. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  4. "Russi Karanjia". Tehelka magazine. 16 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  5. "Sena leader Gopal Rajwani shot dead". Rediff. 25 January 2000. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  6. Menezes, Saira (29 May 1996). "A Renewed Blitz". Outlook. Retrieved 6 October 2018.


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