The Ceylon Observer

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The Ceylon Observer
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The Ceylon Observer nameplate.jpg
The Observer and Commercial Advertiser first issue.jpg
Front page of The Observer and Commercial Advertiser first issue, 4 February 1834
TypeDaily newspaper
Owner(s) Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited
Founded4 February 1834 (1834-02-04)
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publicationFebruary 1982
City Colombo
Country Sri Lanka
Sister newspapers
OCLC number 1781404

The Ceylon Observer was an English-language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL). It was founded in 1834 as The Observer and Commercial Advertiser and was published from Colombo. It ceased publication in 1982.

History

The Observer and Commercial Advertiser was started on 4 February 1834 by Colombo based British merchants. [1] [2] It was under the control of E. J. Darley who was also its first editor. [3] The merchants then appointed George Winter editor. [3] The paper was published on Mondays and Thursdays but later became an afternoon daily. [2] [4] In its first year the paper's editor and publishers were tried for libel after the paper printed a letter criticising the superintendent of police but were acquitted. [1]

Christopher Elliott, colonial surgeon for Badulla, became editor of the paper in 1835 and later its owner. [1] [3] Elliott changed the name of the paper to The Colombo Observer. [1] The paper was critical of Governor Wilmot-Horton's administration which resulted in a pro-government paper, The Ceylon Chronicle , being established by a group of civil servants in 1837. [5] [6] The Colombo Observer supported Governor Stewart-Mackenzie's administration but opposed the Campbell and Torrington administrations. [1] A monthly (later fortnightly, then weekly) sister newspaper, The Overland Observer, commenced in 1840. [3]

Alastair Mackenzie Ferguson joined the staff of The Colombo Observer in 1846 and bought the paper in 1859 after Elliott became the Principal Officer of the newly created Civil Medical Department. [3] [7] Ferguson's nephew John Ferguson joined the paper in 1861. [7] The paper changed its name to The Ceylon Observer in 1867. [3] [7] John Ferguson became joint-editor in 1870 and a partner in 1875. [3] Following A. M. Ferguson's death in 1892 John Ferguson became editor of the paper. [7] John Ferguson was succeeded as editor by his son Ronald Haddon Ferguson. [3]

The paper was bought by a company owned by the European Association of Ceylon in 1920. [8] D. R. Wijewardena bought the paper in 1923, adding it to his growing media empire (later known as Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited). [9] A Sunday edition of the paper, the Sunday Observer , commenced on 4 February 1928. [10]

In the early twentieth century The Ceylon Observer and its sister newspaper Ceylon Daily News actively campaigned for constitutional change in Ceylon. [11] ANCL and its rival Times of Ceylon Limited (TOCL) dominated the newspaper industry when Ceylon obtained independence from Britain in 1948. [2] The ANCL newspapers were seen as pro-United National Party. [2] In July 1973 the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led United Front government nationalised ANCL. [2] The legislation which nationalised the ANCL, the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Special Provisions) Law No. 28 of 1973, required broad basing of its publications but successive governments have failed to carry this out and ANCL is today still the largest newspaper company in Sri Lanka. Its various publications are slavishly pro-government irrespective of which party is in power. [2]

The Ceylon Observer ceased publishing in February 1982. [12] The Sunday Observer, which is still in circulation, is sometimes referred to being the same newspaper as The Ceylon Observer. [8] [13]

Related Research Articles

The Times of Ceylon was an English language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka published by Times of Ceylon Limited (TOCL). It was founded in 1846 as the Ceylon Times and was published from Colombo. It ceased publication in 1985.

Sunday Observer is a weekly English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka, published on Sundays. The Sunday Observer and its sister newspapers the Daily News, Dinamina, Silumina and Thinakaran are published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, a government-owned corporation. The paper, which was established in the present-day format in 1928, has roots that date back to 1834 when Sri Lanka was under the British rule. It is the oldest Sri Lankan newspaper in circulation apart from the Government Gazette. The current Editor is Dharisha Bastians.

The Ceylon Chronicle was a short-lived English-language newspaper in Ceylon. The newspaper started on 3 May 1837 with Rev. Samuel Owen Glenie as editor. Rev. Glenie was the Anglican Colonial Chaplain of St. Paul's Church and later Archdeacon of Colombo. Although owned privately by a group of civil servants, the newspaper took a pro-government stance and had the support of senior government officials. Governor Robert Wilmot-Horton, Treasurer Temple, Postmaster General George Lee, Acting Chief Justice Sergeant Rough, Auditor General Henry Marshall and Proctor Henry Staples all wrote for the newspaper. The Ceylon Chronicle was a counter-weight to The Observer and Commercial Advertiser which opposed the government.

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The Vanitha Viththi was a Sinhala language weekly newspaper in Ceylon published by Times of Ceylon Limited (TOCL). It was founded in 1957 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 23,215. It had an average circulation of 30,507 in 1973.

Dawasa was a Sinhala language daily newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 14 August 1961 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 55,000. It had an average circulation of 58,600 in 1970 and 83,285 in 1973.

Chinthamani was a Tamil language weekly newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1966 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 19,000. It had an average circulation of 35,000 in 1973.

Dinapathi was a Tamil language daily newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1964 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 11,000. It had an average circulation of 12,100 in 1970 and 31,337 in 1973.

Gitanjali was a Sinhala language weekly newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1964 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 15,000. It had an average circulation of 15,000 in 1973.

Riviresa was a Sinhala language weekly newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 20 August 1961 as Rividina and was published from Colombo. The paper changed its name to Riviresa in January 1963. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 170,000. It had an average circulation of 185,000 in 1973.

Sawasa was a Sinhala language daily evening newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1963 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 34,000. It had an average circulation of 18,812 in 1973.

The Sun was an English language daily newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1964 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 18,000. It had an average circulation of 6,800 in 1970 and 32,247 in 1973.

Thanthi was a Tamil language daily evening newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1967 and was published from Colombo. In 1967 it had an average net sales of 16,000. It had an average circulation of 10,020 in 1973.

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Visitura was a Sinhala language weekly newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded on 1962 and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 60,000. It had an average circulation of 20,000 in 1973.

Weekend was an English language weekly newspaper in Ceylon published by Independent Newspapers Limited, part of M. D. Gunasena & Company. It was founded in 1965 as the Weekend Sun and was published from Colombo. In 1966 it had an average net sales of 45,000. It had an average circulation of 48,590 in 1973. The paper later changed its name to Weekend.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Periodicals and Newspapers in Ceylon" (PDF). Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon. XXXI (4): 137–152. April 1942. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Karunanayake, Nandana (2008). "18: Sri Lanka". In Banerjee, Indrajit; Logan, Stephen (eds.). Asian Communication Handbook 2008. Singapore: Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. pp. 446–460. ISBN   9789814136105.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Beven, Francis. "The Press". In Wright, Arnold (ed.). Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon. Asian Educational Services. pp. 301–319.
  4. ↑ "Ceylon Times' begins publication". The Sunday Times . 9 July 2006.
  5. ↑ "Significant events in May: An English newspaper". The Sunday Times . 30 April 2006.
  6. ↑ Scott, Andrew (15 May 2012). "Newspapers and journals in early Sri Lanka". Daily News .
  7. 1 2 3 4 Martyn, John H. (1923). Notes on Jaffna – Chronological, Historical, Biographical (PDF). Tellippalai: American Ceylon Mission Press. pp. 205–206. ISBN   81-206-1670-7.
  8. 1 2 "The 'Observer' is 180 years old". Daily FT . 31 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Newspaper proliferation and the vanishing tribe" (PDF). The Nation . 20 May 2007.
  10. ↑ Chandrarathne, Ranga (3 February 2008). "Sunday Observer 80th Anniversary: Eighty years in print". Sunday Observer .
  11. ↑ Salgado, Upali (1 February 1998). "Those good ole days!". The Sunday Times .
  12. ↑ "1834–1982, English, Periodical, Newspaper edition: Ceylon observer". National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ "Till we meet again". Daily News . 1 March 2002.
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