The newspapers during the freedom struggle functioned with the aim to create awareness on social issues, to help them to participate in the national movement and to treat any problem any where as a national problem. Indian leaders depended on new papers to promote nationalistic ideologies.
Journalism was a social service. They criticized the British policies. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the first to launch the news paper with the national perspective. His Sambath Kaumudi in Bengali, Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian focused on social reformation, democracy and nationalism. Following the same, many reformers and national leaders published newspapers in regional languages.
The British imposed strict measures to control the power of press. The Vernacular Press Act by Lord Lytton in 1878 was one among them. As it restrained the freedom of press in regional languages, the British withdrew the act after a massive protest. The protection, circulation and reading were a part of freedom struggle during those days.
