Embodying a magnificent legacy of Catholic communication, Jeevanadam is the premier media organ of the Roman Catholic community in Kerala. The Malayalam weekly, a tabloid in format, is published under the aegis of an episcopal commission of the Kerala Region Latin Catholic Bishops’ Council. It is envisioned as a collaborative venture drawing on resources from all the 12 Latin Catholic dioceses in the region.
It was launched on December 4, 2005 in Kochi, the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream of two of our great visionary prelates, Archbishop Dr. Daniel Acharuparambil of blessed memory and Archbishop Emeritus Dr. Soosa Maria Pakiam of Trivandrum. While heralding the advent of a modern-era media enterprise of standing and integrity, they were harking back to a glorious heritage that had to be redeemed.
Jeevanadam is intrinsically linked to the epoch-making history of Sathyanada Kahalam (The Trumpet of the Voice of Truth), the first full-fledged vernacular newspaper in Malayalam that was printed at koonamavu in the Apostolic Vicariate of Verapoly. The fortnightly that was brought out on October 12, 1876 by Luis Vaipicherry, the pioneering indigenous editor and Latin friar of the Tertiary Carmelite Congregation of Manjummel, continued its storied existence by its shortened title, Sathyanadam, being published from St. Joseph Industrial Press, Ernakulam. It set the gold standard of journalistic values, Catholic analyses and culture writing of great dignity and veracity and became the first Malayalam newspaper to celebrate its centenary, even as its latter-day version was as the Sunday edition of Kerala Times, a popular daily that made its impact on the civic and political life in Kerala in the second half of the twentieth century as a mouthpiece of the Latin community and a unifying force of solidarity among the backward classes.
The Latin community could boast of three mainstream newspapers in the state at a particular juncture: Besides the Kerala Times of the archdiocese of Verapoly, two dailies were brought out simultaneously from the diocese of Cochin – the Satvartha in Malayalam and the Indian Communicator in English. All the three were folded up due mainly to economic crunch.
Bereft of a communication media to safeguard the interests of the community and the underprivileged people, a strategy for revival of an essential social tool for mass appeal had to be evolved. And thus was Jeevanadam founded. Today, the challenge is to rebrand it amid the great turmoil of the social media onslaught and the looming threat of the fake news of all hues. The focus is to maintain its vitality and a sense of purpose in an ever-changing cultural landscape.
