35 years of Nagaland Post

On December 3, 2025, Nagaland Post, the first newsdaily of the state, completes 35 years-a milestone etched not only in time, but in struggle, faith and endurance. It is an anniversary that invites celebration, yet demands humility; a moment to rejoice, yet equally a moment to bow our heads in gratitude to God, whose grace carried this newspaper through terrain that at times felt impossible to cross. The journey from 1990 to today was far from easy. It was a pioneering venture filled with dreams and determination but lacking in trained manpower and resources. Nagaland Post was born underfunded, under-equipped and undermanned. There was no capital to purchase a modern printing press of computers or offset machines. At a time when the world had moved ahead, this newspaper went to resurrect the vintage-hand-composed type set in lead, printed on an archaic letterpress whose creaks and groans became the heartbeat of a fledgling newsroom. In the earliest years, the editor was everything: reporter, proofreader, clerk, layout artist and messenger. There was no distribution network either; it had to be built from scratch-district by district, road by uncertain road. Yet the newspaper endured, not because circumstances were favourable, but because determination outweighed despair. Today, Nagaland Post is among the few in the region and the only one in the state to be accredited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC)-India’s most authoritative body for authentic circulation data. This recognition, earned through consistency and credibility, distinguishes the newspaper in a crowded media landscape. It is also the first daily in Nagaland to print in colour, and the first in the Northeast to introduce multi-page colour printing. These are quiet revolutions that widened the horizon of what local journalism can look like. Nagaland Post is the state’s first daily newspaper, meeting every standard of periodicity, reach, diversity of content and public relevance. The story of a single-page demy-sized dummy, that came and disappeared within a week, cannot be mistaken for a daily newspaper any more than suggesting someone climbed Everest just because he went to Kathmandu. Similarly, there is a difference between a bulletin and news letter for a few members from a newsdaily for sale and circulation. In fact, Naga News, a bulletin published over several decades diligently by the DIPR, comes closest to a daily in form though it remains a departmental bulletin with limited circulation and scope objective. Thirty-five years have brought hardship and reward in unequal measure, yet each challenge has been part of an invaluable education. Whatever has been achieved is owed to God’s blessings, and then to the unwavering loyalty of readers- schoolchildren then who are young parents today and college students then who today shape society in ways large and small. Their trust has been the newspaper’s greatest inheritance. As Nagaland Post marks this milestone, gratitude must walk hand in hand with introspection. Anniversaries are reminders not of what has been achieved, but of what remains to be done. For Nagaland Post, the task ahead remains unchanged: to serve society with clarity, courage and conviction; to remain faithful to the ideal of adding courage to truth; to move from this milestone to the next with integrity as our compass. To every reader who has stood with Nagaland Post through the ages-thank you. The trust you repose continues to write our story.