O Heraldo turns 120!

It is a common sight across the State of Goa, to see a citizen holding, walking with or reading a copy of the Herald. Some say it is a habit, others say they can’t start their day without reading the newspaper and for generations Herald has been the paper citizens have got their news from. 

Conversations with locals about the value and impact of Herald start with anecdotes about how their parents and grandparents would read Herald. 

Those were different times, and even before Goa got its liberation, Herald was there, as a Portuguese broadsheet daily newspaper. 

In fact, when it was later transformed into an English daily in 1983, by that time it was ‘the longest-running Portuguese-language newspaper outside of Portugal and Brazil’.

Before the advent of television and broadcast news and now online and digital media, the print media was a part and parcel of everyday’ lives. Moving to the 21st century, the newspaper continues to be a reference point and shares the pulse of the locals. The number of key events that have been reported in the last 120 years are staggering. 

88-year-old Rafael Viegas, who has chronicled and remembers Goa’s history as if it happened yesterday, speaks about Herald’s early days. 

“O Heraldo was started in 1900 by Messias Gomes, the founder and three other members including Dr Antonio Maria Da Cunha, who later had fallout with Messias and started his own Portuguese paper Heraldo. There were two Portuguese daily papers in Goa at the same time. When Messias returned to Goa from Portugal he was made the Professor of the Liceu and he continued with O Heraldo. The newspaper was a daily but had some interruptions in between. I used to read it till the year 1940, when I was 31 years old. Amadeus Prazeres de Costa, was the editor of newspaper in the 1940s till it was taken over by Antonio Fernandes. My father, Alvaro Viegas was the sub-editor for OHeraldo in 1921 when he was living in Panjim. When he moved to Margao, he worked as a sub-editor for ‘Ultramar,’ the first Goan Portuguese paper which started in 1859. ‘Ultramar’ closed down in 1942 because of the Salazar Regime. He then started working as a Librarian in Margao Municipal Library. The newspaper back then carried local news and social life. There was competition as well among newspaper. I was actively reading newspapers as my father would bring him all the newspapers for us to read right from my young age. We even had Portuguese newspapers coming from Portugal,” says the Curtorim based Viegas. 

Eduardo Faleiro, the former Federal Minister from Goa also recollects Herald’s inception. “The daily “O Heraldo” was created in 1900 by two eminent Goans, Prof Messias Gomes and Luis de Menezes Braganca. It was then the largest circulated Portuguese language newspaper outside Portugal and Brazil. Now, after Liberation, “O Heraldo” is being published in English and it is presently the oldest and the largest circulated newspaper in Goa. Its management also produces daily newspapers in Konkani and Marathi. “O Heraldo” should continue to inform and motivate our people in public interest for long years ahead,” adds the former Rajya Sabha MP. 

Other prominent citizens of Goa also spoke about the impact Herald has had over the years.  

“I’ve been reading Heraldo/Herald off and on since 1962. I recall Alvaro Santa Rita’s emotional farewell editorial, his evocative prose and the erudition and intellectual calibre of journalism of earlier times discovered in the course of my research. I am aware that Herald like Rashtramat has inspired and led Goa’s struggle to preserve its identity – opinion poll, Konkani as official language and highlighted the overreach of various governments and authorities. Today it is the paper to read for a wide range of news and issues on Goa. I’m particularly reassured that its columns publish the writing of young scholars who focus on issues fundamental to the preservation of what is most precious - communal harmony and liberal ideas,” says author and educationist Dr Maria Aurora Couto.

“Heartiest congratulations to O Heraldo and its team on completion of 120 years. Not all had access to newspapers those days. Radio transistors were also not available to all. Yet, O Heraldo had been the leading Portuguese newspaper in Goa giving news reports of happenings around the world including Goa. Places like the ‘barberia’ had to have a copy and this would be read over and topics discussed with great enthusiasm, which I witnessed even up to the mid-1970s. I am glad that it relentlessly canvasses and projects causes dear to the Goan heart, which is the soul of our beautiful land and its people,” says Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira, the former Advocate General of Goa. 

“Congratulations to Herald for completing 120 years and standing steadfast for journalism of courage and as voice of people, especially of Goemkars wherever they are. It has emerged as Goa’s leading daily read by every Goan. It continues to shape political opinions and pro-Goan sentiment. Herald has consistently supported public interest agitations and social activism. My best wishes to Team Herald,” adds Prabhakar Timble, educationist and political analyst. 

Others like author and associate professor Óscar de Noronha, who have fond memories about the newspaper and reiterate that it was read by their fathers and forefathers as well. 

“I’m a fourth-generation reader of Goa’s first daily. As much as I grieved the loss of the Portuguese edition in 1983, I looked forward with great anticipation to Herald as we know it today. Its arrival was timed to more or less coincide with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Retreat in Goa, which the paper then covered most delightfully. Eventually, Herald acquired a great reputation, thanks to its sustained campaign for recognition of Konkani as official language and Statehood for Goa. The paper has since been firmly ensconced in the heart of every Goan. I sincerely hope that Herald will continue to earn the trust and confidence of its readers and writers and forever be a people's paper par excellence,” adds Noronha.

“In the longest standing tradition of being the ‘Voice of the People’, the O Heraldo, has the honor of being a reportage that virtually spanned, two centuries. It carried the grand change over from the 19th century into the 20th. It reported from the heart of a colony and from there transitioned into a national daily, so smoothly, that its historical past became a rhetoric for its national affiliation.

My association with the ‘daily’ was creative speak. The daily was like a family member that graced the table like a grand old lady. From the headlines to the obituaries, I realized that this was the one news affiliate that mattered. I got feedback about my creative work, because people read... After I began my new journey this was among one of the few dailies that accompanied my climb. From reporting about the newest installation to all my nature-associate projects, the O Heraldo was my most vocal advocate. Some journeys are meant to be travelled together. My association with the O Heraldo has been like that,” says Maendra Alvares, artist and creator of Ancestral Goa & Big Foot at Loutolim. 

“O Heraldo is a name that has been deeply embedded in my childhood memories. The Portuguese newspaper was one of the most prominent newspapers my father, Dr. Jose Francisco Martins, subscribed to back in the day. O Heraldo over the generations has stood tall in support of Goa, Goans and our identity. It is one of the oldest Newspapers of Goa and now, it is not about only news anymore - it’s about the people. It has been a pleasure to read and to be featured in Herald Café over the decades. It was a matter of pride for me, as an aspiring actor in the 1980s, to appear in Heraldo in its editorials and on the front page.  Such support by the media does give confidence and boost to an artiste and I remain grateful.  I wish Heraldo and its team the very best on the occasion of its 120th anniversary,” adds Dr Meenacshi Martins, who is also one of Goa’s famous actors. 

Senior cardiologist and eminent personality, Dr Francisco Colaco concludes, by saying, “I’ve been an avid reader of O Heraldo since the days of the Portuguese. Thereafter, after liberation, Herald turned bi-lingual and now it is a full-fledged English daily. I am its assiduous reader until this day. I feel privileged that its editors allow me to contribute monthly op-eds. Herald has had a checkered career. The frequent change of editors and editorial policy leaves the readers befuddled. But I am glad that it has at its helm now a brave and well-motivated set of editors. Herald, commendably, minces no words to put on the mat even the powerful and their wrong-doings. But can Herald really claim itself to be “the voice of the people?” 

Opinions may differ but there’s no reason why Herald should not strive to do better!