The chief editor of Malayala Manorama and a doyen of Indian journalism, K.M. Mathew, died at his residence in Kottayam early on Sunday morning. The 93-year-old veteran was a hands-on editor and had visited the newspaper office for an hour on Saturday too. At about 5.30 am on Sunday, he complained of suffocation and died half-an-hour later.
Mathew is credited with bringing professionalism to Malayalam journalism by pioneering many design and content changes in Malayala Manorama newspaper and its sister publications.
He was also the inaugurator of the people-friendly news writing of Manorama which other newspapers were forced to follow. “I want even a fifth-standard child to understand what is printed,” he had said in an interview.
Mathew, who was born in 1917, had witnessed as a youth the closing down of Manorama by the then Dewan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, and the jailing of his father, K.C. Mammen Mappilai, for supporting the freedom struggle.
He took over as the managing editor of the paper in 1953 and became its chief editor in 1973, steering it to great success. He was awarded the Padma Bushan in 1998.
President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed deep grief at his passing away.
Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan termed him a titan and CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said Kerala was pained at Mathew’s death.
The body of the veteran was kept at his residence in Kanjikuzhy for public homage and the funeral would be held at the Kottayam Puthan Palli church on Monday evening.