RaushanYoganta at 00:29, 28 December 2025

2025-12-28T00:29:42Z

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{{Short description|Indian American weekly newspaper}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| image = India-West - May 20, 2022 - page 1 - thumbnail.png
| image_alt = The front page of the May 20, 2022 issue of India-West
| type = Weekly newspaper
| owners = India-West Publications, Inc.
| publisher = Ramesh Murarka
| editor = Bina Murarka
| founded = 1975
| language = English
| headquarters = [[San Leandro, California]]
| ISSN = 0883-721X
| oclc = 42647750
| website = {{URL|https://www.indiawest.com/}}
}}

'''''India-West''''' is an [[Indian Americans|Indian American]] newspaper based in [[Northern California]]. Founded in 1975 as a monthly publication, it switched to a weekly format in 1978, and went fully digital in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murarka |first=Ramesh |date=June 1, 1978 |title=India-West To Become A Weekly In August |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/371411553/ |work=India-West |pages=2 |id={{ProQuest|371411553}}}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=June 23, 1985 |title=Paper offers news of India to immigrants |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PQwdAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA13&article_id=6799,4706442 |work=[[The Daily News (Kentucky)|The Daily News]] |pages=4B |publication-place=[[Bowling Green, Kentucky]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

At its peak, it was one of the two leading Indian American newspapers, alongside ''[[India Abroad]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Parekh |first1=Bhikhu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7geCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT171 |title=Culture and Economy in the Indian Diaspora |last2=Singh |first2=Gurharpal |last3=Vertovec |first3=Steven |date=2003-09-02 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-49052-3 |pages=171 |language=en |quote=India Abroad, published in New York City, is one of two major Indian immigrant news weeklies in the US. The other, India West, is published on the West Coast.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bayor |first=Ronald H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VxnOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT996 |title=Multicultural America: An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans [4 volumes] |date=2011-07-22 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-11993-7 |pages=996 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rangaswamy |first=Padma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yy-2xNW84dsC&dq=%22india-west%22+indian+american+media&pg=PA319 |title=Namaste America: Indian Immigrants in an American Metropolis |publisher=Penn State Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-271-04349-4 |pages=319 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacob |first=Varughese |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GW48DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Counseling Asian Indian Immigrant Families: A Pastoral Psychotherapeutic Model |date=2017-11-01|publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-64307-6 |pages=24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kurien |first=Prema A. |date=October 2003 |title=To Be or Not to Be South Asian: Contemporary Indian American Politics |url=https://doi.org/10.1353/jaas.2004.0020 |journal=Journal of Asian American Studies |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=261–288 |doi=10.1353/jaas.2004.0020 |issn=1096-8598|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite report |title=The State of Asian Pacific America: Policy Issues to the Year 2020. A Public Policy Report |date=1993 |publisher=LEAP Asian Pacific American Public Policy Institute and [[University of California at Los Angeles]] Asian American Studies Center |page=284 |isbn=0-934052-22-0 |quote=Community newspapers such as India West and India Abroad...carry some news of all the South Asian communities}}</ref> Co-founders Ramesh and Bina Murarka have been the publisher and editor for over four decades.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last= |url=https://archive.org/details/newspaperdataboo0000edit/page/102/mode/1up?q=indiawest |title=Newspaper data book : Encyclopedia of the Newspaper Industry |date=2016 |publisher=Editor & Publisher |isbn=978-1-930732-65-0 |location=[[Irvine, California]] |pages=102}}</ref>

Headquartered in [[San Leandro, California]], it also once operated bureaus in [[Los Angeles]] and [[Mumbai]].

The paper has received dozens of [[ethnic media]] awards.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2006-01-26 |title=Awards Honor Excellence in Ethnic Media |url=https://database.asianweek.com/paperPage?date=2006-01-26&page=21&esId=FPOXcHoB0731InNfgiX4 |work=[[AsianWeek]] |pages=21}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=Sep 13, 2002 |title=India-West Wins NCM Award |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/365312652 |archive-url= |access-date= |work=India-West |pages=A1 |id={{ProQuest|365312652}} }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=Oct 31, 2003 |title=India-West Wins Two Awards |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/365253373 |work=India-West |pages=A1 |id={{ProQuest|365253373}}|quote=India-West reporters Ashfaque Swapan and Rupal Shah are among the winners of this year's New California Media Awards, dubbed 'the ethnic Pulitzers' by 'The News Hour With Jim Lehrer.' The paper has won 19 journalism awards to date, more than any other Indian American publication.}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Awards |url=http://www.indiawest.com/awards.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824000152/http://www.indiawest.com/awards.aspx |archive-date=2011-08-24 |website=India-West}}</ref>

== Coverage ==
As a general interest newspaper, ''India-West'' has covered a wide range of topics related to Indian American communities.

It has featured interviews with Indian prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] and U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]], in addition to a wide range of South Asian and South Asian American artists, entrepreneurs, politicians, and community members.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Murarka |first1=Ramesh |last2=Murarka |first2=Bina |date=15 Jan 1977 |title=We're Not Harassing The People...Prime Minister Tells India-West In An Exclusive Interview |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/371409912/ |work=India-West |pages=1 |id={{ProQuest|371409912}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ku |first=Beulah |date=1992-06-26 |title=President Meets With APA Media |url=https://database.asianweek.com/paperPage?date=1992-06-26&page=1&esId=gMEt0XwB8Q5arktDFsuO |archive-url= |work=[[AsianWeek]] |pages=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Raghnuathan |first=Nimmi |date=September 16, 2022 |title=Ro Khanna: I Have a Great Relationship With the White House |url=https://indiawest.com/ro-khanna-i-have-a-great-relationship-with-the-white-house/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241107192746/https://indiawest.com/ro-khanna-i-have-a-great-relationship-with-the-white-house/ |archive-date=November 7, 2024 |access-date=February 13, 2025 |work=India-West}}</ref> It was also a publisher of the [[Government of California|State of California]]'s "On the Record" columns.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 2019 |title="On the Record" Column Participating Outlets |url=https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/On-the-Record-Column-Participating-Outlets.pdf |website=Governor of California}}</ref>

Researchers have studied or cited ''India-West''<nowiki/>'s coverage of Indian American acculturation,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Agarwal |first=Mansi |title=Acculturation in Indian ethnic print media in California: A study of "India-West" |date=2006 |degree=M.S. |publisher=[[San Jose State University]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/304913755/ |isbn=978-0-542-80872-2|id={{ProQuest|304913755}}}}</ref> immigration politics,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Pande |first=Somava |title="Documented or not": Critical discourse analysis of representation of national immigration reforms in Asian Indian ethnic newspapers |date=2016 |degree=PhD |publisher=[[Washington State University]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1878878688/ |isbn=978-1-369-61874-7|id={{ProQuest|1878878688}}}}</ref> businesses,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Brooks |first=Jonathan L. |title=American owned: Gujarati Indians in the lodging industry |date=2003 |access-date= |degree=PhD |publisher=[[University of California, Riverside]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/305340767/ |isbn=978-0-496-57181-9 |pages=184, 200, 222, 254–255 |work= |location=|id={{ProQuest|305340767}}}}</ref> labor,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Sharma |first=Preeti |title=The Thread Between Them: Affective and Intimate Labor in Los Angeles Threading Salons |date=2019 |degree=PhD |publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2276076660/ |isbn=9781085619752 |pages=49, 52, 58, 166, 193, 234–235, 238, 243}}</ref> gender,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Emerging Voices: South Asian American Women Redefine Self, Family, and Community |date=1999 |publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=0761992952 |editor-last=Gupta |editor-first=Sangeeta R. |pages=107–108, 115, 117–119, 135, 145, 219}}</ref> domestic violence,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Brommer |first=Stephanie JoAnn |title="We walk with them": South Asian women's organizations in Northern California confront domestic abuse |date=2004 |degree=PhD |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/305200582/ |isbn=978-0-496-84070-0 |pages=262–263| id={{ProQuest|305200582}}}}</ref> dance,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Saraswat |first=Shweta |title=Constructing Diasporic Identity Through Kathak Dance: Flexibility, Fixity, and Nationality in London and Los Angeles |date=2019 |degree=PhD |publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2282536435/ |isbn=9781085608138 |page=200|id={{ProQuest|2282536435}}}}</ref> theater,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Gerdsen |first=Jenna |title=Three Ramayanas on the West Coast of the United States: Cross-Cultural Adaptation in American Theatre |date=2015 |degree=M.A. |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Cruz]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1710109343/ |isbn=978-1-321-93277-5 |page=21|id={{ProQuest|1710109343}}}}</ref> and community organizations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prasad |first=Leela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vbmyhSXpMEC |title=Live Like the Banyan Tree: Images of the Indian American Experience: an Exhibition at the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies |date=1999 |publisher=The Historical Society of PA |isbn=978-1-4223-5821-4 |pages=59 |language=en}}</ref>

One of its most notable investigative reports exposed the presence of beef fat in [[McDonald's]] french fries marketed as vegetarian, leading to a high-profile lawsuit and public apology.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodstein |first=Laurie |date=2001-05-20 |title=For Hindus and Vegetarians, Surprise in McDonald's Fries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/20/us/for-hindus-and-vegetarians-surprise-in-mcdonald-s-fries.html |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-03-09 |title=McDonald's To Settle Suits On Beef Tallow In French Fries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/us/mcdonald-s-to-settle-suits-on-beef-tallow-in-french-fries.html |access-date=2025-02-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |agency=Reuters}}</ref>

== Relationship to other media ==
In 1997, ''India-West'' and its East Coast rival ''India Abroad'' opened up a shared office building in San Leandro, which ''India-West'' hoped to use as a headquarters, and ''India Abroad'' as a West Coast office; further plans for integration never materialized.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Potts |first=Michael W. |date=18 Apr 2008 |title=Pioneer Publisher Gopal Raju Dies |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/365354874/2FD0882DE57243BEPQ/ |work=India-West |pages=A1, A30 |id={{ProQuest|362726940}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Haniffa |first=Aziz |date=26 Dec 1997 |title=India Abroad-India West alliance is announced |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/362726940/ |work=[[India Abroad]] |pages=12}}</ref>

In the mid-2000s, ''India-West''<nowiki/>'s publishers ran a quarterly lifestyle magazine called ''[[Indian Life & Style]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Indian life & style |url=https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/1549-1838 |access-date=2025-02-14 |website=ISSN Portal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Life & Style |url=https://www.proquest.com/publication/publications_28245 |access-date=2025-02-14 |via=[[ProQuest]] |language=en |quote=Place of publication: San Leandro. Publisher: India West. ISSN:1549-1838. }}</ref>

In 2019, ''India-West'' acquired Southern California paper ''[[India Journal]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 Aug 2019 |title=India-West Announces Acquisition of Los Angeles-based India Journal |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2281719567/ |work=India-West |pages=A3, A14 |id={{ProQuest|2281719567}}}}</ref>

The paper has also collaborated with other publications, including joint coverage of the [[Lakireddy Bali Reddy]] trafficking case with the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Daniela Gerson, Carlos |last2=Gerson |first2=Daniela |date=2017-10-04 |title=How can collaborations between ethnic and mainstream outlets serve communities in the digital age? |url=https://americanpressinstitute.org/ethnic-mainstream-collaboration/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=American Press Institute |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Archives ==
''India-West'' is archived on [[ProQuest]]'s Ethnic Newswatch database, and since 2021, in [[NewsBank|NewsBank America's News]].

As a key chronicler of post-1965 Indian American life, it is frequently cited by [[South Asian Americans|South Asian American]] historians and researchers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leonard |first=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OixUUiSuLQC |title=Making Ethnic Choices: California's Punjabi Mexican Americans |date=2010-08-17 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-4399-0364-3 |pages=70, 234, 249, 259, 266, 289, 304, 312–313, 317, 327 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kowalewski |first=Albin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DutKAOxFSkoC |title=Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress, 1900–2017 |date=2017 |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-094356-0 |pages=497–498 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Kar |first=Rosie Naresh |title=What Can Brown Do For You? Citizenship and Desire: The South Asian Diasporic Body |date=2013 |degree=PhD |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1468679385 |isbn=978-1-303-53912-1 |pages=152, 162, 198–199, 250|id={{ProQuest|1468679385}} }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Indian-American culture]]
[[Category:Indian-American culture in California]]
[[Category:Publications established in 1975]]
[[Category:Asian-American press]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora mass media]]

India-West - Revision history

RaushanYoganta at 00:29, 28 December 2025