UKHRUL, SEP 14: Newmai News Network (NNN), one of Manipur’s longstanding news agencies, has announced the closure of its operations after more than two decades of service, marking the end of an era in the state’s media landscape.
NNN in a final release said it had decided to wind up its office and would no longer remain functional from the date of the notification.
The news agency was founded by editor Witoubou Newmai at a time when news and information from Manipur’s hill areas were in short supply. Having begun his career as a reporter with various newspapers, Newmai recognised the need for a platform that could gather and disseminate stories from areas that often remained beyond the reach of mainstream media.
NNN’s beginnings were far from easy.
At a time when smartphones, social media and digital newsrooms did not exist, NNN operated with limited resources. NNN said it did not even have the funds to afford a typewriter or computer in its early days, forcing its team to handwrite news reports and manually prepare carbon copies for distribution to newspapers.
From those modest beginnings, the organisation gradually built a network and its reports began appearing in newspapers across Manipur and later in other parts of the Northeast.
Over the years, NNN said it earned the confidence of editors, newspapers, journalists and readers, while contributing to bringing stories and voices, particularly from the hill areas, to a wider audience.
However, the media environment has changed dramatically since NNN was established.
The arrival of the internet, social media and digital news platforms has transformed the way news is gathered, distributed and consumed. Information that once took hours or days to reach newspapers can now be shared globally within seconds, while the number of journalists, reporters and digital news outlets has expanded significantly.
Against this backdrop, NNN said the purpose for which it was established had, to a considerable degree, been fulfilled.
“People, it can be perceived, are now far more equipped to tell their own stories, share information and reach the world at large even more directly,” the news agency said.
NNN said its decision to close was therefore being taken with a sense of fulfilment rather than regret, describing the move as an acknowledgement of changing times and an opportunity to make way for a new generation of journalists and storytellers.
“Every journey has an ending, and Newmai News Network chooses to end this journey with gratitude for having had the privilege to serve,” it said.
The release expressed gratitude to its readers, media houses, editors, fellow journalists, well-wishers and people across the Northeast for their support and trust over more than two decades.
From handwritten news reports and manually prepared carbon copies in its early years to the age of instant digital news in 2026, NNN described its journey as an exceptional one.
While the news agency will cease to function as an entity, it said the memories of its journey, the people it encountered, the stories it carried and the purpose with which it began would remain part of its legacy.
Reflecting on NNN’s closure, editor Witoubou Newmai told Ukhrul Times, “It was a long, bittersweet journey.”
With its closure, NNN leaves behind more than two decades of journalism, stories and memories from Manipur and the Northeast. What began as an effort to fill the gap in news from the hills grew into a trusted source for stories from the region.
