emerged on the scene of journalism in the state, because the Telugu Newspapers recruited them at Mandal level i.e., a cluster of 15 to 20 villages. About 8000 such correspondents are working for various newspapers in 1996. Most of these correspondents did not have any professional background of journalism.

Some of them were self-taught and picked up the threads of journalism in short time, while a large majority of them required a little help by way of professional advise and guidance. There was need to provide them access to professional inputs on various topics of journalism, such as the Law of libel, the law relating to the privileges of the members of Assembly and Parliament, the concept of Code of Ethics in journalism etc. It was with this need in view that the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) proposed setting up of a Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh at its annual conference in Suryapet of Nalgonda district in the year 1992, a demand readily conceded by the then Chief Minister Sri N. Janardhan Reddy.

The Governing Council of the Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh was constituted by the Government vide G.O.Ms.No.67 General Administration (I&PR) Department., Dated 24-02-1996.