In recent times there has been a wave of contemporary news curators on social media dedicated to delivering short form news. Short form content is making it easier for people to update themselves on trending topics. Cablgram and Nutshell Today are two such news portals founded by enthusiastic young individuals who wanted to keep the country informed with their concise and attention grabbing content. Recently, these two platforms decided to merge and become Tyger Media.
Why did Nutshell Today and Cablgram merge? How do you manage the platform and its full-time operations?
The idea behind the merger of the two platforms was to combine our resources to try and rebuild the media industry of the country to make it better. The structure for Nutshell Today and Cablgram was similar even before we merged. Right now, we are still separate platforms to a certain degree with two different teams working, but the parent company Tyger Media overlooks the two platforms run by young university students like us.
Nutshell Today was born when a group of friends were given a challenge to create something unique and scalable. As they were all students who had to consume a lot of information for research purposes, they were always well updated with trending news and happenings around the world. So they thought, why not put all of that to use and create content for everyone to enjoy. People these days do not have very long attention spans, therefore they don’t bother to read lengthy articles and often miss out on crucial information. As such, they created a social media page called the Nutshell Today and started to post a daily dose of bite size news to see the initial response of the market.
Shadman Sharar Haque, Co-CEO,
Tyger Media and Co-Founder, Nutshell TodayRifah Nawar, Co-Founder, Nutshell Today
Muhtasina Mehzabeen, Co-Founder & COO, Nutshell Today
Shazzadul Haque Rafi, Co-Founder & CCO, Nutshell Today
We ensure authenticity by verifying the news. So, we have layers of verification because unlike daily newspapers, we only publish around 6/7 posts a day which gives us the time to actually check and verify the news. The first step of verification is to source news from good reputable sources, news/media agencies and journalists who have done their research properly. Then at times if we are still sceptical about the content, we try to reach out to the original sources. Also at this stage, we have earned a lot of followers, so, their feedback is useful for us as well. For example, sometimes when we make mistakes the followers notify us in the comments section which draws our attention to it and then we can correct it. It has helped us to become better. We are constantly trying to evolve to bring out better content for our readers and currently, this is how we do it.
Nutshell Today and Cablgram combined have around 20-25 people working every day, and aside from that we also have a big team of volunteers who help us with the designing and writing. It’s a talented team of young people and I’m in awe of the creative prowess the youth of our country has to offer.
The mass adaptation of technology has allowed fake news to spread like wildfire. How can news media organisations step up to minimise its impacts?
When it comes to fake news the biggest challenge is social media. Social media has no barrier to entry which means anybody can create an account or a page. As long as people are using social media to consume news, it is going to be extremely hard to counter fake news. We believe that we can curtail the spread of fake news by creating reputable brands like The Daily Star. It is a brand that has been growing since its inception and has earned people’s trust through honest and responsible reporting. Nutshell Today and Cablgram is trying to emulate their standards and create a reputable brand that aims to counter the spread of fake news on social media channels by delivering authentic news.
Cablgram is the journey of four friends. While their aim did not centre on delivering bite size news, Cablgram wanted to be the go-to source of information for gaming and popular culture. As such, they created a social media page that would be the ultimate source of news for young people with regards to culture, gaming and entertainment. When they noticed that the short form content that Nutshell Today was delivering was very popular, Cablgram also joined the bandwagon and began to deliver news in that format.
Shihab Shahriar, Co-CEO,
Tyger Media and Co-Founder, CablgramIbnul Earfan, Co-Founder & COO, Cablgram
Arshad Uzzam, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Cablgram
Tanzil Kabir, Co-Founder & Chief Editor, Cablgram
How feasible is the business model of Cablgram and Nutshell Today in terms of revenue generation?
News needs to be delivered where the people are. People spend the majority of their time on Facebook and Instagram and that’s exactly where we drop our content. Not only Nutshell Today and Cablgram; all the news portals out there are also doubling down on social media marketing as much as possible. But it brings a new set of challenges. Since it’s not a platform dedicated for news, it is difficult to monetize it. The content posted there is free, whether it’s an article from The Daily Star or a photo with a caption from Nutshell Today or Cablgram, it’s free consumption for everyone. Therefore, we have to rely on advertisements, paid PR and sponsored content to be able to earn from our venture. Right now we are making the most out of social media to create a good follower base. Maybe, sometime in near the future we can transition them out from social media to a dedicated application. Although the our country doesn’t have a good track record of signing up for subscriptions and advertisements don’t fetch a big revenue, it’s a growing market. New avenues for sponsored content and PRs are opening up and we are very optimistic about the future.