Press Release Summary = A new web startup is trying to change the way news is made and consumed in India.
Press Release Body = You must have heard it all - Citizen Journalism, Web 2.0, Crowd Sourcing, User Generated Content, AJAX, Distributed Media and Social Bookmarking. What happens when you make a mash up of all these ingredients? You get something like Younews!
Launched today and still in beta, Younews (http://www.younews.in)is the latest addition into the Indian Web 2.0 space. A new Internet startup that may likely change the way news is reported and read by people, at least online. \"The site is all about user powered content. Younews gives you, the user, the power to decide which news in actually newsworthy. This helps in bringing up and keeping alive topics which the nation thinks is important while presenting to a casual visitor to the site the most important news as the nation sees.\" says Aravind Chandrasekaran, founder Younews.
Unlike traditional news websites, Younews does not have editors or reporters. An user registers on Younews and submits news stories and web links which he likes. These stories immediately come up on the upcoming section of the website where other users read and vote it up if they like it. Once a story gains a sufficient number of votes, it gets published on the front page of Younews under the appropriate category. This way Younews promises to take citizen journalism to a new level by democratising the whole process of news gathering, reporting and publishing.
The concept is not new. Younews founder Aravind says he was inspired by the extremely popular technology oriented site Digg.com which pioneered this way. \"Digg.com operates in its own space. Though quite popular in the US and internationally, I found not many of my net savvy friends here in India knew about it. But they liked the concept. That\'s where I saw the opportunity for Younews. A website that targets a niche Indian market with news that matters to them.\" says Aravind.
India\'s phenomenal growth rate in terms of Internet penetration and online news readers in recent years is definitely throwing up lot of opportunities for startups like Younews. Social media sites like YouTube and Digg have been able to get tons of traffic by letting people be a part of them. As Aravind says \"The possiblities are limitless. You could have Younews for reviewing products, movies, shopping deals or even stocks. Companies can add a few things to gain valuable market insight. But as of now Younews is only going to concentrate on news. If the success of Digg.com is any measure then I guess Younews will do well too. Am just looking for some startup capital for promotion and further development work.\" Younews does seem to have a lot of potential. All that remains to be seen is if India\'s netizens are ready for it now.
2022
