The Way2News Impact

Raju Vanapala
Nov 7 · 6 min read

How way2news is playing critical role in bringing rural voice to the world.

India is a developing country with more than 6.5 lakh villages that are still struggling to attain basic amenities and livelihood to even contest with the urban population. This section of society is neglected not only by the people living in cities but also by their local leaders. They suffer every day, miss out on basic amenities, deal with hazardous issues, don’t have proper healthcare or education system, and continue to live on. Nobody blinks an eye unless something huge happens, and then people care for a few days and soon forget about it.

Local leaders seldom do their job right owing to the lack of attention given to the conditions of the village by the global population. Whose job is it to bring the woes of the people to the attention of the world? The answer is straightforward “The Media.” However, over the past decades, the media has not been able to do this job due to multiple factors. First being their limitations owing to their print page real estate and the second hurdle is economic viability, to set-up a district level offices and hire a few hundreds of journalists, which would be an additional expense that may not result in revenue proportionately. Satellite television channels any way cannot beam stories to a particular location or region. As a result, for decades, rural india had no voice or no platform to portray their issues to the world. However, digital media has now changed the scenario as it has no such limitations.

Indian digitization has completely changed the game, owing to easy access to cheaper smartphones and low cost-unlimited data plans from service providers. A lot of people are getting hooked to the internet, which has eventually given rise in demand for vernacular content. This in turn has provided a space for apps such as way2news to grow and provide relevant information to the user pertaining to their interest in their local language. In places where the plight of local audiences is unheard, way2news provides a platform for localites to create and generate content which they would be able to connect and bring attention to their problems and accomplishments.

Way2News, with in a very short period, has now become the largest hyperlocal vernacular infotainment app that is providing absolutely unique content from the most remote villages of India. Way2News has penetrated rural India on a grass root level, helping lakhs of citizens by providing them information in regards to local happenings as well as giving them a platform to report their grievances. Way2News has now reached more than 400 districts covering over 5000 tehsils and 2700 mandals. way2news has over 2 million DAUS and adding more than 30000 new users every day, owing to its essence of reaching and portraying the plights and happenings of rural India. Way2News has made it possible for people belonging to villages to showcase their issues on Indian forefront and get the attention required to solve the pertaining problems. Way2News has opened a whole new world by reaching places which were previously ignored owing to the limitations of Indian media. The following chart shows how rural india whats to share their stories out..

Way2News has now become a reckoning force, forcing the people to pay attention to the plights of rural and ensuring that the government takes the necessary steps required to solve the problems reported on the platform. Way2News has become instrumental in ensuring conceptual changes in society. Way2News has now become an integral part of rural India by bringing it on the war front and displaying not only their plights but also the potential they hold to lead the country towards development.

No theory is valid unless you provide relevant data or cases to prove your point. Below are a few examples of the Way2News impacts:

The Drowning of Raju

When someone dies in a family, it’s a devastating movement, but when the sole breadwinner of the family dies, the family has to suffer the consequences, deal with hunger and survival. The same thing happened in the Veerapalli Village of the Cuddapah District in Andhra Pradesh when the young and full of potential Raju (name changed for privacy) drowned in the village pond on the eve of Holi, his family was left with nothing but sorrow and tears. He left behind his aged parents, who relied on the young boy to run the household. Not only did they lose their son, but they lost their means of food and survival as well. Way2News covered the story of grieving parents and showed the world the plight of aged parents who now had nothing. Post the coverage, people from the same village and surrounding villages became aware of the family situation and came together to help the family in need. Collectively they raised 45,000 as funds to support the family for their initial days and helped the father set a small shop with which he could support himself and his wife. Way2News played the role of a medium that raised awareness among the villagers to come together and play a part in the family’s life.

The Curious Case of Missing Doctor

Doctors are live saviors; they are an integral part of society since they are the ones who are responsible for the healthcare of their patients. And a doctor in a government hospital has got much more responsibility than one practicing in private since they are the ones that serve the society without expectations of high fees. But, what happens when the only government hospital in the entire village does not have a doctor? This story was covered by a good samaritan and posted on Way2News from the Modran village of the Jalore district in Rajasthan. The government hospital in Modran was never allotted a doctor to take care of the patients. For the past few years, the villages had to travel to Bhinmal to get treated for their health. Post coverage, in a matter of days, the healthcare department, appointed Ravinder Kumar (name changed for privacy) as the on-duty doctor to take care of the sick. Way2News here became the medium for concerned citizens to ensure that the government is doing the job they promised.

There are numerous other examples, such as ensuring the govt official cleared the garbage from the dumpster, removal of political banners and flags left during campaign until the election date, repair of a government school, putting a stop to illegal transportation of timber and also ensuring that police registers the FIR on time, where Way2News has become a go-to platform for people from rural India to showcase the happenings and plights of their village. Way2News was made so that rural India could have the voice it was denied for so many years, and their plights were left unnoticed owing to limitation of media houses.

Way2News as a hyperlocal news destination was an instant hit among the masses, and now there are more than 40,000 citizens turned journalists who keep updating content, covering almost half of the country. At way2news, we receive over 12000 unique untold stories everyday from these network of citizen journalists/stringers. Way2News has helped these journalists to not only bring problems to the platforms but eventful news as well. the following pic shows the craze for being ‘way2news Journalist’

Mahatma Gandhi quotes, “The future of India lies in its villages.” The same villages that have been ignored for so many decades now have a voice due to Way2News. A country indeed develops when the rural towns start developing, and Way2News has shown that it can play an eminent role in rural India’s development.

Founder & CEO, Way2online Interactive India Pvt Ltd

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade