ScoopWhoop
 | |
| Type of business | Privately held company |
|---|---|
Type of site | News & Entertainment |
| Available in | English, Hindi |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | , India |
| Created by | Sattvik Mishra Rishi Pratim Mukherjee Sriparna Tikekar Debarshi Banerjee Saransh Singh Suparn Pandey |
| Key people | Sattvik Mishra(CEO) Sriparna Tikekar(CCO) Shivam Singh |
| URL | www |
| Advertising | Native |
| Registration | Optional |
| Current status | Active |
ScoopWhoop Mediais an Indiandigital mediacompany based inNew Delhi.It operates various online contentverticalsand serves as anews organisationfeaturingweb series,documentariesand current affairs reporting with a focus onvideo productionand primarily catering toadolescentsandyoung adults.It also features otherinfotainmentand entertainment content.[1][2]
The company was co-founded by Sattvik Mishra, Rishi Pratim Mukherjee, Sriparna Tikekar, Saransh Singh, Suparn Pandey and Debarshi Banerjee in 2013.[3]Initially started as an Indianviral contentgenerating and sharing website and described as aBuzzFeedclone, it has since expanded into a news media company competing with the likes ofThe Times Group,Dainik JagranandNDTVon the digital platform.[2][4]
History
[edit]ScoopWhoop began as an online blog forlisticleslaunched in August 2013 inspired fromBuzzFeed.[4]The first post on the blog was a listicle named: "These pictures from a Hindu lesbian wedding would make you all go aww." The idea was conceived by Sattvik Mishra, Sriparna Tikekar and Rishi Pratim Mukherjee. The listicle had generated over half a million views within a day which provided the impetus for the expansion of the blog into a regular project. Saransh Singh and Suparn Pandey were brought into the project around this time.[3]
The five co-founders were all alumni of theIndian Institute of Mass Communicationof whom all except Sriparna Tikekar were employees of the designing and online marketing firmDentsu Webchutneywhile she herself was an employee of the advertising firmMcCann Erickson.The co-founders remained as employees of their respective firms while working on expanding ScoopWhoop as a side project.[3][4]By January 2014, theWordPresshosted blog had been converted into a website and a viral content producing entertainment company.[5][3]Debarshi Banerjee who is also credited as a co-founder was brought in for his technological expertise and became theChief Technology Officerof the company.[3][4]
In early 2014, the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed,Ben Smithcame into contact with the co-founders and offered them to work in partnership with BuzzFeed however the offer wasn't followed up by either party. Subsequently,Times Internetalso offered to acquire ScoopWhoop but the offer was rejected by the co-founders of ScoopWhoop. Siddharth Rao, the CEO of Dentsu Webchutney eventually discovered the project and became one of the first investors along with thejournalistHarsh Chawla, the first CEO ofNetwork18and the founder ofFirstpostwho was also an early investor of Dentsu Webchutney.[3]
In November 2014, Bharti Softbank – the joint venture betweenBharti EnterprisesandSoftBank Groupinvested₹10crore(US$1.2 million) in the company and acquired 36.5% of its shareholding. The valuation of the company was estimated to be approximately₹40crore(US$4.8 million) at the time.[2][3]According toThe Caravan,the investment turned the co-founders of the company into overnight millionaires.[3]
In February 2015, ScoopWhoop began its venture into news media and hired the journalist Anuja Jairan as theeditor-in-chiefwho had previously been an employee ofReutersandHindustan Times.[3]Subsequently, in November 2015, the company again raised investments worth US$4 million from the venture capital firmKalaari Capitalto expand its editorial and video division.[6]Since then it has entered into partnerships withNewslaundryandTikTokfor the production of documentaries and distribution of their content respectively.[7][8]
Content
[edit]ScoopWhoop produces digital content across a variety of topics and interests; it includescurrent affairsreporting, interviews,web series,documentaries,etc. with a focus on producing video content as well aslisticles,quizzes,memesand other entertainment and lifestyle content.[9][1][10]The company owns and operates five digital properties for the publication of its content namely;ScoopWhoop.com, ScoopWhoop Hindi, Vagabomb, ScoopWhoop UnscriptedandOkTested.[11]In a 2015 article ofQuartz India,ScoopWhoop was described as an outlet that was trying to become the Indian version of BuzzFeed andVox Mediawith a slice ofVice Media.[1]
While initially the company had started as a producer of listicles and other viral content; according to theColumbia Journalism Reviewin late 2016, ScoopWhoop "had since moved into the broader terrain of news." It was identified as one of several independent and recently founded internet-based media platforms – a group that also includedScroll.in,Newslaundry,The News Minute,The QuintandThe Wire– that were attempting to challenge the dominance of India's traditional print and television news companies and their online offshoots.[5]TheBusiness Standarddescribed ScoopWhoop as an outlet that disseminates of news in non traditional formats around that time.[2]
ScoopWhoop.com
[edit]ScoopWhoop.comis the primary website of the company which was launched with the founding of ScoopWhoop as a digital mediacompany.It is an English language general news and entertainment website.[4]The website also features various web series and documentaries produced by ScoopWhoop. The division is currently headed by Shivam Singh.[1]ScoopWhoop is currently collaborating withNewslaundryto produce the documentary series calledChase.The series is focused towards producing seasons on various news and current affairs and is directed by the journalist Avalok Langer.[7]
ScoopWhoop Hindi
[edit]ScoopWhoop Hindiis a website which is theHindi languageedition of ScoopWhoop for viral news and entertainment content. It was launched under the nameGazab Postin 2015 and renamed toScoopWhoop Hindiin June 2018.[4][12]
Vagabomb
[edit]Vagabombis a website focused on current affairs, lifestyle and othercontemporary writingcatering to women. It was launched by ScoopWhoop in 2015.[4]
ScoopWhoop Unscripted
[edit]ScoopWhoop Unscriptedis aYouTubechannel launched by ScoopWhoop and hosted bySamdish Bhatia,with its own production team and which solely hosts unscripted current affairs and entertainment content. The channel hosts theOff the Recordweb series which features interviews with various notable personalities,[13]including the politicianManoj Tiwari,[14]activistYogendra Yadav,journalistRavish Kumar,among others. In October 2021, Bhatia announced that he was resigning from the company.[15]
Ok Tested
[edit]Ok Testedis a YouTube channel launched in 2017 by ScoopWhoop which produces lifestyle and entertainment content.[13]
Readership
[edit]In late 2016, the monthly unique readership of ScoopWhoop across all its three websites was estimated to be 30 million and their monthly views across all its internet assets including channels onsocial media platformswas estimated to be 225 million.[5][16]
Controversies
[edit]In April 2017, ScoopWhoop co-founder Suparn Pandey was accused by an executive of sexual assault and misbehavior during the 2 years she worked with ScoopWhoop.[17]
In March 2018 ScoopWhoop personnel were found to be involved in negotiations for a political campaign by investigative media portal Cobrapost.[18]
In February 2022, a former ScoopWhoop employee,Samdish Bhatiaaccused the founder and CEO Sattvik Mishra and his wife of sexual harassment and assault, filing anFIRagainst him.[19]Subsequently, the court refused to grant an interim injunction sought by Mishra in connection with this case.[20]
References
[edit]- ^abcdWalia, Shelly; Ghoshal, Devjyot (25 May 2015)."Now ScoopWhoop wants to become India's Buzzfeed+Vice (+Vox)".Quartz India.
- ^abcdMitra, Sounak (27 December 2014)."Scoopwhoop drives more web traffic than most news sites".Business Standard.
- ^abcdefghiSharma, Arnav Das (1 December 2017)."Diminishing Returns: ScoopWhoop's unending list of troubles".The Caravan.Retrieved7 December2019.
- ^abcdefgDutta, Saptarishi."Five reasons why ScoopWhoop, BuzzFeed's clone in India, has been so successful".Quartz.Retrieved18 June2015.
- ^abcChaudhry, Lakshmi (Fall 2016)."Can the digital revolution save Indian journalism?".Columbia Journalism Review.
- ^"Digital media startup ScoopWhoop raises $4M from Kalaari".VCCircle.18 November 2015.
- ^ab"Updated: ScoopWhoop & Newslaundry launch a documentary series on YouTube".MediaNama.13 May 2016.
- ^"ScoopWhoop and TikTok partner for #MyTikTokStory campaign".exchange4media.Retrieved12 June2020.
- ^Kohli-Khandekar, Vanita (22 February 2016)."ScoopWhoop: The new New Media".Business Standard.
- ^Upadhyay, Toyoja (27 November 2017)."How ScoopWhoop is revolutionising Indian content - ET BrandEquity".The Economic Times.
- ^"About us - ScoopWhoop".ScoopWhoop.com.
- ^"Gazabpost renamed as ScoopWhoop Hindi".afaqs!.14 June 2018.Retrieved12 June2020.
- ^abNath, Ojasvi."In conversation with Sattvik Mishra, CEO, ScoopWhoop".Agency Reporter.
- ^"Laughter: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari's reaction when asked to justify Anurag Thakur's 'goli maaro' call".Scroll.in.31 January 2020.
- ^"Samdish Bhatia Announces His Departure From Scoopwhoop Unscripted".Kiddaan.30 October 2021.
- ^Gopinath, Print Tharayil Aishwarya (28 March 2018)."ScoopWhoop Caught Negotiating A Political Campaign For Money".Askmen India.Retrieved12 April2022.
- ^"ScoopWhoop: After TVF, ScoopWhoop founder Suparn Pandey accused of sexual harassment".The Economic Times.Retrieved12 April2022.
- ^Upadhyay, Harsh (27 March 2018)."ScoopWhoop caught in sting for maneuvering political campaign in exchange for money".Entrackr.Retrieved11 April2024.
- ^"Former ScoopWhoop Unscripted anchor accuses CEO Sattvik of sexual assault".The News Minute.8 February 2022.Retrieved12 April2022.
- ^Hasan, Zeb."Scoopwhoop, WhoopScoop, Samdish Bhatia and sexual harassment: Delhi Court refuses to gag".Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news.Retrieved12 April2022.
