Scroll.in
Type of site
News, analysis
Available inEnglish, Hindi
Area servedIndia
OwnerSCSN Pvt Ltd.
Founder(s)
  • Samir Patil
  • Naresh Fernandes
  • Jennifer O'Brien
Editor
  • Naresh Fernandes
    (Scroll.in, English)
  • Sanjay Dubey
    (Satyagrah, Hindi)
URLscroll.in (in English)
satyagrah.scroll.in (in Hindi)
CommercialYes
LaunchedJanuary 2014

Scroll.in, simply referred to as Scroll,[1] is an Indian centre-left digital news publication. Founded in 2014, it is owned by SCSN Pvt Ltd.[2] The website is divided into English and Hindi language editions, with each managed by separate editorial teams.[3][4]

History

Background

Samir Patil, an Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus and McKinsey & Company associate was the founder of ACK Media which published Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle in India.[4] In 2011, he sold the venture to the Future Group and founded the Scroll Media Inc in the following year.[2] The company was incorporated in Delaware, United States.[5]

Launch

Scroll.in was launched in January 2014[6] as an Indian news website through the holding company of Scroll Media Incorporation.[5] It was founded by Samir Patil and senior journalist Naresh Fernandes, along with Jennifer O'Brien, the former head of business development at the travel startup Trabblr.[4] Naresh Fernandes who was previously the editor-in-chief of Time Out India and a journalist associated with The Times of India and The Wall Street Journal,[7] became the editor-in-chief of Scroll.in.[8] The publication had received early stage investments from the IPS Media Foundation,[8] the Media Development Investment Fund and the investment firm of Omidyar Network, following an endorsement from the law firm Khaitan & Co.[2][9]

Partnerships

In June 2014, Atlantic Media partnered with the Scroll Media Inc to launch the Indian edition of the business news brand Quartz.[10][6] In the following year, the Hindi media publishing company Satyagrah was merged with Scroll Media and became the Hindi edition of Scroll.in which continues to operate under the name of Satyagrah.[4] Sanjay Dubey who was the founder and editor of Satyagrah and previously the editor of Tehelka's Hindi edition, remained as the editor of Satyagrah.[3] In March 2018, the publication partially shifted towards a subscription business model providing ad free delivery of news service and access to archives for subscribers. Naresh Fernandes, the editor-in-chief however stated that the publication will not implement any paywalls.[11][12]

In December 2018, Deutsche Welle partnered with Scroll.in to launch its Indian weekly programme, Eco India as part of DW's venture into the South Asian media industry.[13] Between May–June 2019, Scroll.in laid off a number of editorial staff citing a restructuring of the business model.[12]

Organisation

Scroll's staff are segregated into two divisions; the editorial team and the distribution team.[1] In an article of the Columbia Journalism Review, the segregation was explained as the result of caution associated with the "credibility of digital media" prevalent among the former print medium journalists who constituted the editorial team of the new publication. The editorial team in addition consists of an appointed ombudsman for additional editorial oversight. Naresh Fernandes is the current editor-in-chief of the website.[8] The Hindi edition of the publication, Satyagrah has a separate editorial team with Sanjay Dubey as the editor-in-chief.[3]

The distribution team of the publication is staffed with analysts of social media and search result algorithm who manage the distribution assets of the publication.[1]

Content

According to a report of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the content delivery of the Scroll.in resembles "almost the pace of a newswire with the depth and sophistication of a quality news magazine," while the presentation of the site was described to be targeted toward an "up-market" audience and compared favorably with Quartz. The publication's business strategy aims to generate income through premium native advertising and sponsored content, resembling that of traditional magazine advertising rather than obtrusive ads that distract or annoy the reader. The report also described the publication to have developed a simple and responsive design for its website for the purpose of easy accessibility.[1]

In addition to the primary website, the distribution of Scroll's content is provided through online assets such as an Android app, two email newsletters and an array of social media channels across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Scroll also operates an online shop for books and literary accessories based on recommendations from the editorial team.[1]

Awards

Readership

According to Forbes India, the monthly unique readership of the website was 4 million as of August 2016.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Sen, Arijit; Nielsen, Rasmus Kleis (May 2016). "Digital Journalism Start-Ups in India" (PDF). Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Digital daily Scroll.in gets funding from Omidyar, Media Development Investment Fund". VCCircle. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Scroll.in". Media Ownership Monitor. Reporters without Borders. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Panchal, Salil; Chaudhary, Deepti (31 August 2016). "The New Digital Newsroom". Forbes India. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Scroll Media Inc". Media Ownership Monitor. Reporters without Borders. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b Choudhary, Vidhi (21 March 2014). "Quartz to join battle of foreign brands for India's online news traffic". Livemint. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Naresh Fernandes – JNAF". Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Chaudhary, Laxmi. "Can the digital revolution save Indian journalism?". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  9. ^ Dhingra, Sanya (7 November 2017). "The Omidyar Network: 'Committed to a free media', via two Indian companies too". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Atlantic to launch Quartz India". Politico. 20 March 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  11. ^ Fernandes, Naresh (15 March 2018). "Editor's note: Pay for Scroll.in and help support the free press". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020.
  12. ^ a b Aggarwal, Cherry (5 June 2019). "Layoffs at Scroll: at least 16 employees have been let go from the editorial side". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  13. ^ "DW & Scroll.in celebrate first anniversary of flagship weekly series- Eco India – Exchange4media". exchange4media. 11 December 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Scroll.in's Supriya Sharma wins Ramnath Goenka award for political reporting". Scroll.in. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  15. ^ Pande, Manisha (27 November 2015). "Conversations with Ramnath Goenka awardees: 'Talk to people not just politicians'". Newslaundry. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  16. ^ "International award for reporting on early childhood development". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  17. ^ "ICFJ Awards 2016". Archived from the original on 28 October 2017.
  18. ^ "Rahul Kotiyal of Satyagrah wins Ramnath Goenka Journalism Award". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism: Winners all". The Indian Express. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Scroll.in contributor Malini Subramaniam wins CPJ's 2016 International Press Freedom award". Scroll.in. 23 November 2016. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  21. ^ "Malini Subramaniam, India". Committee to Protect Journalists. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  22. ^ "'Excellence in Journalism' RedInk awards 2017". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  23. ^ "RedInk Awards 2017". The Wire. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  24. ^ "Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards: Full list of winners". The Indian Express. 21 January 2019. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Scroll.in's Mridula Chari wins Ramnath Goenka award for on-the-spot reporting". Scroll.in. 4 January 2019. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020.
  26. ^ "The Quint, The Scroll and ABP among WAN-IFRA's South Asian Digital Media Awards 2018 winners". World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers. 27 September 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020.
  27. ^ "Scroll.in wins two golds at WAN-IFRA's South Asian Digital Media Awards". Scroll.in. 27 September 2018. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  28. ^ "Scroll.in's Mridula Chari, Vinita Govindarajan win Ramnath Goenka award for environment series". Scroll.in. 20 January 2020. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  29. ^ "RNG awards: Here's the full list of winners". The Indian Express. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.

External links

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