On August 5, 2019, Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir was revoked. This was followed by a complete communication blackout leaving the youth of Kashmir in a state of complete information darkness.
Vice Media, the flagbearer of youth-centered lifestyle and digital news, along with Dentsu Webchutney launched the world’s first teletext news portal ‘The 8-Bit Journo’. Relevant news stories that Kashmiris had missed out on over the last 110 days were converted into teletext and dispatched to lacs of Kashmiris through SMS, the moment the service started in Jammu & Kashmir.
News stories with cultural relevance to youth were carefully curated and then converted into visually impactful pieces with the objective to facilitate a faster integration of Kashmiris back into the global fold.
An introduction message was sent inviting people to subscribe to the 8-bit Journo and access headlines across the globe. Once subscribed, a story was automatically pushed out to them each day. See The 8-Bit Journo video
Sarvesh Jasuja, Sr. Growth Manager-APAC, Vice Media commented, “VICE has always represented the voice of the youth – uncovering and understanding complex situations around the world through the lens of young people on the ground. This project is exactly the kind of thing that motivates us – to be able to share inspiring, meaningful or even just light-hearted irreverent stories, to bring moments of connection into the lives of those who are feeling disconnected.”
Aalap Desai, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney added, “Necessity is the mother of invention. In today’s day and age we cannot imagine a world without the internet. We would not just be devoid of information but also the essential human connection that we all need. The purpose of digital is to add back to human lives. So while sometimes you go forward in looking for futuristic tech to work on, you also need to go backwards to solve a problem; and that is what we exactly did.”
The teams responsible for reconnecting young people from Jammu and Kashmir to lifestyle and digital news are:
Vice Media Team
Sr. Growth Manager, VICE APAC: Sarvesh Jasuja
Editor-inChief, VICE APAC: Natashya Gutierrez
Audience Growth Manager: Pratik Patra
Associate Editor: Dhvani Solani
Staff Writer: Pallavi Pundir
Staff Writer: Shamani Joshi
Dentsu Webchutney Team
EVP & Branch Head: Nishi Kant
Executive Creative Director: Aalap Desai
Senior Vice President: Harsh Shah
AVP Strategy: Pragati Rana
Creative Director (Copy): Yash Kulshresth
Creative Director (Art): Ananda Sen
Senior Brand Strategist: Rohit Nair
Account Director: Rumi Behramkamdin
Group Head Copy: Sonia Gupta
Group Head Art: Aabhaas Shreshtha
Sr. Copywriter: Anirudh Venugopal
Sr. Visualiser: Devdutt Viz
Sr. Motion Graphic Artist: Sahil Chauhan
Associate Account Manager: Esha Bhivandker
