Vice Media and Dentsu Webchutney launch world’s first teletext news portal

Vice Media and Dentsu Webchutney cleverly reconnect Kashmiris to the world with news in 8-bit

Imagine how you feel when you have no access to internet for 10 minutes. A sense of anxiety? A sense of curiosity? In an era where FOMO is a major concern for young people, missing out on the world’s latest happenings is the worst spot to be in.

This is what the youth of Kashmir went through every day for 110 days straight.

On August 5, 2019, Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir was revoked.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, the creatively-led digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), decided to change that. Combining technology from the 60s and the 90s, the world’s first teletext news portal was launched: 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.

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.”