Covai Post: The News Portal You Can Bank Upon
In recent times, online news reading has become a new norm for the millennial. The convenience to read news anywhere at any time makes news reading a cakewalk without the need of holding a physical newspaper. There are a number of such news portals but when it comes to news portal dedicated to Tamil Nadu state, the one portal that comes into our mind is The Covai Post.
The Covai Post is the first English language news portal in Tamil Nadu. The portal has news and feature stories along with commentaries as its principal areas of focus. Supported by IT firm, AES Technologies, The Covai Post newspaper was launched in 2015 in Coimbatore with senior journalists drawn from reputed national newspapers heading its operations.
It adapted to the demands of the time by embracing the digital platform in early 2016, and started reaching out to a wider audience through its stories, analyses and debates of social importance and economic value. Its repertoire of Facebook live, podcasts and videos, and their reproduction by its subscribers such as Daily Hunt, Times Internet, Jio News and Sony Vivo new portal and Oppo Redmi, have helped build a loyal patronage of 1.10 crore a month.
It was a challenge to establish The Covai Post amidst the presence of media giants. But the founder of the portal Vidhyashree along with her team persisted and has been successful in carving a niche for herself in the industry. So, she believes that tenacity in the face of adversity has helped her succeed.
PUTTING FACTS OVER SENSATION
Talking about her success habits, they include the drive to meet deadlines, putting facts over sensation, building team spirit and not resting until a given task is completed. As the Founder editor-in-chief of The Covai Post, she chooses the stories that have a positive impact on society, focusing mainly on stories that uphold the interests of the public. She has taken on board some of the best talents available in the industry.
She constantly encourages new ideas and gives her team the space to think out of the box. She has built an environment where they are free to come up with creative ideas. She frequently holds brainstorming sessions with her team and motivates them to invent solutions for problems and draw up plans for the future. She is run by the vision of the company which guides the organisation towards its goal. It’s an all-encompassing element that drives the growth of the organisation and helps swim against the tide during challenging times.
COMMITMENT TOWARDS WORK
She believes every leader should possess commitment towards work. This is the one single quality that will keep the organisation together, motivate its staff and help the organisation meet challenges and grow.
Though women are playing leading roles in various industries, today, their contributions are not sufficiently recognized. They are not completely left in charge of important decision-making and crisis handling. They are not consulted as much as they should be.
To ensure growth and development as a leader, she constantly meets fellow leaders and equip herself with new ideas. She keenly studies the industry trends and updates herself on technology. She stays ahead of the curve and makes sure her mission adds value to the society. Talking about work-life balance, she manages her time efficiently, and stick to her personal commitments and work goals. She takes short but regular holidays with her family.
“Stand up to be seen, and speak up to be heard. Equip yourself with the new skills and be up to date with technology to take on opportunities and to stay at the top. Empower fellow women leaders and do not let professionalism slip even for a moment. It is not always necessary to play by the rule, it’s important to write new rules and have people fol-
low it”, asserts Vidhyashree.
The organisation she created and nurtured encourages her to meet the challenges head on and fight back to overcome them.
MAKING USE OF DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Being a journalist was not in her mind when she was doing her under graduation but her teachers insisted that she took journalism major for her post-graduation because she liked writing and then this happened. A long journey of 22 years now having worked with major news publications such as The New Indian Express, The Hindu and The Deccan Chronicle before she took over to head The Covai Post. It has been a fascinating journey and there has been no looking back ever since.
Successful journalists are making complete use of the digital and social media platforms to bring the world’s attention to issues. They are multi-tasking by putting their thoughts down in books and a variety of mediums. Many are finding new ways to run their operations by seeking crowd-funding to uphold independence.
As far as competitors are concerned, the national media organisations with better revenues and more employees at their disposal are her biggest competitors. However, she has created a distinct space for her organisation in the media industry by focusing elaborately on local issues that sometimes reverberate across the state and country.
Talking about the USP of the portal, she was born and raised in Coimbatore and knows the people’s needs and the region’s problems better than most. She uses this knowledge to highlight issues and seek solutions through her organisation.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Persistence and staying constantly aware of the environment I’m in is what helped me get to where I’m. My advice is, be at it, push the boundaries to raise standard and quality. Learn to appreciate positive news reports and stories about economics and society, and not always look for sensation. Support us with your feedback. Building a successful revenue model for an organisation is an important issue that can be addressed, especially to uphold the independence and values of an organisation.