A veteran Swedish journalist of over 20 years, Erika Mikaelsson has launched the kind of news channel she always wanted to be a part of. She announced at WEF 2017 the first ever digital news channel run by an all-women team with the sole purpose of propagating hope and happiness through the news they share.
Erika is the mentor and she says the credit goes to the actual cofounders, Bharthi Jain the creative director and Ambika Thakur the CEO.
The venture so far is bootstrapped and is a baby, “But we hope to approach some individuals who will be blessed enough to be our angel investor,” quipped their energetic investor.
It’s only fitting that this team of women should lunch their news channel be digital, because their very relationships were born in the digital world.
Ambika and Bharthi met on Facebook around one year ago because of mutual friends. When Ambika was trying to start-up this digital news channel and needed guidance she was directed by a mutual friend to reach out to Erika who has enough and more experience in this domain, again on Facebook.
“We believe that technology has enabled us to connect with anyone over the world and we want to use this power to reach and transform more lives through Nlight India, Ambika said.
Ambika is a digital journalist by profession with stints at the International Business Times. She said, “I have a ten year old son, and by God’s grace I gave birth to a baby girl last August. I am a protective mother of two. Whenever I switch on the TV or go online, you know what I am faced with? News of bomb blasts, gang rapes, murder all sorts of negative sensationalized news. It’s horrific. And I don’t want my children to be exposed to the same type of negativity when they are growing up.
It’s especially not needed when there’s enough positive news in the world. It’s just that nobody is focusing on it.”
Bharthi’s story is a little different. She decided to be a part of this venture because she loves adventure and new ventures. “I am still working as an engineer in the telecom sector. I was on holiday in the Andaman and Nicobar islands a few years back and I had this strong inclination to start talking to people and writing out there stories. I have a blog called Creative Substance. The people I interviewed said I did a good job with their life’s tales and I found out about myself that I really liked listening to a people’s stories and getting them to open up more to get to the best part of that story.”
Ambika is confident that through airing positive news that we can make “India a safe place for women.”
Erika said, “The motto at Nlight India is good news for a change. When we air a news, we don’t want to leave people with fear, we want to leave people with hope.”
The first news that they will be airing will be one about acid attack victims in rural villages, Ambika and Bharthi will be sharing these victims’ life stories to change the mindset of the people who still think acid attacks mean the end of the road for its victims.
BW Reporters
Regina is a reporter for BW Businessworld. In her previous assignments, she has worked with Independent television Network as a news anchor and reporter in Sri Lanka
