Summachar: How Soumya Misra is Reclaiming Objectivity in the Visual News Era
In a world of sensationalist headlines and 24-hour shouting matches, the "truth" often gets buried under layers of opinion and tribal loyalty. For the digital-native generations, traditional news has become either overwhelming or untrustworthy. Soumya Misra, Co-founder of Summachar, is on a mission to fix this. By stripping away emotional manipulation and replacing it with visual, infographic-driven objectivity, Summachar is building a news platform that actually respects the intelligence of its audience. This is the story of how an IIT Kanpur graduate is building the "source of knowledge" for the visual news age.
Soumya Misra’s journey into the media landscape wasn't planned; it was born from a realization that the way we consume information is fundamentally broken. A graduate of IIT Kanpur with a high-performance career at Hike Messenger and Intel, Soumya witnessed the rise of social media echo chambers firsthand. In 2019, driven by a passion for objective storytelling, he co-founded Summachar. The platform focuses on delivering "news that matters" through short, visual formats like motion graphics and infographics, making complex global events accessible to high schoolers, college students, and young professionals alike.
The Subjective vs. Objective News Gap
Soumya identifies a core flaw in modern media: the "Tribal Loyalty" trap. "Today, news is often about validating emotions rather than providing facts. When media outlets take a side, they create a tribe of loyal followers, but they lose the truth. At Summachar, we focus on objective realities—stock movements, policy changes, sports scores—and remove the subjective 'judgment' that leads to arguing rather than learning."
The Problem: The "Tribalization" of News
Traditional news outlets have pivoted toward opinion-based reporting because it drives engagement. By triggering strong emotions—anger, fear, or pride—they ensure that users keep coming back to have their views validated. However, this creates a toxic ecosystem where readers aren't informed; they are radicalized. For Gen Z and Millennials, this "noise" is exhausting. They want to know *what* happened and *why* it matters, without being told *how* to feel about it. The missing layer in the industry is a source of knowledge that provides context without the bias.
"Most stories are fundamentally objective," Soumya explains. "A bill is passed, a match is won, or a market moves. Subjectivity only comes in when you want to create a narrative. We wanted to build a company that treats news as a source of knowledge, not as a point of argument. We want to remove the negative emotions and let the reader decide for themselves."
The Solution: Visual Storytelling for the Next Generation
Summachar acts as a digital filter, processing global information into high-impact, visual-first content. By using infographics and motion graphics, they cater to the "visual learning" preference of younger demographics.
The Summachar Content Workflow
- Data Sourcing: Identifying objective news stories across politics, policy, sports, and tech.
- Contextualizing: Adding the "Why" to the story, explaining the background and potential impact.
- Visual Transformation: Breaking down complex data into intuitive infographics and short motion posters.
- Neutral Language: Removing judgmental adjectives and emotional triggers from the reporting.
- Multi-Platform Delivery: Ensuring the news reaches users on the digital platforms they already frequent.
The Founder’s Reality: Responsibility over Glamour
Soumya is refreshingly honest about the weight of being a founder. He shares how his time at Hike taught him about "Engineering for Scale," but starting his own venture taught him about the responsibility of leadership. He believes that entrepreneurship is often over-glamorized; in reality, it's about being responsible for the livelihoods of your team. He shares that the decision to start wasn't about a quick exit, but about a long-term commitment to solving a problem he was genuinely passionate about.
"Don't worry about the time too much," he advises young innovators. "Focus on the quality of what you are building. If you are solving a genuine problem, the ecosystem will find a way to support you. But you must be ready for the hardship. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, not a 9-to-5."
Summachar Impact & Reach
- Visual-First Reporting: Pioneering the use of motion graphics for objective news in India.
- Gen Z & Millennial Focus: Reaching the demographic most alienated by traditional media.
- IIT Kanpur Roots: Leveraging a high-performance engineering background to build a robust news engine.
- 1,500%+ User Growth: Rapidly scaling the platform through Relentless focus on user experience and neutral reporting.
Lessons in Leadership: Outcome vs. Control
Soumya discusses a critical transition for any corporate professional-turned-founder: the shift in "Direct Control." In a job, you have control over your specific tasks. As a CEO, you lose direct control over individual outcomes but gain total responsibility for the collective result. He emphasizes the importance of hiring a co-founder whose skills complement your own—noting that his partner provided the perspective he needed during the early, uncertain days of the business.
"Hire people who are teachable," he says. "In a startup, you don't always need the most experienced person; you need the person who can learn the fastest. Your job is to set the direction and then empower your team to execute the vision. If you try to control everything, you will break the company."
Founder's Lesson: Objectivity is a Moat
Soumya believe that in a world of bias, neutral reporting is a competitive advantage. "Everyone else is competing for tribal loyalty. We are competing for trust. If you become the one source that isn't trying to manipulate the reader, you eventually become the most valuable source in their life."
The Future: A Source of Knowledge for Bharat
Soumya’s vision for Summachar is to become the "Digital Library" of current events for India. He aims to expand the platform's reach across more regional languages, ensuring that every Indian, regardless of their background, has access to clear, objective information. By continuing to innovate in visual storytelling and leveraging AI for better data aggregation, he aims to ensure that "news" returns to its original purpose: making us smarter, not angrier. For Soumya, the goal is simple: building a platform that helps the next generation understand the world they are about to lead.
Summachar is proving that the next generation of media giants won't be built on controversy—they will be built on context. By giving the news a visual and objective backbone, Soumya Misra and his team are ensuring that for the future of information, the win is finally visual.
About the Guest
Soumya Misra is the Co-founder of Summachar. A dual-degree graduate in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, Soumya is a product and technology leader with a track record of building massive-scale systems. Before co-founding Summachar, he held key roles at Intel and Hike Messenger, where he mastered the complexities of digital engagement. Under his leadership, Summachar has emerged as a premier visual news platform, recognized for its objective, infographic-based reporting style. He is a recognized thought leader in the digital media ecosystem and a vocal advocate for the use of technology to fight misinformation and media bias.
Summachar is a digital news platform designed for the next generation of learners. By utilizing high-impact visuals, motion graphics, and neutral storytelling, the platform provides objective news and context on global events, helping users stay informed without the emotional bias or complexity of traditional media outlets.