SaySo App Aims to Restore Trust in News Videos
▼ Summary
– Many people use platforms like TikTok for news but face issues with misinformation and declining trust in both social and traditional media.
– SaySo is a new short-form video app that provides curated news from vetted creators and journalists, launching in the U.S. and Canada.
– Its key feature, Daily Digest, offers a personalized set of videos on chosen topics that refreshes every 20 hours, aiming to avoid endless scrolling.
– The app requires creators to cite sources in videos and uses combined human/AI moderation to ensure content integrity before publication.
– SaySo plans to expand to the U.K. this summer and further markets, with a business model designed to direct most future revenue to creators.
In an era where trust in information is scarce, a new platform is attempting to carve out a space for reliable short-form news. While many turn to social media for current events, widespread complaints about misinformation and concerns over platform ownership have created a significant trust deficit. This environment has eroded confidence not only in social feeds but in traditional media as well, with recent studies showing less than 60% of U.S. adults express significant trust in national news. The recently launched SaySo app aims to address this crisis directly by offering curated news videos from vetted sources.
Available now on iOS in the U. S. and Canada, SaySo differentiates itself by prioritizing an intentional news experience over endless, algorithm-driven scrolling. A core feature is the Daily Digest, where users select topics like politics or public health upon signing up. The app then delivers a personalized set of videos, which refreshes on a 20-hour cycle to encourage mindful consumption rather than constant checking. For broader exploration, an Explore page allows discovery of additional content from various creators, alongside standard social features for following, liking, and sharing.
Central to its mission is a foundational commitment to content integrity. SaySo mandates that creators visibly cite their information sources within each video. Every piece of content undergoes a review process, combining AI moderation with human oversight and source validation before publication. “Content doesn’t auto-publish,” explained co-founder and CTO Dion Bailey. “Everything goes through a moderation queue, so most problems are caught before they reach readers.” The platform is also developing a community notes feature for crowdsourced fact-checking, similar to systems on other major platforms, to further involve users in upholding accuracy.
The app launched with a curated group of approximately 30 creators, who serve as its initial content partners. This roster includes figures like Nico Agosta, known for his investigative series on congressional finances, and Dr. Victoria, who focuses on racial justice. Regarding creator compensation, CEO Ramin Beheshti noted that many early participants are receiving stipends as founding partners. “Over the coming months, we’ll be building out the full monetization infrastructure,” he said, promising that the vast majority of future revenue would flow directly to creators, though specific splits were not disclosed.
SaySo is the flagship product of Caliber, a company originally founded as The News Movement in 2022 and rebranded last year to focus on social, short-form journalism. Beheshti, formerly of Dow Jones, described the goal as building a news product that helps people without contributing to information overload. “We believe we’ve unlocked something very special,” he stated. The company’s roadmap includes launching in the U. K. this summer, with plans for further global expansion into additional markets through the rest of this year and into 2027.
(Source: TechCrunch)
