Bridge the gap
Introduction
Bridge the gap is a political website which tries to create a little more connectivity among politicians and their constituents. So that we have an engaged electorate that will result in a government that more accurately reflects who we are and what we need.
Bridge the gap is designed to keep Indians engaged in politics by creating a database of questions about the economy, health, education, environment, social justice, and more — with answers from elected officials across India ,with over 600 politicians across party lines and levels of government. Our goal is to connect and bridge the gap between politicians and their voters ,such that constituents are able to connect with their local politicians to learn more about these key issues.
WHY ANOTHER POLITICAL WEBSITE WILL HELP ?
Have you ever thought ,what if there was a way we could not only get concise answers to common questions, but get the answers from the elected officials themselves?”
Bridge the gap is the physical manifestation of just that, but it achieves it in a way that none of its predecessors have ever dared to achieve.
What we need most in the news media is more deep reporting, more knowledgeable analysis and more thoughtful commentary, not more of the false equivalency that’s created so much trouble already.There is a need for thoughtful public debate about politics.
BRIDGE THE GAP.com is a website designed to provide succinct answers to common questions by presenting every point of view on dozens of issues across the political landscape. The idea for the site stems from my own quest to find an unbiased source of information.
I tried very hard to find a place where I could hear every side of an issue but couldn’t find a source which was not biased towards any particular ideology.
So i decided to make a news site for people like me who don’t want news mixed with other political B.S .
It accomplishes this task by asking the biggest politicians the very questions every indian faces but in a concise 1–2 minute video.
Each video would answer one question, with responses from politicians of every major political party in India and would be condensed into a one or two minute video. And, just like that, Bridge the gap was born.
GOAL:
Our goal was to create a civic engagement platform with a mission to create a unbiased channel of communication and connectivity between the Indian Janta and their elected Netas with the goal of creating a more informed electorate.
ONE of the most important goals of BTG(BRIDGE THE GAP) is to eradicate the ECHO CHAMBER EFFECT.
To make it a bit engaging we have a set of two-minute answers to common questions asked by you to the Netas.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER NEWS SOURCES
Journalism is in a state of considerable flux. New digital platforms have unleashed innovative journalistic practices that enable novel forms of communication and greater global reach than at any point in human history. But on the other hand, disinformation and hoaxes that are popularly referred to as “fake news” are accelerating and affecting the way individuals interpret daily developments. Driven by foreign actors, citizen journalism, and the proliferation of talk radio and cable news, many information systems have become more polarized and contentious, and there has been a precipitous decline in public trust in traditional journalism.
Fake news and sophisticated disinformation campaigns are especially problematic in democratic systems, and there is growing debate on how to address these issues without undermining the benefits of digital media. In order to maintain an open, democratic system, it is important that government, business, and consumers work together to solve these problems.
A poll found that only 37 percent believe news organizations generally get the facts straight. This is down from about half of the country who felt that way in 1998. There is also a startling partisan divide in public assessments.
Even more disturbingly, a solid majority of the electorate believes that major news organizations routinely produce false information. This decline in public trust in media is dangerous for democracies.
MISINFORMATION
As the overall media landscape has changed, there have been several ominous developments. Rather than using digital tools to inform people and elevate civic discussion, some individuals have taken advantage of social and digital platforms deceive, mislead, or harm others through creating or disseminating fake news and disinformation.
Fake news is generated by outlets that masquerade as actual media sites but promulgate false or misleading accounts designed to deceive the public. When these activities move from sporadic and haphazard to organized and systematic efforts, they become disinformation campaigns with the potential to disrupt campaigns and governance in entire countries.
REQUIRED Skills and Knowledge
Despite having so many aspects, the web development spectrum all comes down to the two main pillars: front-end and back-end.
Front-end generally deals with what a website visitor sees, like a user interface, hence it’s called “front”. The back-end on the other hand generally deals with the logic happening behind the scenes, like querying a database; hence it’s called “back”
The core languages of the front-end side are HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
In summary, HTML alone or a combination of both HTML and CSS is enough to build a website.
We don’t necessarily have to hire a professional developer to build a website. Even if we are not tech savvy, we can build any type of website on a budget thanks to different tools available on the web.
The tools we’ll need for setting up our BRIDGE THE GAP site.
Domain name (e.g. Google.com, IsItWP.com)
Website builder (e.g. WordPress, Wix, Weebly)
Web hosting (depending on your website builder)
How Much will Building our News Website Cost?
Depending on our needs, website development can costs anywhere between $100 and $500. Because we need a feature-rich, custom-built website, it can go as high as $30,000 or more.
To build a small website, we’ll need to have a budget for the domain name and web hosting. A domain name usually costs around $14.99 per year and web hosting around $7.99 per month. Altogether, starting a site can cost as low as $110.87 annually.
The combined cost of domain name and hosting can be quite expensive ,especially if its a new website.
MARKETING AND MONETIZATION :
1. Making money with Ad Networks (e.g. Google AdSense, AdThrive, MediaVine)
Estimated income:
- The income can go up to about $3000/month.
- The average profitable websites can earn about $1000 in a few months
Requirements:
- Optimized website
- Subscription to a Google AdSense account
Budget: $30 to $50 (Budget needed to keep the website up and running )
Estimated time for profitability: three months to six months
Growth and marketing methods: SEO / Content writing / publish articles frequently
2. Monetizing our website with Affiliate Marketing
Monetizing our website can also be done thanks to content lockers. Content lockers allow us to make money on our website by blocking a particular, chosen part of your site. Anything can be blocked, for example, the rest of the article, video, a certain premium content, or a simple file. It’s a great way to monetize your website.
3. Selling ad space
Instead of acting through third parties, you directly sell advertising space to media buyers. Therefore, 100% of the advertising budget will go directly to you. No more bothering about traffic, visits or conversions. However, it may require in-person meetings and negotiations that will, however, pay dividends in the long run.
Requirements:
- Good-looking design
- High traffic volumes
- In-person meetings, directly contacting advertisers
Budget: $30 to $50 (Budget to keep the website up and running )
Estimated time for profitability: revenues can appear immediately, as advertisers sign the agreement. Also, it depends on how much traffic and following the website has.
Growth and marketing methods: building a niche website, writing about interests shared with many people or about some hobbies, so the monthly traffic volumes are high
Must have skills:
- Blogging talent
- Social media
- Negotiation skills
- Analytical skills
10. Creating paywalls for premium content
What this monetization method supposes: users have restricted access to some valuable pieces of content, and to reach that content, they have to pay for it. It’s useful for gathering email addresses and other information regarding your audience, for better reaching out to them in the future. Also, offering access to premium content for a fee, you have a valid monetization method in place, whether for short term or long term. An option might be to give a hybrid gating experience.
