Five years ago, the media landscape in Sri Lanka was a very different place. Apart from the usual fill of sensationalism and gossip, there was very little credible, engaging or educative content being produced about the country. Frustrated by this void, our founder Mustafa Kassim and resourceful group of content creators decided that they would try their hand at a media startup. The mission was clear - to give intelligent and thoughtfully crafted stories the pride of place they deserve.
We couldn’t have known then that this seemingly simple mission would take us on a five year exhilarating and rewarding journey towards becoming regional media powerhouse house.
We first crossed the rubicon with our coverage of the 2016 flash floods, in which over a hundred people lost their lives and several thousands were displaced. Our live blog was borne not out of a great epiphany, but of a simple awareness of the pitfalls of piecemeal coverage. That’s when we realised that there was space in the region for an authoritative and new age media platform that instills strong originality and crediblity.
Today, we reach millions of people in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and across South Asia. We produce a diverse variety of content, which is distributed across our site, social media channels, YouTube, our app and newsletters.
We have trained our lens on a multitude of issues, both lighthearted and serious. At the same time, we have strived to push the boundaries of conventional journalism. Roar Spotlight, our long-form article series, is the culmination of our efforts to create a more immersive, insightful, and engaging style of storytelling.
We faced our most serious challenge following the Easter Sunday attacks, which wrought devastation on the country. With the nation in shock, we grappled with how best we could play our part. Our coverage thus far has been an affirmation of our commitment to stick with the stories that matter, long after memories fade and others move on.
Having grown from five people huddled in a small room to more than one hundred individuals today, our journey thus far has been a lesson in perseverance. Today, our stable also includes Roar Studios, which has made a name for itself by helping brands, agencies and various organizations create engaging, digital-centric content. Meanwhile, Roar Tech has built a resourceful group of web and mobile developers to help firms, both big and small, realise their visions to connect deeper with their audiecnes. With teams spread across Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, our reach is now global. To reflect this new and exciting reality, we are organising all our brands under one common identity – Roar Global.
As we turn the corner on our fifth year, we look forward with renewed vigour towards the new bends and twists on the road ahead. And we look forward to having you on the ride with us.
Here’s to the next five years!
