Newstex publishers' stories: Ovais Riaz from Evrima Chicago

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The basics

Why did you decide to start a digital publication?

Ovais Riaz from Evrima Chicago: It's very important to have that right voice and the right voice for your client and precisely telling information the way it is supposed to be. So that's where we come in, and that's why we started this company.

In this AI era, there is nothing more important than original voices, right?

Ovais Riaz: That is correct. Original voices and they have to be in the same context that they were delivered because in today's time, you can bifurcate information in a lot of ways, right? Like if I can give you one statement, you can dissect that statement into multiple genres in different ways. We want it to be delivered in the same way it was intended to be.

What is the purpose of Evrima Chicago?

Ovais Riaz: We want to bring in the best information for every party that we are involved with. We want to be quick, we want to be fast, we want to be young, and we want to make sure that we have the right people for the job. I think it's very important to have that one voice and have that throughout the platform because there is a lot of noise coming in. If there are different versions of [the news], we want to have the clearest, the purest [version].

Monetization

How do you monetize your content for publication?

Ovais Riaz: There are a lot of ways we are monetizing our content right now. Obviously, we are syndicating our news from different publications also and connecting them together, bringing in our own platforms. If we are partnering with a publication, [we think about] how we can monetize it together. Let me put it this way, we literally cannibalize each other's audiences that way. So in today's time, monetization is not through only getting ads or subscriptions or making money off of it. It is also the commodity version of it where you bring in people from different platforms to your platform. I also consider that as monetization.

Have you always had the same way of thinking about this monetization strategy or has it changed over the years?

Ovais Riaz: It has changed over the years. To be honest with you, what happened five years ago doesn't apply, not anymore. It is so different. There is so much information and especially with the induction of social media. It seemed like time used to run slowly back in the day, but now with the induction of so much information, it seems as if things are going past very, very quickly.

Technology can be used for a lot of purposes. It can be scary at times, too. If I really take a deep dive into the coming five, 10 years from now, the news and the publication will change completely, and it would be very tough for you to understand and really differentiate between the right and wrong.

We are all waiting to see what is going to happen. Hopefully, we can preserve this healthy news ecosystem that we still have.

Ovais Riaz: It will be very tough. You have already started seeing it now, but two, three years, five years from now, it will be very tough for somebody to really understand if this is the right information or not. And that's what really worries me as a PR and a news agency.

Advice

What is the best decision that you've made in your career and what can the rest of our publishers learn from it?

Ovais Riaz: Surrounding yourself with the best people. That's the best decision that I took. Like-minded people, people who have the same vision, the same focus, and the same drive. Obviously, not everybody can pace on the same level, but at the same time, you can at least try and surround yourself with the right people. That is the best thing I have done with my team. One bad addition to the team can make a lot of difference to the energy of the team. I believe in [having] a lot of energies. Having the right people is the key.

What advice would you give to anyone starting in this publishing industry?

Ovais Riaz: It's a good question. I would say just be true to what you are doing. Be true to the profession, just be very true with yourself. When you can be true to yourself, you can be true to other people as well. Just respect the profession that we are in, and be on the right track and search for the right information. Don't go with the flow of what other people may be doing. Find your own voice, find your own brand, find your own personality.

Choosing syndication

What are the perceived benefits that you see from your syndication partnership with Newstex?

Ovais Riaz: I think you are a very credible organization and, as I said, I always try to surround myself with the right people. You guys seem like the right people. I think this partnership can be a win-win situation for both of us, and I think together we can make a difference.

Ovais Riaz serves as Chief Operating Officer of Evrima Chicago, a Naperville-based tech firm pioneering core technologies and a digital newsroom that reaches millions of people through syndication across Gannett, McClatchy, Dow Jones, Fox, ABC, Yahoo News, and hundreds of local outlets. A Forbes Business Council member and contributing author, he’s shaping the future of inclusive, ad-free journalism, and assistive tech innovation.

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