Two screenshots from SaySo: left, the current events topic page, right, the homepage with a video from @jesschatsnews and a Guardian source link underneath
A new app showcasing creator-led video news content has been launched in the UK.
SaySo has been created by Caliber, the parent company of Gen Z-focused social-led media brand The News Movement and US politics social video brand The Recount.
It features a finishable “Daily digest” feed featuring around ten videos or image carousels rather than the infinite scroll approach adopted by the likes of Youtube and Tiktok.
A separate “Explore” tab allows users to go deeper if they do want to watch more from creators they follow or that have been recommended to them based on their interests or previous viewing.
SaySo launched in the US and Canada in April and has now gone live in the UK with 50 creators featuring on it so far.
Co-founder and chief product and technology officer Dion Bailey told Press Gazette the creators are vetted to ensure they “care about having sources, they care about making sure they’ve got facts, and they’re actually doing reporting”.
The app was developed after Caliber secured investment believed to exceed $10m last year . Chief executive and co-founder Ramin Beheshti told Press Gazette at the time this meant the company could become “more of a mature media company that is more than just one social media account”.
Bailey described the three key principles of the app as: vetting its creators, having a curated feed that “builds and grows with you”, and source transparency.
He said they see SaySo as a step towards the answer for “that overwhelm that people are feeling”.
Creators are encouraged to add sources to their content, which appear underneath a video and can be clicked on to open outside the app.
Bailey said that in the US and Canada over the past six weeks they have seen “consistent numbers” of new users coming to the app each day which “shows us that there is that need that we believed in”. He declined to share current user numbers.
News creator app SaySo designed to combat lack of trust and audience overwhelm
They are reaching potential audiences via paid marketing and from the creators they work with posting about it on other platforms.
Bailey said their promotional messaging is based around “the fact that people are feeling overwhelmed on these social platforms.
“There’s some misguided wisdom that people don’t really care about news, and that’s not true at all. There is news avoidance for sure, but there’s a reason for that… they feel overwhelmed because they go into these social platforms that are absolutely built to keep them there, to keep them in that loop continuously, and you have so much information coming at you, you’re not even sure what you’re supposed to consume and what’s what’s correct.”
He added: “The other side of it is around… how can we build trust with our audience, because they’ve lost trust with a lot of the traditional media that’s out there, and as well as that, they’re more focused on engaging with individuals, but with those individuals, they’re not even sure are they true journalists or are they just giving their opinion as well.
“So our messaging for our campaigns really focuses on that, basically being able to be confident in your feed that you consume to keep you informed, so you can still have that important conversation around the dinner table or at the bar or somewhere else.”
Bailey said they are also seeing a network effect from people starting to recommend it, as at least 25% of sign-ups each week are coming via separate organic not from a paid campaign or specific social media post.
Bailey acknowledged that the finishable feed may seem “counterintuitive” when building an app as “you want people to be in it”, but said it is important for their mission and fits into the legislative conversations being had at the moment.
The UK government is reportedly considering banning addictive social media features like infinite scrolling and auto-playing videos.
The core demographic for SaySo is aged 25 to 40, Bailey said, but he said it is for anyone who is online regularly to get information.
Who are the news creators using SaySo and how will they get paid?
The UK’s founding creators on the app include: Huw Allen of The Gist , which produces quick takes on business and culture stories, Jessica Lees, a reporter for Iconic Media’s titles in Manchester who also produces videos as “ Jess Chats News ” aiming to make news “accessible, fun and easy to understand”, and Leo Lindermans, who produces global politics content as Leo Explains on Substack and works in sales at Tiktok.
Allen said in a statement: “There’s a growing appetite for content that’s worth your time, and we are increasingly rejecting the doom scroll, AI filler hollow entertainment without enrichment. That’s what The Gist was built around, and it’s what SaySo is building at a platform level.
“Both come from the same place: the businesses, brands, and forces shaping everyday life deserve closer attention, and people want to feel informed when they put their phone down, not overwhelmed.”
Bailey explained that the founding creators receive a stipend to post on the platform a certain number of times per week (they can still post elsewhere).
Creators are also currently incentivised by being able to use other tech built by Calibre, such as a tool to help them understand the virality of their content for any platform, giving them insights around factors such as the hook, the pace and the payoff of a video, Bailey said.
SaySo ‘creating healthy habit’ before monetising
Caliber has a “clear thesis” on how it will ultimately monetise SaySo, Bailey added, but they wanted to ensure they have “market fit” first and “create a habit with people that’s a healthy one”.
He said they “want the creators to be able to monetise their content on the platform by how they interact with the audience” suggesting they could get paid directly for the level of engagement they receive (something done in various ways by other platforms like Facebook and X).
Users may be asked to pay for further personalisation or extra features, Bailey suggested.
The creators on the platform are scouted by Caliber’s head of creator partnerships (and can now also express interest themselves) and are vetted by staff including the editors of The News Movement and The Recount.
Bailey said they are looking for creators to cover a set of categories including politics, tech and business, and that their existing content on other platforms is initially evaluated (for factors like bias) by an AI tool to “see whether they’re a fit” before being reviewed by staff.
Every piece of creator content is moderated before it goes live on the platform, again initially by an AI tool which creates a brief about whether it contains anything potentially against the guidelines before it is reviewed by staff at Caliber.
“Nothing on the platform is automatically pushed onto there,” Bailey said. “Everything is done by editorial, because as a policy overall for Caliber it’s important to have always the human in the loop.
“We absolutely believe in human-led journalism and therefore we need to make sure that we’re always making the right choices.”
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