molo.news: Research Network Tests Bremen News App

• Duration: 2023 – 2026
• Project lead: Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen , Prof. Dr. Christian Pentzold

Projekt staff: Andrea Grahl (ZeMKI) , Dr. Leif Kramp (ZeMKI), Alex Krause (ZeMKI), Bartje Krüger (Universität Leipzig), Alexander Ohlei (ZeMKI), Julius Reimer (HBI)

Former projekt staff: Katharina Heitmann-Werner (ZeMKI)

Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Website: http://www.molo.news/

Local news is having a hard time. Local newspapers are under financial pressure, while commercial social media platforms have proven to be unsuitable for local news. Despite these challenges, the molo.news app has been sending local news and information to people’s smartphones in Bremen. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) provided funding for developing the app. Researchers from the University of Bremen, Leipzig University, and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research │ Hans-Bredow-Institut in Hamburg are now investigating how the platform can be made available nationwide. The BMBF is supporting the project over a period of three years until the end of February 2026 as part of the VIP+ program.

Customized News from Media Houses, Clubs, or Educational Institutions

molo.news is a free local news and events platform that can be accessed via an app for iOS and Android. In addition to the content produced by various regional media houses, users can also find news and events from other institutions and collectives, such as educational institutions, local associations, social movements, and cultural organizations. In the app’s news feed and event calendar, users can view information tailored to their own interests without ending up in filter bubbles. molo.news is data-saving and does not collect any information from users. The app belonging to the platform was jointly developed between 2017 and 2019 by three research institutions: the Leibniz Institute for Media Research │ Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI), the Institute for Information Management Bremen (ifib), and the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen. The co-creation approach played a particularly noteworthy role, as the platform was set up in collaboration with journalists, members of clubs, initiatives, and public institutions.

Testing in Six German Cities

“Following the successful start to the test run of molo.news in Bremen and the surrounding area, comprising over 2,700 users, the aim now is to test how the platform can be further developed to enable a nationwide launch,” says project leader Professor Andreas Hepp (ZeMKI, University of Bremen). Working with Professor Christian Pentzold (Leipzig University) and Professor Wiebke Loosen (Leibniz Institute for Media Research │ Hans-Bredow-Institut in Hamburg), Professor Hepp will spend the next three years researching how the concept of molo.news can be replicated in other regions. The platform, which was specially developed for Bremen, is being tested and revised in six German cities of varying sizes. “With its diverse civil society and media landscape, Leipzig is an ideal place to try out the molo.news service,” explains Professor Pentzold. The project also aims to develop a sustainable business model for the long-term operation of the platform. Opportunities for freelance journalists to earn money on the platform are also being validated. The project is supported by various media organizations and experts for journalism oriented towards the common good.

Project Publications

• Hepp, Andreas (2020): Artificial companions, social bots and work bots: communicative robots as research objects of media and communication studies. In: Media, Culture & Society. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Hepp, Andreas/Loosen, Wiebke (2019): Molo.news: Experimentally Developing a Relational Platform for Local Journalism. In: Media and Communication 2019, Vol. 7. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Roeske, Adrian/Heitmann, Katharina (2019): Nutzer*innenwünsche an eine alternative Nachrichtenplattform. Co-Creation als Methode partizipativer Sozialforschung. In: Marion Brüggemann/Sabine Eder/Angela Tillmann (Hrsg.): Medienbildung für alle – Digitalisierung. Teilhabe. Vielfalt. Schriften zur Medienpädagogik 55. München: kopaed, 161-174. Download als pdf.
• Heitmann-Werner, Katharina/Grahl, Andrea/Hepp, Andreas/Loosen, Wiebke/Kramp, Leif (2022): Von Gatekeeping zu Co-Creation: molo.news als relationale Plattform zur Überwindung der Krise lokaler Öffentlichkeit. In: Südwestdeutsche Medientage: »Wir brauchen die nicht mehr!« - Direktkommunikastion vs. Freie Presse?, Bd. Nr. 44. Evangelischer Pressedienst, 25-36. Download als pdf.

Context Publications

• Heise, Nele/Loosen, Wiebke/Reimer, Julius/Schmidt, Jan-Hinrik (2014): Including the audience. Comparing the attitudes and expactations of journalists and users towards participation in German TV news journalism. In: Journalism Studies, 15(4), 411-430. DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2013.831232. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Heitmann, Katharina/Grahl, Andrea (2022): Medien in Bremen: Von einer massenmedialen zu einer digitalen lokalen Stadtöffentlichkeit. In: Probst, Lothar/Güldner, Matthias/Klee, Andreas (Hrsg.), Politik und Regieren in Bremen. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 435-454.
• Hepp Andreas/Kubitschko, Sebastian/Marszolek, Inge (Hrsg.)(2017): Die mediatisierte Stadt: Kommunikative Figurationen des urbanen Zusammenlebens. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Hepp, Andreas/Simon, Piet/Sowinska, Monika (2017): Living together in the mediatized city: Young people’s communicative figurations of urban communitization. In: Andreas Hepp/ Andreas Breiter/ Uwe Hasebrink (Hrsg.): Communicative figurations: Transforming Communications in times of deep mediatization. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Kramp, Leif (2016): Coneceptualizing metropolitan journalism: New approaches, new communicative practices, new perspectives? In: Leif Kramp/ Nico Carpentier/ Andreas Hepp/ Richard Kilborn/ Risto Kunelius/ Hannu Nieminen/ Tobias Olsson/ Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt/ Ilija Tomanić Trivundža/ Simone Tosoni (Hrsg.): Politics, Civil Society and Participation: Media and Communications in a Transforming Environment, Bremen: edition lumiere, pp. 151-183. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Loosen, Wiebke (2016): Publikumsbeteiligung im Journalismus. In: Klaus Meier & Christoph Neuberger (Hg.): Journalismusforschung. Stand und Perspektiven. 2., aktualis. u. erw. Aufl. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 287-316.
• Loosen, Wiebke/Schmidt, Jan-Hinrik (2012): (Re-)Discovering the audience. The relationship between journalism and audience in networked digital media. In: Information, Communication & Society, 15(6), 867_887. DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2012.665467. Hier geht es zum Aufsatz.
• Reimer, Julius/Heise, Nele/Loosen, Wiebke/Schmidt, Jan-Hinrik/Klein, Jonas/Attrodt, Ariane/Quader, Anne(2015): Publikumsinklusion beim “Freitag”. Fallstudienbericht aus den DFG-Projekt “Die (Wieder-)Entdeckung des Publikums”. Arbeitspapiere des Hans-Bredow-Instituts Nr. 36. Hamburg: Hans-Bredow-Institut für Medienforschung. Download als pdf.