molo is an innovative information app and is being developed as part of a scientific research project by the University of Leipzig, the University of Bremen and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute in Hamburg. The aim is to promote the urban public sphere and offer local stakeholders a new information platform. To counteract the crisis of traditional local media and give local topics and events more visibility again, the app is deliberately oriented towards the common good.

enlarge the image: Looking over a person's shoulder, you can see the screen of a smartphone with the Molo app open. The person is standing in an urban environment
Molo.News: Your go-to app for local news and events near you. |Credit: Markus Werner

Background

The molo.news project serves to build a relational platform for urban publicity that is available throughout Germany. The platform is intended to address people who are no longer or insufficiently reached by classic local journalistic offerings (including young people or people with low incomes).

Due to the increasing economic crisis of local journalism in large cities, the platform should also offer the possibility of monetizing the work of freelance journalists without competing with established media offerings.

Such a relational platform has great innovative potential - even beyond Germany. By bringing together different actors relevant to the urban public, the resulting diversity of opinions and perspectives should contribute to the development of social cohesion in small, medium and large cities.

Following the development and initial test phase in the Bremen metropolitan area, the project is now being validated with Leipzig in another large city as well as several medium-sized and small cities. In Leipzig, the medium-sized city of Markkleeberg and the small town of Großpösna will be added; in Bremen, the study region of Delmenhorst and Bremervörde will be expanded.

Project Management

Prof. Dr. Christian Pentzold (University of Leipzig)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp (ZeMKI, University of Bremen)

Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen (HBI, Hamburg)

 

Project Staff

Andrea Grahl (ZeMKI, University of Bremen)

Katharina Heitmann-Werner (ZeMKI, University of Bremen)

Julius Reimer (HBI, Hamburg)

Bartje Krüger (Universität Leipzig)

Fabienne Steindorf-Elsner (Universität Leipzig)

 

Innovation Mentors

Tanja Krämer (Freelance Journalist)

Lorenz Matzat (Freelance Journalist)

Alexander von Streit (Freelance Journalist)

March 1, 2023 to February 28, 2026

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