"Co-Creating a New Local Public Sphere: On the Potential of Action Research for Re-Vitalizing Public Communication in a City’s Centre and Its Peripheries", presentation at the European Communication Research and Education Association's (ECREA) "7th European Communication Conference" (ECC) on November 3rd, 2018 in Lugano, Switzerland (together with Andreas Breiter, Katharina Heitmann, Andreas Hepp and Wiebke Loosen).

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Co-creating a new local public sphere
On the potential of action research for re-vitalizing
public communication in a city’s centre and its peripheries
Julius Reimer, Andreas Breiter, Katharina Heitmann, Andreas Hepp, Wiebke Loosen
ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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Project coordinators:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI)
Prof. Dr. Andreas Breiter, Institute for Information Management Bremen, Bremen
Prof. Dr. Wiebke Loosen, Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research, Hamburg
Project duration: Oct 2017 – Sep 2019
Cities: Bremen (+500k inhabitants) + neighbouring rural districts Osterholz-Scharmbeck & Weyhe
The Team

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
Outline
1. Project idea
2. Methods
3. Empirical research
4. Co-creation
5. Conclusion
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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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• The city is experienced less as a shared space of communication
• This is cause and, at the same time, effect of:
• A loss of relevance of local journalism (Harte et al. 2019)
• A highly individualized use of media (Adoni et al. 2017; Hasebrink/Schmidt 2013)
• Urban processes like gentrification and segregation (Smith/Williams 2010)
• Exsiting local media are no longer a platform for a shared local public
• Previous attempts of regional media to win back young users mostly weren‘t successful
1. Project idea: The crisis of the local public sphere as a starting point

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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Local news and
information app
Local
media
Citizens
Social
move-
ments
etc.
• Research question: How should a news app for better local
communication look like?
• Empirical research: investigation of local news practices
(focus groups, in-depth interviews)
• The approach: co-creative app development
• The ‘co-’: considering and reconciling individuals’, collectives’,
and local media’s requirements
1. Project idea: Research and development process

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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Individuals:
focus groups, survey
Collectives:
focus groups
Local media:
in-depth interviews
In Bremen, Weyhe, Osterholz-Scharmbeck
6 FGs: 41 citizens (age 15-41);
standardized survey: on-going
8 FGs: 41 members of 34 sports
clubs, religious communities etc.
13 interviews with media, 11 with
political parties, city administration
2. Methods: Multi-method design

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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3. Empirical research: Perceptions of the local public sphere
Local public connection Citiz. Collect. Media
• Young people and commuters don’t feel related to their city and
its inhabitants
✔ ✔ ✔
• The use of local news decreases, the use of platforms
increases, personal communication remains important
✔ ✔ ✔
• In platform feeds, local news are dominated by national and
international news
✔ ✔
• A general interest of citizens in local affairs remains ✔
“If it's only important locally, then it‘s not that important to me. I notice it
anyway because (...) others like it [on Facebook] or something.”
– citizen, m, 28

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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3. Empirical research: Perceptions of the local public sphere
Local news agenda Citiz. Collect. Media
• Local collectives and groups are only a limited news topic
(✔) ✔ (✔)
• Marginal city districts are only a limited news topic
✔
(city)
✔
(city)
• City’s surrounding areas are only a limited news topic
✔
(rural)
✔
(rural)
• There is no investigative or critical journalism on local issues
✔
(rural)
“I do believe that all information (i.e. information on all different topics)
exist. I believe the difficulty is getting it to the people.”
– editor-in-chief, radio, Bremen

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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3. Empirical research: Perceptions of the local public sphere
News presentation Citiz. Collect. Media
• Users are not addressed according to their needs and literacy ✔
• News are not personalized and emotional enough ✔
• Storytelling is not adapted to the different contexts, interests
and knowledge of users
✔
“I often experience that the target group is somehow misjudged by the
authors (...) or that only elderly people are being addressed. (...) News are
not designed for young people.”
– citizen, m, 24

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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0
4. Co-creation: Workshops

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
App
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Self-learning algorithm: personalized feed
Hub newsroom: selected contents delivered to all users
4. Co-creation: The molo.news app
Medium 1:
Local paper
Medium 2:
radio station
Collective 1:
soc. movement
Collective 2:
sports club
Citizen 1 Citizen 2 Citizen 3
News via RSS feed Dates via Facebook Match report via backend

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Reimer, Breiter, Heimann, Hepp, Loosen | ECREA 2018 | 3. Nov | Lugano
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5. Conclusion
• The paradox of local publics: Remaining interest in local affairs but decreasing
public connection.
• Co-creation’s potential and restriction: Access to different perspectives but a
limited chance of including all of them.
• Value orientation: A shared understanding of the local public sphere as a ‘common
good’.