Mainz's AI news service Wie geht's…? aims to hook young readers

The State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate is supporting the newly founded Drive local initiative with €26,000 in funding for 2026. The grant aims to bolster its commitment to "sustainable structures in journalism," according to the official justification.

The media group VRM, based in Mainz, will benefit from the funding as it develops and pilots an AI-driven local news service tailored to younger audiences. The project, titled "Wie geht's...?" ("How's it going...?"), offers a low-threshold, personalized, and free morning briefing that distills a city's news and public sentiment. Using local reporting from the newspaper, the service could deliver content in simplified language, foreign languages such as Turkish, Arabic, or Ukrainian, or adapt it for different platforms like newsletters or messaging apps, as well as in audio or video formats.

The Drive alliance—comprising 30 regional publishers—launched Drive local this year to create the framework for funding projects like the one now underway in Mainz. In North Rhine-Westphalia, three publishers—Lensing Medien (Dortmund), Aschendorff Verlagsgruppe (Münster), and Neue Westfälische (Bielefeld)—will also receive state funding in 2026. NRW is supporting the participating projects with nearly half a million euros in grants, disbursed over a three-year period.

"In the digital age, we must constantly rethink how to connect with audiences through local content," said Jule Lumma, editor-in-chief and head of content at VRM, as well as a board member of Drive local, in a statement. "User behavior is evolving rapidly. Thanks to this project, we can develop new offerings and approaches to engage the next generation with local journalism."