This is how BeatSquares is launching, which will help regional daily newspapers

kress.de: Mr. Bosch, the new company BeatSquares is in the boom segment of AI-supported publishing. But what exactly is it – a fact-checking service provider, a helper in distribution and content placement or even a content provider as a specialized news agency?

René Bosch: Maybe a little bit of everything (laughs). Our goal is for local and regional journalism to be thought less from the newspaper perspective and more from the wishes and habits of the local people. If you want, we can turn a daily newspaper production into another variety of publications that reach people as podcasts, newsletters, WhatsApp groups or even mini-games. Automatically, with no additional effort for the editorial team.

And what role does artificial intelligence play in this?

Artificial intelligence helps us to classify the content of our media partners, understand people’s interests and be able to produce the appropriate formats automatically. We have developed a three-stage system for this: First we check what our media partners publish: How many articles about local politics are there per week? Which sport is being reported on? What articles are there about regional infrastructure? In the second step, we analyze what interests local citizens have: TikTok teens get information differently than print pensioners. What content that is already hidden in the newspaper is the respective group interested in? Can I reach them better in a specific WhatsApp group or with a podcast? From these two analyses, we then automatically create so-called “Squares”: These are new topic formats that can be created based on the journalists’ research in various forms of media. These formats are then published as part of our partner’s media offering; we remain in the background.

And what does that actually look like?

René Bosch: The offering of a local newspaper can be significantly expanded, for example with daily district updates as podcasts or a weekly deep dive into local politics as a newsletter. This means that the research also reaches those for whom reading the newspaper is more of a cultural tradition than a daily activity. We maintain the same quality because the core of the whole thing remains the search for journalists.

You cooperate with media partners: Who is already on board, what are your expansion plans for such deals?

We have only just started working, but we are already overwhelmed by the response. Along with the launch, our beta tester program started, which you can apply for on our website. Within a very short time we had a three-digit number of applications. We have already made initial agreements, for example with the “Tagesspiegel”: Here we want to test how our infrastructure can help. We are also in very productive discussions with one of the largest German regional publishers in order to work together to reach more people with their content. The support from the Media Innovation Center in Babelsberg, which supports one of our projects and provides us with advice and support, also helps us here. However, our focus is on journalism in the coming 1930s: Anyone who goes to media conferences always hears behind closed doors about the “orderly withdrawal” because profitability is no longer present in certain areas.

What do you say about this black painting?

Anyone who follows this credo is working towards a self-fulfilling prophecy: the rise of populism. Where citizens no longer know what is happening on their doorstep, you can also win mayoral elections with sham debates and false claims. Only stronger regional journalism can prevent this. Our work depends one hundred percent on this.

What type of media provider could BeatSquares be a particularly good fit for and what are the special advantages you can offer?

I’ve already quickly anticipated this – we want to be active primarily in the regional market. The next ten years will mark the beginning of the golden age of regional media – if you do it right. That sounds almost strange today because hardly anyone can imagine how the enormous challenges of the next few years will be overcome. But interest in regional content is much greater than the number of people currently reached by local newspapers and online offerings. The potential is there too. With our infrastructure, we take care of exactly this potential: that podcasts are created automatically. That organically growing WhatsApp groups are created. That populism is countered by good information on TikTok and Co. Everything is based on what journalists research on site.

Please briefly describe your business model: Where do you make money?

All of our formats have at least one monetization component that makes money immediately. These are, for example, special advertising formats that are displayed. We see the local proximity in particular as a major advantage. But we also have a long-term perspective: We want to use our formats to strengthen the bond between local people and our partner media – we stay in the background. These ties pay off for regional media in the long run, and that’s what makes them worth paying us for.

You bring with you many years of experience in the corporate world of journalism: What were the most important learning effects and experiences that encouraged you to jump into your own business after your time at Springer?

Good journalists must once again be judged more by the thickness of their phone book and the quality of their stories. Not how well they assign catchphrases or dance TikTok reels. Seeing that artificial intelligence can relieve us of a lot of unpleasant work and offer more to readers, listeners and viewers was motivation enough to get started. In addition, it is time to counteract the pessimism in the regional media sector: even in ten years, good regional journalism will be needed in Pforzheim, Jena, Regensburg and Bielefeld. We want to play a central role in ensuring that this exists.

With the current round of financing behind you: What specific plans are you now building on the momentum and which activities are you primarily investing in?

We are motivated to the core because we now have everything we need: Markus Klimmer is at our side with his knowledge as an international investor, as is the Babelsberg Media Innovation Center with its many years of experience. Operationally, we are fully concentrating on the further development of our infrastructure in order to achieve our goal: We transform regional daily newspapers into multimedia powerhouses! And of course we want to get better every day. This requires continuous development based on state-of-the-art frameworks and applications. We can only drive this forward with a constantly growing and highly talented team. We now have the financial means for this growth – on a technical and personnel level.

background

BeatSquares was founded by René Bosch, former deputy editor-in-chief of BILD, and Mark Page, co-founder and until recently CFO of the hydrogen manufacturer HH2E. The goal is to build an innovative, AI-based media company. The focus is on the development of a radically new form of local and regional media models. The now announced first round of financing (amount: around half a million euros) is led by Markus Klimmer. The long-time McKinsey partner advised, among others, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the former Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern on economic issues. A total of four private investors are participating in the so-called pre-seed round, and the Babelsberg Media Innovation Center is also supporting the development of an editorial tool with project funding.

Once a day: Exclusive stories, personal details, debates & jobs in our kressexpress. Order our free newsletter now – and don’t miss anything from the world of publishing!