Bürgerportal Bergisch Gladbach (Germany)
Summary
The Bürgerportal in GL is a local community media outlet in the city of Bergisch Gladbach in western Germany. It was established as a digital local newspaper and citizen's platform in 2009 by Georg Watzlawek and Werner Schmitz-Dietzsch. Today, the Bürgerportal's primary product is a daily newsletter, which is read by approximately 16,000 people in the city every day. Offering all content freely accessible to everyone, alongside a membership program called "Freundeskreis" with 900 voluntary paying members, the Bürgerportal stands as one of the pioneering community media outlets in Germany.
Name
Bürgerportal in GL
Website
https://in-gl.de/
Location / Location of coverage
Bergisch Gladbach, Germany
Size of potential audience/ town region covered
110,000 population
Year they started publishing
2009
Language
German
Mission statement
Know what's going on. We endeavour to ensure comprehensive local reporting for our audience. We are a traditional local daily newspaper, but one that is published digitally as a newsletter, but also an impact-driven digital platform for citizens and local initiatives. With our Freundeskreis and BürgerAkademie, we provide a sense of community and political education and media literacy for our members.
Founders
Georg Watzlawek, Werner Schmitz-Dietsch
Current management team
Georg Watzlawek
Team
Full-time equivalent employees: 3
Legal form of company
sole proprietorship
Tax status
for-profit
Main products
Daily Newsletter (free)
Additional products
Website (free)
Audience and community reach
Newsletter: 8,000 subscribers, but around 16,000 readers in total
Website: 60,000 to 80,000 visits / month
Freundeskreis: around 900 paying members
Most important community engagement format
Bürgerclubs, regular small in-person discussion format
Revenue streams
Revenue: 18,000 € / month
Advertising (40 %)
Freundeskreis (30 %)
Partnerships (15 %)
Co-working space (15 %)
Get involved:
or or
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