Despite the growing presence of diasporic communities in Germany, their needs regarding local news media are often inadequately addressed. This study helps tackle the issue by highlighting the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen ties between local news media and such communities. Using focus group discussions and Design Thinking, we integrated diasporic communities’ needs into the low-fidelity prototype of an AI tool intended to support local journalism. Our findings reveal that current media offerings may not address diasporic communities’ interests due to local journalists not having enough data to identify relevant topics. At the same time, the prototyping process highlighted concrete tasks (e.g. analysing multilingual input and uncovering granular audience insights beyond aggregated feedback) where AI could provide support without compromising journalistic standards.

Eder, M., Portugal, R., Haim, M., & Thurman, N. (6/2026). Serving Diasporic News Audiences Through Design Thinking: Prototyping a Responsible AI-Tool for Local Journalism. Presented at the 76th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association, Cape Town. (content_copy)