Altominho.App

04/09/2025

ALTO MINHO - With the financial support received, the AltominhoTV project successfully developed and launched a mobile application for iOS and Android designed to address news deserts in the Alto Minho region. The new digital platform delivers hyper-local journalism and interactive features, including polls and short-form video stories, reconnecting local communities — with a particular focus on younger demographics (Gen Z and Millennials) — with public interest journalism and regional civic life.

Dedicated Backoffice & Interactive Features Development: Creation of a custom content management system enabling the newsroom to publish app-exclusive articles, host real-time polls, manage short-form video stories, broadcast live video via YouTube, and send push notifications filtered by municipality.

Testing & App Store Launch: Performance optimisation across operating systems and the successful public launch on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in June 2026.

These activities provided the media outlet with an independent digital infrastructure, expanding public-interest news coverage for the citizens of Alto Minho.

What is the impact?

The AltominhoTV project represented a significant step forward in tackling the news desert phenomenon in Portugal, where roughly 25.3% of municipalities lack consistent local media coverage. By launching a dedicated mobile platform covering the Alto Minho region (including rural municipalities such as Paredes de Coura, Monção, Arcos de Valdevez, and Vila Nova de Cerveira), the initiative directly counteracted the information vacuum often filled by unverified social media content. The project ensures that reliable, public-interest journalism is readily accessible free of charge in areas vulnerable to news desertification.

The most notable positive change brought by the project was the engagement of younger audiences — specifically Gen Z and Millennials — with local journalism and regional civic life. By tailoring news delivery to digital-native formats such as vertical short-form video, push notifications, and real-time interactive polls, AltominhoTV created a participatory, two-way relationship with its community. Furthermore, the project enhanced regional cohesion by allowing users to filter news by municipality, giving greater visibility to local issues and fostering informed public debate across the Alto Minho area.