Médio Tejo eXpress: News that Speaks Your Language

Twice-daily news updates, one-minute summaries and youth-oriented formats (quizzes, explainers and short videos on Instagram and TikTok) helped the outlet build new habits among a demographic that had rarely engaged with local news. A focus group of 22 journalism students shaped the app ahead of its public launch, while 12 political debates, held around the October 2025 local elections, gave young citizens direct access to candidates and civic information, including one segment that went viral on national television.

Project Activities

The project unfolded in three phases. Between April and July 2025, PERSPECTIVA worked with development partner Dengun to design and build an app-based news service integrated with Instagram and TikTok, shifting the outlet's format towards video and audio content suited to mobile consumption. From July to September 2025, the editorial team introduced twice-daily news updates (text, audio and video) at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., accompanied by push notifications and one-minute daily summaries, alongside a new, more informal editorial voice designed to appeal to younger readers. This phase also produced youth-oriented quizzes, explainers, cultural recommendations and trivia, distributed on Instagram and TikTok to identify which formats generated the most engagement. In the final phase, ahead of the app's public release, the team ran a closed test with a focus group of 22 journalism students, whose daily ratings and feedback informed adjustments to tone, structure and content mix before launch.

What is the impact?

Médio Tejo eXpress made a concrete contribution to countering the region's growing news desert by creating a news product specifically designed for an age group that mainstream and legacy formats had failed to reach. By combining an app with a strong TikTok and Instagram presence, the project extended fact-checked, public-interest journalism to young audiences who had previously accessed information mainly through fragmented and unreliable social media sources. The partnership with a journalism school further embedded media literacy into the project's reach, reinforcing the outlet's role as a trusted local information source at a time when disinformation was competing directly for the same audience's attention.

The clearest shift was in youth engagement: on Instagram, close to half of followers (around 49%) are now aged 18–34, and TikTok content reached an estimated 22,000 people and generated 24,000 video views, despite the channel being newly launched. Audience feedback showed a strong preference for short, humorous, visually driven content, validating the outlet's new editorial approach. The political debate series gave young, historically disengaged citizens direct access to candidates ahead of the local elections, with one debate segment gaining national visibility after being picked up by a national television show, demonstrating that civic content can combine humour with substance. More broadly, the project strengthened the newsroom's own capacity: new digital skills, formats and workflows developed through this project continue to generate impact well beyond the funding period.

Project Links

• O RAP quer saber: afinal, come-se ou não uma sandes de presunto em Mação?
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Project Pictures

Images by Médio Tejo eXpress