Project Rhodopi: Empowering Regional News for Sustainable Growth and Civic Participation

It will namely help Xronos understand the needs of young university students and audiences above 70 years of age via a market research, and train Xronos’ personnel to tailor its content accordingly. It will also educate the target audiences by explaining them the work of journalists and the value of local news, and provide them free printed newspapers for a short period of time.

Xronos is a regional news group, active in the regional unit of Rhodopi (East Macedonia and Thrace Region, about 105.000 inhabitants), one of the poorest regions in the EU, with adeclining and ageing population, which is also home to theDemocritusUniversity of Thrace. The project aims to help Xronos address the main contemporary challenges faced by local media in terms of readership and income, and support it in improving its business model and adapting its content to the needs of specific audiences.

More concretely the project will bring Xronos closer to two particular target audiences: Young readers, and especially students in the University faculties in Komotini and seniors above 70 years of age that live in the scarcely inhabited areas outside of the town of Komotini.
Through market research, staff training and direct dialogue with its readers -which includes interactive workshops and free distribution of the printed newspaper for limited time- the project aims to help Xronos grow sustainably, educate the target audiences by explaining them the work of journalists and the value of local news, and empower local communities towards active civic participation.

Target group

Xronos is active in the regional unit of Rhodopι (part of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace in Greece) which has a population of 104.262 inhabitants. While Xronos targets all adult population of the region, the two target groups that will benefit particularly from this project are:

1. The young population (18-30 years of age) of Rhodopi and more specifically the students of the Democritus University of Thrace.
2. The older population (above 70 years of age) of Rhodopi and particularly the seniors that live in the scarcely inhabited areas outside of the town of Komotini.

Goals of the project

In the short-term, the activities planned for this project will raise awareness amongst the two target group members around the role and functioning of localmedia. Additionally, young and older citizens will also gain awareness about the relation between local journalism and active citizenship.

In the medium-term, activities planned for this project and namely the market research will allow Xronos to understand young and older audiences.
In the long-term connecting Xronos with external experts and stakeholders, may lead to long-term partnerships strengthen the role of local media, and foster inclusion of citizens of all ages in local life.

About the media outlet

Xronosis a mutli-awarded local newspaper that was founded on September 4, 1964, and since then it has been circulating continuously, being the biggest daily newspaper of Rhodopi regional unit of Greece. Xronos and the team of 9 people who work in it, live, breathe and walk in the town of Komotini, continuing its historical work, capturing and commenting on everyday life. Xronos created its radio station (Radio Xronos 87.5) in 1999, and in the same year it became the first provincial newspaper in Greece to create an internet site -which in 2018 was awarded as the “Best Local News Site” in Greece. Since then, Xronos has grown, networked and collaborated and in 2021 was awarded as the “Regional Media of the Year”. It can now be reached via in the following forms (all in the Greek language):Website: www.xronos.gr– with over 1 million views per year, Printed newspaper: 900 newspapers per day, Radio: In the top 3 regional news radio stations