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The new mayor of Rotterdam? AD Rotterdams Dagblad was the first to name Ahmed Aboutaleb’s successor – Carola Schouten – and was able to give an extensive reconstruction of the confidential application process a day later.

The ‘Banga lists’ at the Utrecht Student Association? AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad spoke to many students involved. The corruption case involving executive councillor Richard de Mos in The Hague? AD Haagsche Courant produced a podcast series (‘O o De Mos’) with the key players, with an actual episode on the day of the judgment. The PFAS scandal at Chemours in Dordrecht? The attacks on the Vlaardingen plumber or the Alphen liquor store? And of course, personal, constructive, and inspiring stories about the people of the Randstad region. These are just some examples of the regional coverage that AD’s editorial teams provide. They are the heart of AD Regio.

The regional editorial teams of AD are on the ground. They are part of ‘AD Regio’.

- “AD Regio?”
Yes.
- “But I thought it was a national news brand?”
Yes, that too.

Through the acquisition of Wegener, DPG Media obtained an extensive portfolio in regional journalism in the Netherlands. That prompted the company to also split AD in 2015, to strengthen both its national and regional positions.

The seven regional brands (AD Rotterdams Dagblad, AD Haagsche Courant, AD Utrechts Nieuwsblad, AD Groene Hart, AD De Dordtenaar, AD Amersfoortse Courant and AD Rivierenland) have since become a separate business unit: AD Regio. At five locations in the major cities in the Randstad region, 17 regional editions are printed; 85% of the newspaper readers read a regional AD paper. In addition, we digitally supply the stories for dozens of municipal pages, regional videos, podcasts and newsletters.

Regional journalism is also the main motivation for subscribing to AD. A large number of regional stories find their way to the home page of AD.nl. Much of what happens in the regions around Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, in a suburban area with about five million inhabitants, is considered domestic news.

AD Regio has its own editorial board (Paul van den Bosch and Mark Langeslag) which, of course, works closely with the editorial board of the main AD editorial team in Rotterdam. Both editorial boards are responsible for AD, the largest news medium in the Netherlands.

This construction settled a discussion. Is AD a national brand with regional editions? Or a regional brand with a national edition? This was a discussion that was held for quite a while. AD is both. The interests of both groups of readers are represented to the utmost. The individual editorial boards and editorial teams are well aware of that. They are, ultimately, one.

What was long considered a difficult interaction after the merger and was experienced as such within the company, is now a major strength. AD is the only news brand in the Netherlands that reports on everything: on Harris versus Trump, on politics in The Hague, on the Dutch national football team and our Olympians, but also on your city council, amateur sports club and nursing home down the road.

AD Regio makes it possible for AD to also be what it’s name stands for: Altijd Dichtbij (AD) – Always by your side.

AD introduced the ‘messaging service’ in 2024. These editorial teams use AI to create many messages for the municipal pages.

They use sources such as press releases, information from public authorities, clubs, institutions and companies. These sources are carefully selected by the editorial teams.

How does it work? Editorial teams select an incoming message and use AI to quickly transform it into a concise article. Before being published online, it is first reviewed by an editor.

This is carried out according to the MMM principle that ADR brands have established in a protocol: humans first, then the machine and lastly a human.

By using this kind of technology, we can ensure that we can provide each municipality in the AD Regio area with a good mix of local coverage. The journalists will be responsible for the longer premium articles and local debates. The ‘messaging service’ will then add the latest news from the local villages.

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hen Ahmed Aboutaleb announced that he would be leaving, Peter Groenendijk (AD Rotterdams Dagblad) decided to write a book about his time as a mayor. Within a week, everything had been arranged at DPG Media. Je suis Ahmed is a behind the scenes look at his 15 years as mayor of Rotterdam and the story of Rotterdam. 

Groenendijk experienced Aboutaleb up close. The book is not about settling scores or about glorifying him. It gives a realistic picture of a great mayor with a great ego. 

Aboutaleb did not contribute to the book. His relationship with AD Rotterdams Dagblad was often strained. He disliked the critical reporting and cancelled his personal subscription to the paper in 2023. The title of the book refers to Aboutaleb’s speech after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo.

‘Habbo Hotel’ is an online game in which you live in a virtual world. Anja, a deaf girl from Scheveningen, fell under the spell of the Belgian Chantal in the game. Anja broke all ties with her family and past.

Jorina Haspels (AD Haagsche Courant) and Annet Röst (DPG Media Podcast) share this unusual story in the six-part podcast series ‘The Habbo mystery’. Never before has a DPG Media podcast been downloaded more than a million times so quickly. This is particularly impressive because each episode was first exclusively accessible using a login for a week. This boosted logins and did not have a negative effect on the reach.