Newsmind Stories
Newsmind Stories is a web-based editorial system from German software house Convit GmbH. Editorial and communications teams plan topics centrally, turn them into channel-specific stories, publish across social media and print, and lean on a built-in AI assistant throughout.
What is Newsmind Stories?
Newsmind Stories is a cloud editorial system built by Convit GmbH, a Cologne software company that started life in 2015 as a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems (IAIS). It is the flagship of the Newsmind range, alongside Newsmind Spectrum, Newsmind Link and the Media Data Hub.
The organising idea is the topic. Teams plan around subjects rather than channels, and each topic then spawns as many stories as it needs, one shaped for each outlet. That single move is what the product sells: it dissolves the channel silos that leave a radio desk, a website team and a social media team planning the same subject three times over. Around it sit six modules covering editorial planning, workflows, social media, insights, AI and automation, and integrations.
The AI is embedded in the workflow rather than parked in a separate chat window. It suggests keywords and tags, surfaces related news and topics, generates story ideas, summaries, social posts and moderation scripts, and turns text into broadcast-quality audio. It also watches for duplicate work, flagging when a colleague has already opened the same subject. Administrators can go further with AI Self Service, placing custom AI functions and ready-made prompts exactly where a workflow needs them, and can configure AI agents that operate in the background like ordinary users, handling preliminary research or metadata upkeep from a role written in plain language. Customers choose their models, whether mainstream or their own specialised systems reached over an API, and can test new ones in a sandbox.
The platform is multi-tenant with a dedicated database per customer, hosted in EU data centres on Google Cloud or AWS. Convit reports more than 25,000 users, with public references including WDR, NDR, ARD, ZDF, the Bundeswehr, Dataport and the LandIDEE magazine of Funke Mediengruppe. Access is through the browser, including from phones and tablets; no native mobile app is published.
What it does
- Plan topics centrally across departments, then break them into channel-specific stories
- Monitor news wires, RSS feeds, Google Trends and social platforms in one filtered stream
- Draft article outlines, summaries, social posts and moderation scripts with the built-in AI
- Publish directly to Instagram, LinkedIn, X and Facebook, with preview and scheduling
- Build approval workflows, custom fields and views that match how the team already works
- Track content KPIs and social insights in personal dashboards and calendars
- Delegate recurring research and metadata chores to configurable AI agents
When to use Newsmind Stories / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if Newsmind Stories is the right fit.
When to use Newsmind Stories
- Cross-media newsrooms coordinating television, radio, online and print output from a single plan
- Corporate communications teams running an internal newsroom across intranet, social media and magazines
- Public broadcasters and public-sector press offices bound by EU data-residency requirements
- Editorial departments large enough to need configurable approval workflows and role-based permissions
- Content teams ready to retire a patchwork of spreadsheets, chat threads and scheduling tools
When not to use Newsmind Stories
- Freelancers and solo creators, since the cheapest licence costs 39 EUR per user per month
- Teams wanting to sign up and start immediately, as every route in runs through a sales demo
- Buyers who need generative AI on a small budget, because it only unlocks on the 99 EUR Pro tier
- Developers looking for a public API, documentation or self-service integrations, none of which exist
- Organisations requiring a native mobile app rather than browser access from a phone or tablet
How to use Newsmind Stories
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Request a demonstration through the booking form on the Convit website
- Take an initial no-obligation phone call in which requirements are scoped
- Attend the tailored online demo, lasting roughly 30 to 60 minutes
- Ask for a trial licence afterwards if the team wants hands-on time before committing
- Agree licence numbers and sign up, with access activated by Convit
- Work through implementation and IT integration, reaching a usable system within about a week
- Connect further systems and adapt views during the first four weeks
- Send administrators to hands-on training on workflows, custom fields, value lists and dashboards
- Bring the wider team on board through a shared online training day
- Run day to day with help centre, email, phone and ticket support, plus annual review sessions
Pros & Cons
Pros
- AI sits inside the editorial workflow instead of being a separate tool to switch to
- Customers pick their own AI models, including specialised in-house ones, and can trial them in a sandbox
- Data stays in EU data centres, under an Article 28 DPA with a named data protection officer
- The product itself sets no cookies and runs no analytics or marketing tracking by default
- Genuine cross-media reach, down to rundowns and broadcast slots for television and radio
- Credible public references among major broadcasters and public bodies
- Implementation, migration and training are handled by the vendor, with a stated one-week go-live
Cons
- No free plan and no self-service sign-up: a sales demo is the only way in
- Generative AI is withheld from the entry tier and starts at 99 EUR per user per month
- No public API and no developer documentation; probing the usual paths returns only 404s
- No native mobile application, only browser access from a phone or tablet
- No security certification is claimed anywhere: no ISO 27001, SOC 2, C5 or TISAX
- The subprocessor register is described as existing but is never published
- Legal documents carry no effective date or version, so commitments cannot be dated
Pricing & Plans
There is no permanently free plan. Paid entry starts at 39 EUR per user per month for the Basic tier, which covers up to 15 users across two teams. The Pro tier costs 99 EUR per user per month and is the point at which generative AI and deep integrations become available. The All-In tier is quoted on request only. A free trial licence can be arranged, but only after a sales demonstration. Additional seats may be purchased at any time at the prevailing unit price. No activation fee, setup charge or minimum commitment is published.
- topic creation and planning
- trend monitoring through feeds
- stories linked to topics
- change tracking
- central media and asset storage
- teams
- tasks and deadlines
- custom dashboards and calendars
- everything in Basic plus advanced workflow and interface configuration
- deep CMS and MAM integrations
- full social publishing across channels
- social media insights
- generative AI inside the editorial system
- AI-based automation of routine tasks and advanced support
- everything in Pro plus complex workflows
- formats and products
- every channel from television and audio to online
- print and social
- unlimited publishing
- company-wide and global collaboration
- per-channel planning with rundowns and broadcast schedules
- AI agents
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how Newsmind Stories handles your data.
GDPR overview
GDPR implementation is documented in unusual detail. Convit GmbH is named as controller for its own notice and as an Article 28 processor when running the platform, with a data processing agreement covering subject matter, duration, categories and technical measures. A data protection officer is appointed, reachable at datenschutz@convit.de. Hosting and processing take place exclusively in EU data centres, with no transfer outside the EEA unless contractually agreed or triggered by the customer. Stated safeguards include TLS and at-rest encryption, pseudonymisation, role-based access control, tenant isolation, backups, privacy by design and by default, and support for data subject rights. The site asserts plainly that the product meets all GDPR requirements. Two gaps remain: the subprocessor register is said to exist but is not published, and the notice carries no effective date or version number.
Who owns the data?
Customers keep ownership and control of everything they put into the platform. Convit states that it normally acts as a processor under Article 28 GDPR, which makes the customer the controller and confines Convit to the customer's documented instructions. Editorial content and metadata are created or imported by the customer, who alone determines their content and purpose. The privacy notice adds that personal data handled under the data processing agreement is never used by Convit for its own purposes, and that it is neither sold nor used for advertising, marketing or profiling. Each customer sits in its own tenant with a dedicated database. On termination, data is deleted or returned as the contract provides.
Reuse rights
Within their own tenant, customers may use, edit, export and publish their content freely, with no permission to seek from Convit: import and export are presented as standard functions, and content can be pushed to connected CMS, DAM/MAM and distribution systems or straight to social channels. Convit's own use is narrowly framed. The privacy notice lists the permitted purposes as operating the platform, managing users and permissions, running editorial workflows, security logging, error analysis and support, availability, and backup and deletion. Disclosure to third parties happens only where a service requires it, where the customer has switched on an integration, or where the law compels it. Content may travel outbound to contracted AI services where the customer has agreed to that. One silence is worth noting: nowhere does Convit say whether customer data is used to train AI models, in either direction.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
Newsmind Stories runs on cloud infrastructure located inside the European Union, and Convit states that all personal data is stored and processed exclusively in EU data centres. The homepage is more specific, naming Google Cloud and AWS facilities in Europe. Personal data is not transferred outside the European Economic Area unless the transfer has been explicitly agreed in the contract or initiated by the customer. The platform is operated by Convit GmbH together with contracted infrastructure and hosting providers acting as authorised subprocessors under GDPR agreements. Architecturally it is multi-tenant, with each customer's data logically isolated in its own dedicated database, and protected by TLS in transit and encryption at rest. No individual country is named: the site consistently says European Union or Europe. One distinction is worth keeping straight, since the two are unrelated: Convit's own WordPress marketing site is hosted separately by bitplex GmbH, and that has no bearing on where the platform's customer data lives.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting Newsmind Stories.
- AI-drafted copy still carries a newsroom's byline: summaries, social posts and moderation scripts need human verification before publication, and Convit itself frames the AI as support rather than replacement
- Leaning on AI trend monitoring can quietly narrow editorial judgement, letting an algorithm's sense of relevance stand in for a desk's own news sense
- The site contradicts itself on its own address: the legal notice and footer give Schanzenstraße 39 E2, while the English terms of use give Schanzenstraße 39 D7
- The subprocessor register is said to exist and be contractually binding, but it is not published, so customers cannot see who else touches their data before signing
- No security certification is claimed anywhere: buyers expecting ISO 27001, SOC 2 or C5 will need to raise it directly
- Privacy notice and terms carry no effective date or version number, so it is impossible to tell when a commitment was made or whether it has since changed
- Sending editorial content to contracted external AI services is possible where agreed, and the documentation never states whether customer data may be used to train AI models
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Low for the customer, because Convit carries the work. Being browser-based, the system needs no installation. Convit handles implementation and IT integration, with the platform usable within about a week and further systems connected during the first four weeks. Administrators receive hands-on training to configure workflows, custom fields, value lists and dashboards, and the wider team is introduced through a shared online training day. A migration service is included. No development skills are required, not least because there is no public API to build against.
Deployment
Integrations
Behind Newsmind Stories
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Alternatives
Tools that compete with or complement Newsmind Stories.
Frequently asked questions
What is Newsmind Stories?
Can I try it for free?
What does it cost?
What is the difference between a topic and a story?
What does the AI actually do?
Where is my data hosted?
Which systems can it connect to?
Is there a public API?
Is there a mobile app?
How long does implementation take?
Should you pick Newsmind Stories?
Newsmind Stories is a serious, narrowly aimed product rather than a general-purpose content tool. Convit has been building for newsrooms since 2015, and it shows in the details that matter to broadcasters and press offices: rundowns and broadcast slots, approval chains that survive contact with a real editorial hierarchy, and a topic-first model that genuinely attacks channel silos rather than merely renaming them. The reference list, spanning WDR, NDR, ARD, ZDF, the Bundeswehr and Dataport, is the strongest evidence on the site.
Its compliance posture is a real advantage for European buyers. Hosting is confined to EU data centres, an Article 28 processing agreement is standard, a data protection officer is named, tenants are separated by dedicated databases, and the product sets no cookies and runs no tracking by default. Teams handling sensitive editorial material will find little to argue with there.
The reservations are as clear. There is no free plan and no way to try the software without going through a sales conversation, which makes evaluation slow. Generative AI, the feature most likely to attract buyers, is absent from the 39 EUR entry tier and only appears at 99 EUR. There is no public API and no native mobile app. No security certification is claimed anywhere on the site, and the subprocessor register, though said to exist, is never published; for a vendor otherwise this transparent about its data protection measures, both are conspicuous absences worth raising in procurement.
In short: a well-built European editorial system for organisations with the scale, the budget and the patience for a guided rollout. Smaller teams wanting to sign up and experiment this afternoon should look elsewhere.
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