News
Journalists' safety tracker to monitor SLAPPS
NUJ reveals aim to gather more data about incidents of 'lawfare'.
News Media
The newspaper business was built for a world where one product served everyone and advertising paid for most of it. That model has gone. What replaces it is still being worked out title by title, from national groups to weeklies covering a single town.
Reader revenue is the clearest shift. Even Reach, which argued for free access for years, now puts some of its journalism behind a paywall, and the regional titles doing best changed their newsrooms before they asked anyone to pay. Ownership keeps changing too. National World rebuilt local editorships after years of centralisation, and the Observer is being reinvented as a premium print and digital title under new owners.
The strongest publishers understand the difference because they are not trying to be everything to everyone. They are trying to be essential to someone.
Chris Sherrard News media
Local news is where the pressure shows most. Millions of people now live without a dedicated local title, and new reader-funded and membership startups are moving into the gaps. Platforms are pulling back from news at the same time, which leaves trust and a direct relationship with readers as the assets that matter most.
Print hasn't disappeared either. Well-run weeklies still hold on to their readers, with circulation falling slowly while digital audiences grow.
Below you'll find some of our best feature articles on news media, from reader revenue and newsroom change to ownership, local news and trust, alongside our latest news and industry commentary.
Essential Resources
FEATURE
Returning to growth
Where is the growth opportunity for today’s publishers? Douglas McCabe tracks how the commercial model has evolved over the past fifty years and examines whether a better understanding of what online audiences want, will help drive future growth.
Best Practice in Publishing
News media
We asked Chris Sherrard, editor-in-chief of The Irish News, what does best practice publishing look like in news media? This is what he said…
INTERVIEW
Stand and deliver!
After years of resisting paywalls, Reach is now launching them across its titles. But David Higgerson, Reach’s chief content officer, carefully avoided the word ‘U-turn’ when interviewed by Steve Dyson.
INTERVIEW
Change before charge
It’s one thing to think that readers should pay for your journalism, but the reality is that unless you improve your offering, then you will struggle to start charging for it, as DC Thomson Editor-in-Chief Frank O’Donnell tells Ciar Byrne.
INTERVIEW
Ditching the generic
How can you edit a regional newspaper when you never visit the area you’re writing about? By filling it with generic content, an approach that National World’s David Montgomery, the new owner of JPI Media, is rapidly doing away with.
INTERVIEW
The Observer’s premium future
Ray Snoddy talks to Co-CEO Rich Furness about the thinking behind Tortoise Media’s acquisition of the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper and about their plans for its future.
FEATURE
Opportunities & Threats: National News Media
What’s the outlook for national news media in 2024? Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, looks ahead.
FEATURE
Breathing new life into local media
There is a new generation of entrepreneurs launching local media businesses, bringing with them new ideas on business models and funding. Phil Clark looks at some of the stand-out examples.
OPINION
We Need Trusted News Brands Now More Than Ever
With Meta backing away from ‘news’ and AI accelerating the growth of disinformation, we need to redouble our efforts to safeguard access to quality journalism, says News Media Association Chief Executive Owen Meredith.
OUT & ABOUT WITH ALAN GEERE
Weekly does it
East Lothian is not just the best place to live – it has the best newsbrand too. Alan Geere heads over the border to find out what’s happening in the world of Scottish weeklies.
All Articles
News
The 2024 Pulitzer Prize announcement
Columbia University has announced the 2023 Pulitzer Prizes, awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
News
The Telegraph launches new podcast
The Telegraph has launched Money Confidential, a new weekly podcast hosted by the paper’s Consumer Champion, Katie Morley.
COLUMN
Making a difference
Great journalism can lift the lid on corruption and complacency and change the way society sees itself.
News
Onetag announces new hires
Onetag, a global programmatic curation platform, has announced three senior additions to the team.
News
New weekly podcast to launch
The Times and Sunday Times have announced a new weekly podcast The Royals with Roya and Kate, with the first episode launching on Friday 10th May.
News
The Yorkshire Post receives praise
The Yorkshire Post has received praise for its investigative campaign as building societies agree to repay tens of millions of pounds to victims of investment scandal.
News
Culture Secretary calls on public
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has called on the public to buy local and national newspapers in support of the industry’s “brilliant reporters shining a light on the good and the bad.”
News
SoE calls for protections for journalists
The Society of Editors has called for the protection of all journalists following the “unprecedented” number of reporters and media workers who have lost their lives during the ongoing Israel and Hamas conflict.
News
IPSO makes two appointments
Press regulator IPSO has made two appointments: former editorial director of delicious. magazine to its board, and former first minister of Wales to the Complaints Committee.
News
National World launches new podcast
National World has announced the launch of a new podcast called Booky.
News
Mail Metro Media launches new team
Mail Metro Media has announced the launch of a new team and the hire of Dave Randall in a newly created role, head of performance & data sales.
COLUMN
Liz Gerard’s Notebook
Assisted dying debate, misunderstanding how our democracy works, targeting Sadiq Khan, Met chief under fire, Louis turns 6, online howlers, demise of Times’s editorial conferences and front page of the fortnight…
COLUMN
Not North Korea, but not Norway either
A recent report paints a disturbing picture of media freedom being threatened in some EU countries.
News
Crowdfindervideo launches
Founder Simon Elliott says he wants to help publishers produce a high enough volume of video at a low enough cost to serve and grow audiences while attracting sponsors.
