FEATURE
Opportunities & Threats: Regional News Media
What does 2024 hold for the regional press? Katie French, regional group editor for Newsquest Berkshire & Buckinghamshire, looks ahead.
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
FEATURE
Navigating the Digital Horizon: Two Solutions in Publishing Technology
PressReader’s Ana Cervantes highlights two technologies that are helping publishers improve their digital performance.
FEATURE
Opportunities & Threats: National News Media
What’s the outlook for national news media in 2024? Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, looks ahead.
MEDIA FUTURES
Broadening the Revenue Base
Whatever the rest of 2024 holds, two things are certain. Firstly, the bumpy economic ride will continue. Secondly, the need for media companies to have a broad base of revenue streams has never been more important or more challenging to achieve.
FEATURE
The journalism pipeline is dying… apprenticeships are the cure
Are we ready to admit it?, asks Mark Hudson. The journalism pipeline is broken. To fix it, News UK is investing heavily in its apprenticeship scheme, which has brought fresh and diverse new talent into the business.
OUT & ABOUT WITH ALAN GEERE
Man vs Machine
Alan Geere takes on the might of artificial intelligence in the race to write the perfect piece for InPublishing.
FEATURE
Data teams: ensuring they deliver value
The management and interpretation of data is integral to the success of digital publishers, so it’s important that data teams are structured properly, can recruit talented people and have a clear sense of the company’s strategic priorities.
Thought Leadership Series – 67 Bricks
The GenAI Opportunity
In the first of a new regular thought leadership series with 67 Bricks, Simon Epstein looks at the choices facing publishers.
FEATURE
Community centred
As the publishing landscape continues to change, Tindle Newspapers is embracing the opportunities on offer through digital while remaining true to the community strengths on which its success was based, says Scott Wood.
INTERVIEW
The journalism of fact
For Geordie Greig, Fleet Street’s increasingly strident and partisan tone flies counter to the prevailing need. Now, more than ever, society needs fact-based and trustworthy journalism. Ray Snoddy meets him.
COLUMN
Rebuilding trust
The media is not trusted as much as it needs to be. The solution is simple but it will mean breaking some bad habits.
News
Christmas campaign raises over £2 million
The Times and The Sunday Times' Christmas campaign has raised over £2 million.
News
NMA publishes response to Bill
News Media Association chief executive, Owen Meredith, has responded to the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons last week.
News
The New York Times chooses Roularta Printing
The New York Times has chosen Roularta Printing to print its monthly lifestyle supplement, T Magazine - International Edition.
News
The Sun’s campaign raises over £100,000
The Sun's Cosy at Christmas campaign has raised over £100,000 and led to 12,500 clothing donations.
