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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
What’s the outlook for national news media in 2024? Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, looks ahead.
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.
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.
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.
Metro and Inverness Courier have won this year’s Making a Difference award for their efforts in driving change through their campaigns Formula For Change and Dual the A9.
The Guardian US launches new lifestyle and wellness vertical, newsletter, and January live event.
Emeli Sande and Damian Lewis lead new series of The Independent’s Music Box.
The Evening Standard has announced the return of SME XPO and The Watercooler events in 2024, along with the launch of a new event, The Office.
New plans unveiled by the government to promote media freedom and protect journalists have been welcomed by the Society of Editors.
The Sun has partnered with MOBOLISE, the new talent and recruitment platform from the MOBO Group, to create two entertainment journalist apprenticeships aimed at diverse talent.
Editors believe that the anti-competitive practices of big tech pose an existential threat to journalism in the UK, a News Media Association survey of UK editors has found.
Publishers are forever looking for ways to increase engagement and build brand loyalty. One proven way is through a rewards programme. We grab five minutes with HH&S’s Mike Halstead to get his advice on setting up a successful programme.
IPSO has appointed Manuela Grayson and Bulbul Basu as lay members of its Complaints Committee.
MPs, editors and members of the public believe that trusted journalism is essential to tackling the threat of AI-fuelled misinformation, which could threaten to undermine the next general election.
In a commercial partnership, Mail Metro Media has teamed up with subscription-based online investment service, interactive investor, to launch Lunch Money – a twice weekly video series hosted on This is Money and MailOnline.
Ministers must not bow to pressure from the tech platforms and allow them to launch expensive and time-consuming appeals against the decisions of the Digital Markets Unit, editor of The Sun Victoria Newton has said.
Forty-two million people read local news media titles in print and digital every month, according to the latest audience data from JICREG, the local media audience measurement currency.
The Sun’s Fabulous brand has launched a new shoppable lifestyle newsletter, sending lifestyle content straight to readers’ inboxes every week.
The Telegraph has launched Battle Lines, a new podcast bringing together its reporting of the Israel-Hamas conflict in one place.
