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.
Community news, hyperlocal, social enterprise – call it what you will, the non-traditional route to independent publishing is a thriving sector for journalism as Alan Geere finds out.
Obvious now, but less so twenty years ago when Lorna Tilbian was advising media companies who were banking on it doing just that. Tilbian has a long track record of getting it right. Ray Snoddy meets her.
The Federation of Independent Retailers has expressed frustration and dismay at the Scotsman’s decision to raise the cover price on all editions and cut retail terms.
German publications, including BILD, Die Welt, and Welt am Sonntag, join PressReader catalogue to extend global presence.
Guardian Media Group has announced that Trei Brundrett will join its board as a non-executive director in July.
Ed Walker, audience and content director (audience delivery), has decided to leave Reach after almost 14 years with the company.
Zephr has been incorporated into Zuora’s offering including a new Dynamic Offers module, with the application of Zephr’s functionality expanded to other industry groups beyond media.
In a fifty-year career in journalism, Charles Rae spent eighteen of those years as royal correspondent for TODAY and The Sun. Here he recalls some of his adventures getting some of those stories.
Liz Gerard was moved by recent events on the high seas, from the Mediterranean to the North Atlantic, to post a ‘Notebook Extra’…
A broad coalition has called on Rishi Sunak to unleash the full potential of the UK’s digital economy by maintaining a robust and flexible appeals process in the new regime for digital markets.
The PPA has announced the selection of its inaugural Next Gen Board.
The collaboration between Azerion and SeenThis ANZ aims to help to minimise CO2 emissions produced by digital advertising campaigns.
GumGum has announced it has increased engagement for Co-op’s summer 2022 food ranges and community fund across the UK with high-impact, contextual ads.
AOP has announced the winners of the Digital Publishing Awards 2023.
The Telegraph has announced its editorial line-up ahead of this year’s men’s Ashes Test series which will run from 16 June to 23 July 2023.
