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.
Press Association photographer Jane Barlow became the first ever photographer to win the Journalist of the Year category at the Scottish Press Awards for her “moving” last public pictures of the Queen.
The Daily and Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator magazine are set to be put up for sale after talks between owners the Barclay family and lenders Lloyds Banking Group collapsed.
The Fed has criticised News UK’s decision to reduce newsagents’ profit margins for six months, as part of increases to the cover prices of The Times and The Sunday Times.
The Financial Times has announced that the FT Newsroom Apprentice programme, in partnership with the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N), is open to applicants.
The Private Eye Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism 2023 has been won by David Conn of The Guardian.
Guardian Media Group has announced that Debbie Klein is to join its board as a non-executive director in September.
To support struggling parents during the cost-of-living crisis, Fabulous is launching Baby, Bank On Us, in partnership with Save the Children, Little Village and baby banks across the UK.
The Guardian has published its second positive impact and sustainability report (2021/22).
James Evelegh takes a look at some of the winners of this year’s Pulitzers.
‘Forever chemicals’ scandal, political donations, #MeToo, Phillip Schofield, Times’s ‘solution’ to BBC funding, Starmer makes p8 of the Express, misrepresenting Woking’s debt and front page of the fortnight…
In an announcement from the publisher and CEO Fred Ryan, The Washington Post has outlined its next steps in AI innovation.
Mats Brandt steps down as Group CEO of Readly International AB with Philip Lindqvist appointed as new CEO.
The Sun on Sunday has announced that Sophia Sleigh will be joining the team as political correspondent from July 18.
The Evening standard has named Dylan Jones as its next editor-in-chief.
Guardian US has announced that Rachel White will take on a new expanded role as executive vice president, philanthropy and business development.
