FEATURE
The missing £2.7billion
Brands that don’t advertise in news brands make less profit and Newsworks has conducted lots of research to quantify that. CEO Jo Allan looks at some of the key findings from their latest study.
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
What publishers can learn from Spotify: pivoting through disruption
The music industry was the first to be disrupted by digital, courtesy of Napster and other streaming sites. What can the publishing industry learn from the music industry as it approaches its own ‘Napster moment’?
INTERVIEW
What’s a story for?
When publishing a story, are publishers asking the right questions? What is the story there to do? This, as The Sunday Times’s Taneth Evans tells Ciar Byrne, is what every journalist should ask about every story they publish.
BUILDING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES
Build connections & be interested
There are no quick fixes to building a successful community. You’ve got to put in the hard yards.
BUILDING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES
Build engagement on your platform
One important decision publishers need to make is whether to build their community on their own platform or on a third party one.
BUILDING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES
Create spaces online to share opinions
Creating a successful community is a great way to find out what your customers really want.
BUILDING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES
Audience engagement is top priority
A community is nothing without engagement, but that engagement needs to be high quality and two-way.
FEATURE
Crisis, what crisis?
As the UK becomes increasingly buffeted by crises, who or what is to blame? For newspapers that have taken strident positions on highly contentious issues, this is not always an easy question to answer.
News
Scott Trust publishes 2021 governance review
The Scott Trust, sole shareholder of the Guardian Media Group, has published the governance review it announced back in April this year.
News
Mick O’Reilly is new editor of Cambrian News
Former war reporter Mick O’Reilly is the new editor of Tindle-owned weekly the Cambrian News.
News
DC Thomson appoints Rebecca Miskin
DC Thomson has announced the appointment of Rebecca Miskin as CEO of its media portfolio.
News
FT announces three senior appointments
The Financial Times on Friday announced three senior hires across its B2B and Specialist operations; Nick Fallon, Carola York and Rosie Carr.
News
FT appoints Stephen Bush
The Financial Times on Friday announced the appointment of Stephen Bush as a weekly staff columnist and associate editor.
News
Mail on Sunday loses privacy battle over Duchess of Sussex’s letter to father
The Court of Appeal last week upheld Lord Justice Warby's “careful” decision to grant the Duchess of Sussex a summary judgement against Associated Newspapers.
News
NYT open to online subscription cancellation option
New York Times said it could introduce an online subscription cancellation, after the US Federal Trade Commission said it intends to crack down on practices which make it hard for consumers to exit subscription products.
