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.
JPIMedia's The Yorkshire Evening Post is encouraging local businesses to commit to the pregnancy loss pledge as part of the 19th annual Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October).
Launching on Friday 15 October on The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube Channel, the new weekly video series will be presented by Miquita Oliver and Grant Tucker.
Reach has hired four new editors as part of the latest Live network recruitment drive.
The 2021 Nobel peace prize has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia, both previous recipients of the WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom.
WAN-IFRA, the International Publishers Association, and the International Federation of Journalists call on Pakistani authorities to retract plans to establish the ‘Pakistan Media Development Authority’.
The nominations for the Digital and Business categories have been announced for newsawards 2021.
The Boris Show, Keir Starmer, violence against women, Cressida Dick, pandemic vs Brexit, Katie Price, The Pandora Papers, under-reporting Covid, thrifty Kate and front page of the fortnight.
Complexity is not an asset in media sales. Indeed, simplicity is king and news and magazine media still have work to do in this area.
Exceptional creative is one requirement for effective advertising and dynamic optimisation using real-time data is another. Adnami's Simon Kvist Gaulshøj explains how they can be used together to great effect.
First-party data will be one of the main talking points at next week’s AOP Publishing Tech Talk event. Ahead of that, Philip McMullan, Head of Insight and Data at The Evening Standard, answers our questions about the cookieless future…
Chronicle Publications have recently launched their app and website, Goole Times and Selby Times, in collaboration with Better than Paper’s publishing platform.
MPP Global has joined forces with CORE, technology advisors to publishers within the DACH region (Austria, Germany and Switzerland).
Telegraph Media Group has passed the milestone of 500,000 digital subscribers.
Readly has entered into an agreement to acquire 97.3% of the issued shares in Toutabo SA, a leading subscription provider in France and owner of the digital subscription provider ePresse.
Specialist media distributor Gold Key Media has been selected by the Conservative and Labour parties to distribute media at their annual party conferences this year.
