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.
Digital publishing revenues in the UK increased to £152 million in Q1 2021, up by 31.9% in comparison to Q1 2020, according to the latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index from AOP & Deloitte.
The new director of the Society of Editors last week told journalists of colour who complained about earlier statements that the society is “determined to lead from the front” to make newsrooms more diverse.
The Only Way Is Essex and The Sun have this week announced a new partnership to co-produce a digital series to accompany the next series of TOWIE.
Cavai, a conversational advertising platform, has raised £6.5M from a range of prominent investors including venture players, Investinor and Idekapital, and ad tech industry specialist FirstPartyCapital.
The New European weekly newspaper has launched their new website on Pugpig Site.
Sir Nicholas Kenyon CBE will be joining The Telegraph as its Opera Critic, it was announced last week.
The press regulator IPSO has announced Lord Triesman as the Chair of its independent Appointments Panel.
Online criminals who offer stolen movies, TV shows, games, and live events through websites and apps are reaping $1.34 billion in annual advertising revenues, according to new research from the Digital Citizens Alliance and White Bullet.
The Ozone Project, the publisher-owned digital advertising platform, has announced the launch of Ozone Ad Manager, a new audience insights dashboard and campaign planning tool.
Reporting the pandemic but missing the big stories, half-hearted reporting of the climate crisis, inside sources predicting more gongs for GB’s medal winners and Stanley Johnson reporting on Geronimo.
Archant yesterday announced the sale of three of its titles in south-west England to Devon-based Clear Sky Publishing.
Newsprinters last week announced a new deal to extend its exclusive print contract with Telegraph Media Group.
Newsquest has announced new development plans for the home of the News & Star and The Cumberland News.
Two new Community Editor roles and new Chief Reporter positions are being created in the first stage of a major investment that places local news firmly back into the local communities, says Archant.
A: When your valuable audience, who your advertisers spend millions with you trying to reach, wants to hear it.
