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.
Yahoo UK, part of Verizon Media, has added a new podcast series to its growing portfolio – Before We Say I Do, hosted by Denise Van Outen and her partner Eddie Boxshall.
The Society of Editors has added its name to an open letter calling on the government to investigate allegations that Freedom of Information requests are being filtered through a ‘clearing house’ operation.
Alison Phillips, the new chair of Woman in Journalism, has vowed that the campaigning organisation, will be “a noisy advocate for trusted journalism” in an epidemic of fake news.
JPIMedia has announced the appointment of Neil McIntosh as Editor of The Scotsman.
With the vaccine rollout gathering pace, what are the opportunities and challenges facing publishers? We grab five minutes with Rich Cheary, CEO at Publisher's Toolbox, to get his views.
Lineup Systems has unveiled their new subscriptions platform, Amplio.
The Daily Star is launching a satirical campaign on the Houses of Parliament buildings to ask the nation whether they would really vote #PMFORPM?
According to the latest quarterly Digital Publishers Revenue Index from the AOP and Deloitte, 78% of digital publishers view advertising revenue growth as a high strategic priority across the next year.
A record number of awards are up for grabs at the Scottish Press Awards 2021, which are now open for nominations.
Over £2 million has been raised for charities in 2020 by Telegraph readers, the publishers have announced.
For all his many faults, Donald Trump sold lots of newspapers. Joe Biden will probably sell fewer…
Forecasting is no place for the timid. Predictions get noted and variances pounced upon. Ray Snoddy catches up with one of the best known names in the research business, Claire Enders.
How is the global press supply chain holding up in the Covid era? Distripress commissioned Wessenden Marketing to find out. Jim Bilton presents his findings…
The digital advertising market is huge, which is exciting, and the duopoly takes an enormous share of it, which is not. James Evelegh looks at what publishers are doing about it.
Samantha Harman stepped down as editor of the Oxford Mail at the end of last year. Here, she reflects on her fifteen years in the newsroom.
