News
2020 World Digital Media Awards – winners announced
The 2020 winners came from the winners of WAN-IFRA's regional Digital Media Awards during this past year.
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
News
Moody’s acquires Acquire Media business from Naviga
Naviga, Inc, a provider of software and services to the media industry, this week announced it has divested its financial services-focused Acquire Media entity to Moody’s Corporation.
News
UK marketing budgets continue to contract markedly amid impact of Covid-19
UK companies registered another drastic reduction in marketing budgets during the third quarter amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, according to the latest IPA Bellwether Report.
News
NMA appoints Sayra Tekin
The NMA has announced that Sayra Tekin will take over from Santha Rasaiah as its Legal, Policy and Regulatory Affairs Director when Santha retires at the end of this year.
News
Christian Broughton promoted to new role of MD at The Independent
The Independent has announced the appointment of Christian Broughton to the new role of Managing Director.
News
Media Carrier appoints new Head of Publisher Services
Axel Gerhartz has joined the management team of Munich-based digital media company Media Carrier.
News
SoE announce speaker line-up for virtual conference
Two leading editorial figures of broadcast media and the Head of the Judiciary will speak at the Society of Editors’ Virtual Conference this autumn.
FEATURE
Calling stumps on cricket coverage?
The regional press used to be awash with fine cricket writers covering the county game. No longer. Cricket coverage has been cut to the bone in recent years, which is a shame and a mistake, writes cricket lover Jon Griffin.
FEATURE
A class below. How journalism failed the UK
Journalists have been brilliant at pointing the finger of failure in all kinds of directions during the pandemic, but, writes Neil Fowler, they’ve forgotten how poor they’ve been themselves.
News
dmg media acquires JPI Media print sites
dmg media has reached an agreement to acquire JPI Media’s print operations at Dinnington, Portsmouth and Carn in Northern Ireland, from JPI Media.
News
NLA Media Access appoints new Chairman
NLA Media Access has announced the appointment of Clive Marshall as non-executive Chairman. Clive joins the Board and will take over as Chairman with effect from 19th October 2020.
MEDIA FUTURES
Still rebooting
We are still in the middle of the reboot which is reshaping the whole media business. And the nation is also still grappling with a number of wobbly health and economic variables, all of which will impact on how we do business.
COMMENT
Getting to know you
The pandemic has given a big boost to subscriptions, but, even if you don’t charge for your content, it still pays to find out more about who is visiting your site.
INTERVIEW
Who do you trust?
Yorkshire Post Editor James Mitchinson demands high standards. Stories should be well written, properly punctuated, accurate and double checked. That is why, as he tells Ray Snoddy, it really bugs him when a reader takes Facebook’s word over his.
FEATURE
What a load of rubbish
The ongoing debate about online harms brought to mind a perceptive question posed by a twelve-year-old some time ago, writes Dickon Ross.
