News
Reach announces two key football appointments
Reach PLC has announced two key appointments to lead their network of regional football brands.
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
Iliffe launches new website for Suffolk
Iliffe Media has launched Suffolknews, a new county website for Suffolk.
News
SoE: Deep concern for journalists attempting to cover Belarus protests
The Society of Editors has expressed its deep concern over the plight of journalists attempting to cover the protests in Belarus.
News
New distribution report: situation not as bad as originally feared
The just released ‘Distripress Global Distribution Tracker: Pulse Update’ paints a picture of a sector facing unprecedented challenges, but also one that is reacting with speed and creativity.
News
Fewer people getting news from social media
Fewer people say they are getting their news from social media than a year ago, according to Ofcom’s annual news consumption report.
News
Reach rolls out new AI powered comments platform
Reach is relaunching its commenting platform across its portfolio of 51 national and local digital brands including The Mirror, Express, Star and live network of sites.
COMMENT
Hong Kong says goodbye to press freedom
The recent arrest of Jimmy Lai, the founder and publisher of Apple Daily, sends a terrible signal to Hong Kong citizens about the future direction of the territory.
INTERVIEW
From BBC to NYT
The New York Times has had an ex-BBC man at the helm for the past eight years. In an interview just before it was announced that he was leaving, Ray Snoddy talks to Mark Thompson about the newspaper’s digital transformation.
FEATURE
Coronavirus as a shield to limit press freedom
Covid-19 has led to lockdowns all over the world. Some driven by 'following the science', some by following the ideology of authoritarianism and using it as an excuse to curtail press freedom. Roy Greenslade details the catalogue of shame.
SPOTLIGHT
Online-only news sites
Lockdown life made getting hold of newspapers and magazines difficult, so a good opportunity to examine the online news and current affairs output. Alan Geere logged on for his daily fix.
FEATURE
Toeing the government line
Dominic Cummings is just the latest in a long line of fearsome Downing Street advisers who have sought to control the media. Is he any worse than his predecessors? Liz Gerard investigates.
FEATURE
Ten tips for digital success
Over the years, John Barnes, CDO at William Reed Business Media has won more AOP awards that you can shake a stick at. James Evelegh tuned in to hear him being interviewed on The InPublishing Podcast to see what insights he could pick up.
FEATURE
Re-energising the Basingstoke Gazette
The arrival last year of Katie French, a young and energetic editor, has given the Hampshire-based title a shot in the arm, as James Evelegh reports.
FEATURE
Working under lockdown
Covid-19 has, as we all know, turned the world upside down. Publishing models and working practices changed radically, seemingly overnight. The Guardian’s Martin Belam recounts his experiences…
News
First News announces 17.5% increase in readership
First News, a newspaper for young people, has achieved a 17.5% increase in its readership figures with more than 2.6 million weekly readers across all its platforms, according to a recent survey.
