News
Tom Newton Dunn joins Times Radio
Times Radio has announced that The Sun’s Political Editor Tom Newton Dunn is leaving the newsbrand to join Times Radio as Presenter and Chief Political Commentator.
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
Buzzfeed closes UK and Australian news operations
Online media firm Buzzfeed is to close its UK and Australian news operations.
News
Guardian launches new football podcast
The Guardian has launched Forgotten Stories of Football — a new weekly podcast series covering “extraordinary stories from the history of football that most people have probably never heard before”.
COMMENT
A catalyst for change
Richard Reeves, Managing Director of the AOP, offers a publisher perspective on the ISBA programmatic supply chain study.
News
Reach issues trading update
Reach plc last week issued a trading update for the 4-month period from 30 December 2019 to 26 April 2020.
News
SoE calls for role of digital giants to become part of debate
The Society of Editors has called for the role of the digital giants to become part of the debate over how the media reports terrorism.
News
SoE supports VE Day initiative
The Society of Editors supported the VE Day initiative created by Bruno Peek which saw thousands of people taking part in events from the safety of their homes.
News
Foreca goes live with Atex’s ACE headless CMS
Atex, a provider of content management and advertising systems for the global media industry, has announce that Foreca is live with Atex’s ACE headless CMS solution.
News
IAB publishes ‘Guide to the Post-Third-Party Cookie Era’
IAB Europe last week released its ‘Guide to the Post-Third-Party Cookie Era’, to prepare brands, agencies, publishers and tech intermediaries for the post-third-party cookie advertising ecosystem.
COMMENT
Real news
At a time when professional journalists are often unfairly tarred with the brush of “fake news”, the Pulitzer Prizes remind us of their true worth.
News
Newsquest adds 40 weekly titles to new paywall model
Regional publisher Newsquest has rolled-out its paywall initiative to 40 of its weekly titles.
News
Michael Portillo to host weekly Times Radio show
Times Radio yesterday announced that broadcaster and former Conservative Cabinet Minister Michael Portillo is joining the roster of presenters for the station’s summer launch.
Q&A
WFH: 5 minutes with… Russell Pierpoint
Covid-19 has presented publishers with huge challenges, including having to publish when the whole team is stuck at home. We grab five minutes with Russell Pierpoint, MD of Evolved Media, to find out how working from home can be made to work.
News
Time for change & transparency in programmatic advertising supply chain
A call for far-reaching reform of the programmatic advertising supply chain has been made this week, with the publication of a study by the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers.
News
2020 Pulitzer Prize – winners announced
The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners in 15 Journalism and seven Book, Drama and Music categories were announced on Monday, May 4. A Special Citation was also awarded.
