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.
The UK public opinion on whether the media are doing a good job during the Covid-19 crisis is almost evenly split three ways, according to the latest Reuters Institute report.
WAN-IFRA has joined the Independent News Emergency Relief Coordination (INERC) to coordinate help during the pandemic.
The Basingstoke Gazette has seen a big rise in web traffic and finished April with the highest year-on-year increase across Newsquest's portfolio of titles.
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Guardian is digitising its events and masterclass programmes, opening up access for more readers to participate in its live experiences.
The Independent has announced that it is participating in the Google News Initiative Subscriptions Lab programme, developed with FT Strategies and the International News Media Association.
The Society of Editors and the PPA have welcomed news that the government is to scrap VAT on e-publications from 1 May.
The new appointments were made following the decision of both Nicole Garnon, Editor of East Wales and Steve Adams, Editor of West Wales to leave the business in the coming months.
The coronavirus has put a huge strain on newspapers but it has also brought home, says Oxford Mail Editor Samantha Harman, the reason she and others went into journalism in the first place.
More than 30 of Newsquest and JPI Media’s newspapers joined forces this week to turn their mastheads “blue” in support of the NHS.
Hats off to salespeople everywhere. For many publishers, they still bring in the lion’s share of revenues, but now face the toughest of advertising environments.
Last Sunday, The Sunday Times launched a new 12-page family magazine at the weekend for home learners; The Funday Times Home Classroom.
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has announced a £3.3m project to study trust in news.
The Guardian this week announced a strong rise in reader support. In March 2020 the Guardian had 821,000 recurring monthly supporters – a 23% increase over the past 12 months.
The first edition of the Weardale Community News was published last week. The launch follows the closure of the Weardale Gazette last year.
The winners of the 41st Scottish Press Awards were announced last week, celebrating the best of local and national journalism from across Scotland.
