News
New roles for Gallagher, Newton and Poole at News UK
News UK this week announced new roles for Tony Gallagher, Victoria Newton and Keith Poole at The Times and The Sun.
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
SoE condemns No 10’s actions to bar journalists
The Society of Editors has condemned Downing Street’s decision to bar journalists from an ‘inner lobby’ briefing on Monday.
News
HuffPost appoints Jess Brammar
HuffPost has announced the appointment of Jess Brammar as editor-in-chief of HuffPost UK to oversee the team of editors and staff writers in London and beyond.
COMMENT
Opportunities & Threats: National News Media
Looking at the outlook for the national press in 2020, the issue of trust looms large, writes Ray Snoddy.
COMMENT
Three Digital Trends to Watch in 2020
BlueToad’s Paul DeHart is excited about the digital opportunities facing publishers in 2020. Here, he highlights three of them…
COMMENT
Opportunities & Threats: Regional News Media
Regional journalism matters, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that publishers need outside help to deliver it.
COMMENT
Why paywalls are the solution
Paywalls come in all shapes and sizes and it’s important to choose the right model for your publishing operation, says Full Fat Things’ Stewart Robinson.
COMMENT
5 Reasons Not to Interrupt When Your Client is Talking
When clients take the time to speak to you, pay special attention to what they say. It’s valuable insight, says AdvantageCS's Dan Heffernan.
COMMENT
What is more sustainable than paper and print?
With publishers looking to reduce their carbon footprint, Denmaur’s Danny Doogan points out that paper is a renewable resource and highly recyclable.
FEATURE
Paywalls: why your stop rate matters
For publishers experimenting with metered paywalls, where to set the free articles limit is a key consideration. You can guess at it or you can use data, specifically the ‘stop rate’ metric, to help you make a more informed decision.
FEATURE
Is Fleet Street in climate-change denial?
Despite climate-change being the number one issue for under-30s, newspapers’ coverage of the issue is patchy at best and some prominent columnists have taken particular umbrage at the activism of a teenager from Sweden.
REVIEW
Newspapers: time to fight back
Newspapers have a great story to tell, but need to do a much better job of telling it. That was one of the key messages at November’s Society of Editors conference. Ray Snoddy was there…
RESEARCH
Finding the distribution hotspots around the world
As we start into a 2020 which promises even more disruption and uncertainty than ever, Distripress rounded off 2019 with its annual review of the state of the News & Magazine industry from a distribution point of view.
SUPPLIER PROFILE - EVESSIO
Running successful events: seven top tips
Everyone agrees that publishers should be staging events, but many are put off by the perceived hassle and admin overhead. But, your software should take the strain, allowing you to devote more time to delivering a must-attend event.
INTERVIEW
Catch them young
Attracting younger readers is a perennial challenge for newspapers, but concerns over fake news and the financial pressures facing young people are presenting new opportunities, which the Financial Times is capitalising on.
