NEWS
Bazalgette to speak at The Printing Charity’s Annual Luncheon
Sir Peter Bazalgette is this year’s guest speaker at The Printing Charity’s Annual Luncheon on Thursday 14 November at Stationers’ Hall, London.
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
River Group launches PR agency
The River Group has announced that it’s expanding its expertise into PR and launching Maven Communications.
NEWS
Nemorin looks to harness the power of AI with new appointments
Nemorin Film & Video has appointed two senior executives to its board as it gears up for a future powered by big data, AI, listening and machine learning.
COMMENT
Modern journalism: the skills needed
With lies and alternative facts now commonplace, journalists need a wide range of skills, including an interest in history…
News
FT launches board game to boost financial literacy
The FT says that the objective of the Road to Riches game is to have fun while learning to make better financial decisions.
News
Premier League appoints Guardian's David Pemsel
The Premier League has appointed the Guardian’s David Pemsel as its new chief executive.
News
Times & Sunday Times to join Apple News+
The Times and The Sunday Times has announced that content from the newsbrands will be available on Apple’s paid subscription service Apple News+ as it launches in the UK.
News
Mike Soutar to join the Evening Standard
The Evening Standard this week announced the appointment of Mike Soutar as its Chief Executive.
News
Charlotte Edwardes joins The Sunday Times
Charlotte Edwardes has joined The Sunday Times as assistant editor and as a columnist for Style magazine, with her first column appearing yesterday.
COMMENT
My Sep/Oct takeaways
The September / October issue of InPublishing magazine has just been published. James Evelegh lists six key takeaways from this issue.
News
New RSF report: Newspapers that never arrive!
Reporters sans Frontières has released a report, entitled “Newspapers that never arrive” which highlights practices that threaten press freedom.
News
Guardian launches new global brand campaign: Hope is Power
The Guardian this week launched ‘Hope is Power’ – its first brand campaign in seven years - to restate the Guardian’s purpose and inspire readers around the world to support its journalism.
News
Scottish Sun Online launches #RespectOurPlayers campaign
At the beginning of September, Scottish Sun Online launched a campaign calling for football fans to make a stand “against the yobs and trolls shaming our game”.
INTERVIEW
Back to basics
Despite being one of the best known pure play digital news brands, HuffPost UK is keen to emphasise the importance of old-school journalistic techniques. As Jess Brammar tells Ray Snoddy, this involved a fascinating week at Birmingham’s Bullring.
FEATURE
So, you think you are customer centric, do you?
Saying you’re customer centric is one thing, being customer centric is another. Does it show in the things you do and the things you measure? Julian Thorne identifies five characteristics of truly customer centric publishers.
