NEWS
Guardian wins Amnesty International award for Windrush reporting
Amelia Gentleman honoured for exposing injustices inflicted on immigrant generation.
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
National Press Awards 2018 – winners announced
The Times was crowned the Daily Newspaper of the Year, with The Sunday Times taking the Sunday Newspaper of the Year title, at the National Press Awards.
NEWS
Janine Gibson joins FT
Janine Gibson, formerly of Buzzfeed and the Guardian, is to join the editorial leadership team at the Financial Times.
NEWS
FT tops one million paying readers
The Financial Times has reached a record paying readership of one million; a key strategic goal for the title.
NEWS
Vanessa Clifford to step down as Newsworks CEO
Newsworks has announced that Vanessa Clifford is stepping down from her role as CEO at the end of March.
COMMENT
Increasing retention
James Evelegh attends ESco Connect and comes away with six tips for increasing renewal rates.
NEWS
NFRN accuses Reach of making April fools of news retailers
NFRN has accused the publisher of the Daily Express of turning news stockists into April fools after announcing that it is raising the cover price but reducing the retailer margin.
NEWS
Index publishes report on the global importance of local news
97% of local news editors worry that the powerful are no longer being held to account, according to a new survey published in Index on Censorship magazine.
NEWS
SoE concern over proposed ‘Online Harm’ regulation
The Society of Editors has written to the government to express its concerns over a report that new regulations to prevent Online Harm could damage press freedom in the UK.
NEWS
Hugh McIlvanney is to be honoured at National Press Awards
Hugh McIlvanney, who died earlier this year, is widely regarded as the outstanding sportswriter of his generation, and will see an award named after him.
NEWS
Apple launches Apple News+
Apple has announced Apple News+, a new subscription service that brings together over 300 magazines, newspapers and digital publications.
INTERVIEW
Fighting back
The newspaper industry has a great story to tell but is too complex and fragmented to tell it! To counter the threat of Facebook and Google, the industry needs a clear and confident message and to shout it loud. Tracy De Groose, the new chair of News
FEATURE
Everybody hates us! The growing abuse of journalists
Journalists often wear their battle scars with pride. Thick-skinned tabloid hacks adopted the Millwall mantra, “no one likes us, we don’t care”. But now, the mood is much darker.
FEATURE
Anatomy of a viral article
‘Going viral’, ‘viral campaigns’ and ‘virality’ are all words and phrases that have entered the digital publishing lexicon in recent years. But what makes a story go viral? And what do publishers have to gain, or fear, from it? Martin Belam reports.
SUPPLIER PROFILE
Putting publishers in control
No one doubts publishers’ creativity. The challenge publishers face is monetising that creativity in a world of hugely increased competition. As PCS’s Simon Weare tells James Evelegh, good & agile systems are a key enabler of successful publishing.
