COMMENT
Makers Central
James Evelegh's editorial from this week's edition of InPubWeekly.
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
Local Editors Call On MPs To Reject DP Bill Press Freedom Curbs
Local newspaper editors from independent weekly publications and larger publishing companies have united to urge MPs to vote against what they describe as the “anti-press amendments” in the Data Protection Bill on Wednesday.
News
ACE Newspaper & Magazine Awards – the winners
The winners of this year’s ACE Newspaper & Magazine Awards were announced last Thursday at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square.
News
The Sun supports Beds for Kids campaign
The Sun and Dreams Beds are teaming up to provide 3,000 beds for some of the UK’s most vulnerable children in their new Beds for Kids campaign.
News
Major news brands adopt DTSG Good Practice Principles
The Association for Online Publishing (AOP) yesterday announced that, after successfully agreeing amends to the DTSG Good Practice Principles, six leading UK news groups now fully support the industry initiative.
COMMENT
Mersey Rules
James Evelegh's editorial from this week's edition of InPubWeekly.
News
Press watchdog to run compulsory arbitration scheme
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) announced yesterday that it is creating a compulsory version of its low cost arbitration scheme.
News
Ashley Highfield resigns
Johnston Press plc today announces that Ashley Highfield has resigned from his directorship and position as Chief Executive Officer.
News
Launch of FT Weekend Open Minds global brand campaign
The Financial Times yesterday launched a new global brand campaign for FT Weekend.
News
Press watchdog launches ad campaign to counter fake news
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) yesterday launched a national newspaper advertising campaign helping readers know that the publication they are reading is produced against a strict professional code.
News
Daily Mail helps launch new anti-plastic waste campaign
The Daily Mail has launched The Great Plastic Pick Up - Britain’s first nationwide plastic litter-picking event – in partnership with leading environmental charity, Keep Britain Tidy.
News
UK ad spend grew 4.6% in 2017
UK advertising expenditure grew 4.6% to reach £22.2bn in 2017, the eighth consecutive year of market growth, according to the latest annual Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report, released yesterday.
News
AOP Digital Publishing Awards 2018 – shortlist announced
The AOP has announced the shortlist for its 2018 Digital Publishing Awards. The winners will be unveiled on 27 June.
News
Palestine: second journalist killed by Israeli snipers
Photojournalist Ahmad Abu Hussein, who was shot on 13 April by Israeli snipers while covering mass protests in Gaza, this week succumbed to his wounds.
News
IPSO rules against The Times over ‘Muslim foster home’ story
Tower Hamlets Borough Council complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that The Times breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) in an article headlined “Judge rules child must leave Muslim foster home”, published on 30 August 2017.
