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.
On top of the usual challenges every editor has to face, the Belfast Telegraph’s Gail Walker also has Northern Ireland’s troubled history and sectarian politics to deal with. As she tells Ray Snoddy, the job involves “a thousand little calibrations a
When it comes to winning over consumers in this year’s battle of the Christmas ads, authenticity and humour have come out on top according to a study that measured viewers’ emotions by tracking their facial expressions as they watched the ads.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) on Friday issued guidance for editors on reporting deaths and inquests.
Newsworks last week announced the winners of its 2017 Planning Awards, chosen by a jury of 19 client and agency judges, led by Zaid Al-Qassab, chief brand and marketing officer at BT Group.
The relationship a reader has with a publisher has far more impact on the effectiveness of online ads than the surrounding editorial content, which suggests concerns around brand safety may be misunderstood, according to a new study.
News UK, Guardian News and Media and The Telegraph have joined forces to launch The Verified Marketplace, described as “an exclusive premium publisher marketplace for outstream video ad inventory”.
Guardian Labs and Google have announced the launch of The Chain - a new branded content campaign that uses Google Pixel 2 phone to explore the impact of fashion’s most forward-thinking influencers.
In London for the PPA Customer Direct conference, we grab five minutes with Jonas Rideout, global business development director at content monetisation specialists, Piano.
News UK has announced that the Sun’s reward club, Sun Savers, has now passed the 300,000 members landmark.
Guardian Labs has announced the launch of ‘Guardian b2b’ - a new business-to-business section aimed at the Guardian’s community of business owners.
Trinity Mirror has announced that Nick Prettejohn is to join the Board of Directors of the Company as non-executive director and Chairman Designate with effect from 2 February 2018.
Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media, has given a speech on the past, present and future role of Guardian journalism and the role of the media in today’s world.
The general secretary of the NUJ, Michelle Stanistreet, has this week written to the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to request he raises the plight of BBC journalists when engaging in talks or visiting his counterparts in Iran.
James Evelegh's editorial from today's edition of InPubWeekly.
Dow Jones, in partnership with Uzabase, Inc has launched NewsPicks, a news app that enables users to follow and interact with high profile, influential curators, who will each share their own selections of news and analysis.
