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.
More international pressure needs to be put on individual countries to guarantee the safety and rights of journalists to report in the public interest, the Society of Editors has said.
NUJ members of the Isle of Wight’s County Press have come out to protest in the strongest possible terms about the proposed takeover of the newspaper by Newsquest.
The Guardian has launched a new virtual reality experience, Limbo, focused on experiences of asylum seekers.
Nick Steidl has been elected Master of the Stationers’ Company and his focus will be on creating a strong future for the Livery.
This week, ES Magazine has created a special collector’s edition, paying tribute to the city’s resilience in the face of recent tragedies and to commemorate the anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings, which fell 12 years ago on Friday.
Neil Benson has been elected to chair the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee, which writes and revises the code of standards policed by the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
A photograph by the Mail on Sunday's Philip Ide showing Prince George at Pippa Middleton’s wedding has won top prize in the News Media Association’s second Royal Rota photography competition.
News Corp has donated £100,000 to four UK charities as part of its annual News Corp Giving fund – an initiative designed to benefit charities in the communities where employees at News Corp’s UK-based companies live and work.
JICWEBS – the industry owned independent body that defines best practice and standards for online ad trading in the UK – has undergone a number of changes in its drive to tackle the rising threats of online ad fraud and brand safety.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) this week strongly condemned the attacks of the President of the United States Donald Trump against US media company CNN, following a video the President published on Twitter.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) yesterday issued guidance for editors and journalists relating to the republication of material taken from social media.
Trinity Mirror plc has issued a trading update for the 26 week period to 2 July 2017 ahead of its 2017 interim results announcement on 31 July 2017.
Following reports that journalists have been barred from the first meeting of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council’s cabinet since the Grenfell Tower fire, the NUJ condemned the decision to stop media access and called on the council t
The Association for Online Publishing (AOP) revealed the winners for its flagship annual awards at a ceremony on Wednesday evening at Old Billingsgate, London.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the refusal of Bahraini government to lift a ban on Al Wasat newspaper which led to its closure this week.
