News
The Bridge Expands Digital Strategy Team With Two Key Hires
The Bridge, the commercial arm of News UK, has made two key hires in the ongoing expansion of its Digital Strategic Sales and Partnerships department.
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
Lego Batman takes over Metro
This week, commencing 6th February, Metro is being taken over by Warner Bros’ Lego Batman.
News
Hockney redesigns The Sun’s logo
One of Britain’s best-known artists, David Hockney, has redesigned the Sun logo for a special one-off edition of the newspaper.
News
Johnston Press publishes trading update
Johnston Press has today published a trading updater for 2016 and reports “Strong margins, improved circulation for i and good progress against strategic priorities”.
News
Dark Social is key to converting rugby fans
Rugby is in rude health with attendances, viewers and profits soaring. As the sport’s biggest annual tournament – The 6 Nations – kicks off Saturday, new research reveals the opportunity Dark Social provides marketers to ride this wave and target rug
COMMENT
Surfing the paper waves!
Julian Townsend's article in the Publishing Partners Guide 2017
COMMENT
Digital Publishing Challenges for 2017
John Rahim’s article in the Publishing Partners Guide 2017
COMMENT
Opportunities & Threats: Regional Press
Steve Dyson's article in the Publishing Partners Guide 2017
COMMENT
Opportunities & Threats: National Press
Ray Snoddy's article in the Publishing Partners Guide 2017
VIEW FROM THE STATES
Critical Questions for the Year Ahead
A new year! A time for hope and optimism; a time for reassessing life’s challenges and facing up to them with renewed vim and vigour … or … err … not? Seldom has a new year dawned with such a sense of foreboding. Karlene Lukovitz, for one, is anxious
INTERVIEW
Story Time
Recognising the increased demand from advertisers for content marketing solutions, some publishers have set up dedicated in-house agencies to devise and deliver native advertising campaigns. Ciar Byrne talks to ESI Media’s Jon O’Donnell and Charlie E
FEATURE
Making a difference
The ability to shine a light into dark corners and to fight the good fight is something the regional press has and the search and social media behemoths threatening their very existence don’t. But, in an age of cut-backs, does the local press still h
SPOTLIGHT
Newspaper magazines
In a non-digital all-print foray into multi-media, no self-respecting modern newspaper can be seen without a magazine. Alan Geere checks the insertions on the weekend newsstand.
INTERVIEW
The audience comes first
He has successfully launched a national newspaper. But he’s also axed scores of regional journalists’ jobs. Steve Dyson asks Matt Kelly about his new life at Archant.
RESEARCH
Finding new models in a fragmenting world
There is a new mood emerging in international press distribution. That is the clear message, writes Jim Bilton, from the latest Distripress Circulation Monitor survey.
