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.
Copy placement is now so much more than getting a copy of your title from A to B. As Gold Key Media’s Chris Horn tells James Evelegh, it is now a highly creative, data driven activity that utilises new technology to deliver a host of valuable benefit
News providers face some big decisions in 2017. To what extent do they follow the emerging new tech trends and, in light of contracting advertising revenues, which of their existing outputs will they have to chop? Martin Belam looks at the digital op
In October, in Carlisle, the Society of Editors held its annual conference. Press regulation and freedom were once again hot topics. Also touched upon was the growing democratic deficit caused by the mass shedding of journalists by local papers. Ray
Trinity Mirror’s Digital Product team has won six-figure backing from Google for a project exploring new alternatives to promoted content widgets.
The winners of the Content Awards 2016, organised by Editorial Intelligence, were announced this week.
Archant’s French property portal, France Property Shop, has launched a new website – making it easier for buyers to navigate thousands of French properties listed for sale across France.
Johnston Press has launched a new Investigations Unit with a “hard-hitting” report revealing the truth behind Britain’s deadly road crimes and the scandal of lenient sentencing in the UK.
IPSO has launched a panel to advise on its work and wider industry issues from the perspective of readers and citizens, which has met for the first time.
Newsquest has announced a new job partnership with Do-it.org who represent 51,000 charitable organisations across the UK.
Mail Newspapers yesterday announced that Mail Plus has become the only UK digital newspaper to offer readers the first edition of the following day’s paper as it rolls off the presses.
Yesterday, The Scottish Sun’s Xmas Radio station went live on air, with festive hits now playing 24 hours a day.
Newsquest Scotland has named Donald Martin as editor-in-chief of a group whose flagship brands include The Herald, and its heraldscotland.com web site.
ESI Media, parent company of the Evening Standard, Independent and London Live, is partnering with Johnston Press' The i Paper, Yahoo and youth homelessness charity Centrepoint for its 2016 Christmas fundraising appeal.
WAN-IFRA, the World Editors Forum and the FOJO Media Institute are calling on media worldwide to support stronger protections for women journalists in a text released to mark the 250th anniversary celebrations of Sweden’s ‘Freedom of the Press Act’,
News retailers in Northern Ireland have reacted with horror and dismay, says the NFRN, at the Irish News’ move to increase its cover price while reducing the retail margin by 2 per cent.
