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.
AI can increase efficiency – but without distinctive strategies, publishers risk being overwhelmed by AI-driven competition, says Adriana Whiteley, director, FT Strategies. This is what publishers need to do.
The biggest opportunity lies in reducing the burden of repetitive, time-consuming tasks that are important but not core to creating trusted original content, says Martin Ashplant, product development & operations director at PA Media.
The task for publishers is to turn AI advances in image creation and editing into repeatable workflows. Derek Milne, commercial pixometrist at Pixometry, explains how this can be done.
Publishers wanting to harness the true potential of AI around workflow efficiency, should approach implementations strategically. Tom Pijsel, VP product management at WoodWing, explains how this can be achieved.
Political journalists can find retirement challenging, to disconnect fully from the political maelstrom to which they have been so attached. Ray Snoddy catches up with former Guardian political editor Michael White...
In the first of our new ‘Industry Voice’ series, Owen Meredith, CEO of the News Media Association, outlines the challenges facing news media and his organisation’s position on tackling unfair competition, protecting IP and promoting press freedom.
Publishers like the FT, NYT and Mail are successfully growing their digital subscriptions using a range of paywall, bundling and pricing strategies. Phil Clark picks out some key learnings.
Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, is an optimist. As he tells Meg Carter, the industry needs to stop seeing every tech innovation as a threat and more as an opportunity.
The passing of Robert Redford feels like the end of an era in more than one way, laments Dickon Ross.
The reported civilian death toll in Gaza has hit 66,000, with starvation now adding to the fatalities caused by direct military action. Within that total is an unprecedently large number of journalists, writes Paul Connew.
OpenAI recently unveiled the second generation of its video creation app, Sora. James Evelegh looks at the implications.
It was undeniably a momentous, euphoric day. It certainly wasn’t unreasonable Trump to bask in the joy of the celebrating families of the freed hostages. It was also a predictably Trumpian lost opportunity. Paul Connew looks at press reaction.
Plans for a new law granting police firearms officers facing criminal proceedings a presumption of anonymity have been slammed as an affront to the principles of open justice.
Reach plc has released its Q3 trading update for the 3-month period to 30 September 2025.
Local news says government plans for secret alcohol licensing notices are an attack on the public’s right to know.
