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.
The union has contacted all its members and asked them to urgently contact their MP to raise concerns about the investigatory powers bill in advance of the bill's second reading on Tuesday 15 March.
The UK’s six leading national newspaper groups are launching a new multi-media advertising campaign across out of home, print and digital on Monday, 14 March.
News UK has appointed David Wilcox as Sales Director for The Sun and Tammy Willson as Sales Director for The Times and The Sunday Times.
On March 8th 2016, Oor Wullie and The Broons celebrated the 80th anniversary of their first appearance in the Sunday Post.
Wave2 Media has won the contract to create a comprehensive ‘self-service’ digital advertising site for the KM Media Group.
News UK’s operations north of the border will now be known as ‘News Scotland’. The announcement comes as News UK marks 30 years since it began printing newspapers in Scotland.
BrightGen, a Platinum Salesforce Consulting Partner, this week announced the release of BrightMedia – a Salesforce Fullforce Solution for the media industry.
The Financial Times yesterday announced the appointment of Sacha Bunatyan as global B2C marketing director, reporting to B2C managing director Jon Slade.
Two of the UK’s leading news brands are aiming to boost their online recruitment activity and drive up revenue by providing a better way for professionals to find training courses.
To mark International Women’s Day, The Scotsman will be re-branded for one edition as The Scotswoman for tomorrow’s issue.
The Government has said it will not be clamping down on the Freedom of Information Act by introducing measures such as charging for requests, describing the Act as “one of the pillars on which open government operates.”
The latest release of the Internet Advertising Bureau UK’s Ad Blocking Report, conducted online by YouGov, reveals that 22% of British adults online are currently using ad blocking software – a rise from 18% in October.
Deloitte, the professional services firm, and the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) this week unveiled the findings from the latest Digital Publishers Revenue Index report (DPRI) showing UK publishers experienced overall revenue growth of 5.2% i
The Financial Times is working with Facebook to offer Facebook at Work, a business version of the popular social network, to its staff around the globe.
Independent local Media Business CN Group on Friday released 8 ABC Multi-platform reports for its key news brands.
