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.
From Friday 17th April, readers of the Scottish edition of The Times will be able to explore some of the premier properties on the market in Scotland, and from around Britain, as the ‘Bricks & Mortar’ property supplement is included free every Friday
Trinity Mirror’s regional titles have published an online tool providing a wealth of official statistics and commentary for every constituency in the country.
Local World has partnered with academics at two UK universities and Dutch digital research company Kieskompas to produce Election Compass UK – an engaging interactive survey which tells readers which parties they are closest to.
The Sunday Times this weekend revealed the advertising creative for this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, which it describes as the definitive guide to the nation’s wealth, to be published on 26th April.
Due to nearly four in 10 (37%) British households buying a tablet in the last year, the average household now owns 7.4 devices that connect to the internet.
The Publishers Audience Measurement Company (PAMCO) will next year replace the National Readership Survey Ltd. (NRS) as the organisation which oversees the audience figures for newspapers and magazines.
Archant’s Ham&High newspaper has launched a #MakeYourMark campaign calling on voters to register by the April 20 deadline so they can have their say in England’s tightest three-way marginal seat, Hampstead and Kilburn, on May 7.
Yesterday, News UK Commercial launched ‘Access One,’ a new advertising approach that gives advertisers a single point of access to print and tablet readers of The Times and The Sunday Times editions.
With 30 days to go until the general election, Johnston Press yesterday launched What Matters to Me, a site made up of a growing collection of short videos showing the issues at the top of the agenda – according to the people, not the parties.
Mail Newspapers Advertising yesterday revealed that it had appointed Joe Doherty as its new Head of Travel Advertising.
The News Media Association has urged the Law Commission not to pursue its suggested changes to electoral law that would criminalise taking photos in polling stations, extend the offence of failing to imprint, and bring in new court reporting restrict
dmg media, the company behind the The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, Metro as well as MailOnline and Elite Daily, has further extended its relationship with MPP Global to support the launch of a new customer portal, MyMail.
The latest figures from the Association of Online Publishers’ seventh Organisation Census reveal publishers are optimistic the industry will grow in 2015, with 71% of respondents expecting to recruit additional staff – the highest percentage seen sin
Archant’s North Devon Gazette broke new ground with the first of two online hustings events last Thursday night.
GroupM, the media agency, has signed up to the Publisher Advertising Transaction System (PATS) to simplify and improve transactions with the six leading UK national newspaper groups.
