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 Leveson Report created a chill in the relations between the press and the police. Now, writes Jon Slattery, it’s turned into a deep freeze following revelations police used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) – dubbed the ‘Grim Ripa
In the face of ever increasing cost pressures, how can the newspaper and magazine industry ensure a sustainable future? As Chris Birch, IT Director at News UK, tells James Evelegh, there is one option which would have been unimaginable a few years ag
He started as a reporter in London’s ganglands in the early 1960s, and worked with some of the most colourful characters in journalism. Now he’s retiring as editor of the Western Daily Press. Steve Dyson interviews Ian Mean.
Newsworks’ Shift 2015 event, held in February at the British Library, focused on ‘context’ – an area where traditional newsbrands score highly, but one which is perhaps undervalued by automated trading algorithms. Ray Snoddy reviews the day’s discuss
Publishers expect a lot more from their editorial teams than they did in the past. In addition to an ability to write well, an enquiring mind and strong people skills, today’s journalists need to be technically competent across a range of multimedia
The Guardian’s iPhone app has taken Rob Aherne’s relationship with the paper, which began in his student days, to a much more immersive level. His only complaint … it’s too cheap!
Membership of The Times and The Sunday Times is now at 401,000 customers taking out a subscription to print and/or digital packages, representing a year-on-year growth of 22,000, News UK CEO, Mike Darcey announced yesterday.
The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) yesterday announced the formation of a premium publisher alliance for the UK, empowering publishers to capitalise on increasing demand for scale and quality in programmatic advertising.
On Friday, as the FTSE 100 approached a record breaking 7000 points, City A.M. launched a new FTSE aggregator on www.cityam.com, allowing users to view key information about FTSE companies at a glance.
Katharine Viner has been appointed by The Scott Trust to succeed Alan Rusbridger when he steps down as editor-in-chief of Guardian News & Media in the summer.
Thomas Moore has been appointed Managing Director of Trinity Mirror Southern.
The Financial Times has made new appointments to strengthen its European coverage and respond to changing tides on the continent. As part of the change Alex Barker takes up the new post of European diplomatic editor, based in Brussels.
The MailOnline achieved its best ever month for Global Average Daily Unique Visitors in February 2015 as for the first time ever, there were more than 14 million Unique Visitors to the website and apps each day on average.
MPP Global has announced the launch of its new Metering & Entitlements Module, part of the company’s eSuite platform.
The Financial Times yesterday announced the appointment of Renée Kaplan in the newly created role of head of audience engagement, Bede McCarthy as director of product, Mark Alderson as head of operations for the newsroom, and Kevin Wilson as visual n
