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.
Newspaper publishers in co-operation with consumer magazine publishers, advertisers and agencies, yesterday announced the timing for its review of audience measurement for published media brands, with the aim of introducing a new system of measuremen
PageSuite, a digital publishing company, has launched a new app CMS that offers clients greater control over their apps. PageSuite Infinity allows users to build, manage and publish apps in one seamless workflow.
Trinity Mirror has announced the appointment of Rachel Stock to the newly-created role of Group HR Director.
The Telegraph, as part of its “accelerated transformation plan”, has announced some key new promotions.
More used to writing the news than making it, editor of Archant Norfolk’s Great Yarmouth Mercury, Anne Edwards, was made an Honorary Fellow of University Campus Suffolk at Great Yarmouth Minister on October 10.
Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has announced that it is to live stream all the red carpet action from the European Premiere of Sony Pictures UK’s film ‘Fury’, this Sunday, 19th October.
The Home Secretary has announced a review of the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) following a sustained campaign by the media industry for better protection of journalistic sources.
WIRED UK and digital arts platform The Space have announced The Space/ WIRED Creative Fellows Programme, a new category within the WIRED Innovation Fellowships, with a total of £100,000 being awarded to emerging digital artists.
Guardian News and Media (GNM) and Telegraph Media Group (TMG) have partnered to launch the latest version of the ‘Audiences Not Platforms’ cross-platform planning tool – Audiences Not Platforms 2.0.
Standard.co.uk sees strong growth in September across key global and UK metrics.
The Independent celebrates its highest figures ever across all key UK and global metrics and i100 audience leaps 25% in its second month.
The MailOnline recorded its best ever day for traffic last month, as more than 14.3 million Global Daily Unique Visitors accessed its Website and Apps on the 2nd September 2014.
Two new films that shine the spotlight on the role of investigative journalism in driving change and the lengths reporters go to deliver news to the world were released yesterday.
A new survey suggests that newspapers played a greater role in determining how people voted in the Scottish Independence referendum last month than either social media or the campaigns themselves.
Tony Dowling announced yesterday that he is stepping down as Managing Director South West Wales Media Group to pursue a major Welsh wide development project for Local World.
