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.
Top Right Group (TRG) yesterday announced that global Architecture event, The World Architecture Festival (WAF) will become part of EMAP’s Architecture brand portfolio which also includes The Architectural Review (AR) and the Architects’ Journal (AJ)
Ars Technica will launch online in the UK in Spring 2015, it was announced yesterday by Condé Nast Britain.
Almost 7,000 visitors from exactly 100 countries – the largest number of countries in the history of the event – attended the World Publishing Expo, which closed in Amsterdam yesterday.
Say Media UK yesterday unveiled the results of its recent study into Native Advertising. The survey sampled advertising and media professionals from across the UK, with the intent of establishing the market’s understanding of the term Native Advertis
The Financial Times took home the award for best internal communications campaign at this year’s PR Week Awards ceremony, held in London on October 14, 2014.
Performance car magazine evo is launching a brand-new website, marking the next stage of its content and digital strategy.
Staff, readers and advertisers enjoyed a day of celebrations as Archant Suffolk’s East Anglian Daily Times newspaper marked its 140th birthday on Monday October 13.
Martin Tideswell, Deputy Editor has been promoted to Editor-in-Chief of The Sentinel, with responsibility for the Leek Post & Times and Staffordshire Newsletter titles, with effect from October 18.
The Content Marketing Association (CMA), the industry body for the content marketing industry, has revealed the shortlist for its International Content Marketing Awards, to be held on Wednesday, 26th November at the Roundhouse in London.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc yesterday announced the launch of the Wiley Open Access Account Dashboard, an online tool that simplifies management of open access funds for institutions and funders. The Account Dashboard is now available for all Wiley Open A
Informa plc, the international publishing, business intelligence and events group, this week announced that Alfred Moellenbeck, Managing Director of Euroforum, will retire at the end of 2014.
The Midland News Association has become the first publisher to go live with the Self Service module of a new advertising platform from PCS.
WAN-IFRA honoured eight news media companies on Tuesday with the inaugural World Digital Media Awards, which recognise publishers who have created ground breaking digital products that engage readers while increasing their online business.
News UK has been awarded The Carbon Trust Triple Standard certification for reducing its carbon footprint by 20 per cent over the past two years.
Trinity Mirror Solutions is officially launching pinpoint; a new app-mediated, hyperlocal mobile ad platform that intelligently targets smartphone users.
