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.
Trinity Mirror Midlands has announced it is planning to introduce Newsroom 3.1 – the new editorial structure supporting a digital-first publishing process – by the end of September.
Newsquest, one of the largest local multi-media groups in the UK, has announced a new Head of Recruitment Sales with responsibility for driving sales in print and online across all the group’s titles.
Over 8,300 independent newsagents across the UK and Ireland have been given a face lift by News UK ensuring that its leading brands, The Sun and The Times, will be seen by 500,000 of its passing customers every day.
Richard Bettsworth, editor of the Leicester Mercury, has resigned after three years at the helm. Richard, who leaves the business on Friday (August 29), has worked for the Mercury for the past 14 years, having joined as news editor in 2000.
Weekly women’s magazine, The People’s Friend, is to launch a partnership with leading charities that form the Age UK network: Age Cymru, Age NI, Age Scotland and Age UK.
Newsquest Media Group, one of the UK's leading local multi-media groups, announced today the appointment of Chris Moore as Managing Director of its Oxfordshire & Wiltshire business.
The MailOnline recorded its best ever month for video in July 2014 as it achieved more than 50 million video views across its website and apps for the first time.
Metro’s iPad and iPhone editions are now being audited by the ABC. The iPad editions (morning and evening) have 20,927 publication active views and the iPhone 11,761. The combined figure stands at 32,688 every day.
The Guardian has once again reported record traffic, seeing over 105 million monthly unique browsers in July 2014, according to the latest ABC digital figures released yesterday.
Air Business Group, the global mail, distribution, fulfilment and integrated subscriptions management bureau, has appointed Sarah Brennan as senior business development manager.
The Chelsea Magazine Company has announced the launch of Little London and the re-launch of Baby London, Baby Hampshire and Baby Surrey, the “stylish new bi-monthly magazines for affluent and aspirational parents living in and around the capital”.
Net Communities, the digital company that specialises in advertising solutions for technology, business and high-end lifestyle advertisers, has announced the appointment of David Barr as Managing Director, to take over the day-to-day running of the b
Wave2 Media Solutions, the UK-based publishing software specialist, has announced that its AdPortal Cloud solution has been selected by 7DAYS In Dubai as the platform for the newspaper’s self-service advertising offering.
Real Life Bugs & Insects, a new weekly partwork from RBA Coleccionables, goes on sale 27 August, a special promotional rate of 99p. It is, say the publishers, the “relaunch of a popular collection for a new generation of readers”.
Archant, the independent regional media business, announced today the appointment of Jeff Henry as its new Chief Executive. He will join the business on September 1, 2014.
