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.
Tennis Champion Andy Murray will star in and guest-edit this week’s issue of The Beano. The special issue, on sale Wednesday 25th June 2014, features Dennis the Menace helping Andy Murray discover his inner Menace with disastrous consequences.
Digital Camera, the photography magazine, has announced a series of free gifts for every reader to mark the 175th anniversary of photography.
Marcus Rich, CEO of IPC Media has announced a company restructure that removes the business divisions of Connect, Inspire and Southbank, uniting the business as ‘one IPC’.
The PPA has announced that Claudia Winkleman will host the PPA Awards 2014 on 10 July at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
The MailOnline recorded its best ever month for Global Video Views, achieving more than 45.9 million in May 2014, according to figures released by ABC.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has attacked “Stalinist” guidelines issued to parish councils by the National Association of Local Councils which say that councillors cannot provide statements to the media without consent.
With the publication of the Commission’s white paper on Copyright due out in July, CEO members of the European Publishers Council (EPC) on 18th June presented to Commissioner Michel Barnier their “Copyright Vision”.
Publisher Gruppo Media has made two important appointments to its Board and Editorial team as founder Guy Andrews stands down as Editor.
The September issue of Glamour is upsizing again, it was announced yesterday by Jo Elvin, Editor of British Glamour, and Publishing Director Jamie Jouning.
Trinity Mirror has announced the appointment of Pete Picton to the role of editorial director, Mirror Online.
New research from Mail Newspapers identifies the rise of a new super group of consumers. Super Parents are set to revolutionise the way brands go forward, says the Mail.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is creating a World Printers Forum, a new initiative for the newspaper printing and production community including both experts from newspaper printing and production operations and v
Forty editorial jobs across the Telegraph Media Group (TMG) are being created as the business makes a significant new investment in quality journalism.
Months of hard work has paid off after a group of nine college students produced an edition of the Barking and Dagenham Post direct from their campus.
The Oxford Mail is believed to be the first British newspaper to launch a service delivering news alerts direct to readers' phones via messaging app WhatsApp.
