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 Daily Record has this week unveiled plans for a new Audience First newsroom, a merger of print and digital into a single team which delivers content where and when readers want it.
The Online Media Awards, organised by The Drum, announced its award winners on Wednesday night at a ceremony held at the Marriott Grosvenor Square hotel in London.
Lord Black of Brentwood, Telegraph Media Group executive director, has told WAN-IFRA’S annual congress in Turin how attacks on press freedom in the UK have had a debilitating effect on free speech across the world.
Specialist digital publishing group Green Star Media has acquired Peak Performance and Sports Injury Bulletin from AIM-listed Electric Word for an undisclosed sum.
The Birmingham Post is the latest newspaper to launch a feed-driven app using PageSuite’s new app CMS, PageSuite Live.
With the 2014 World Cup tournament kicking off yesterday in Brazil, IPC Media’s World Soccer today makes its debut on Flipboard, a single place for readers to discover, collect and share the news they care about.
Haymarket’s Brand Republic Group has appointed Adrian Barrick as Editorial Director.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) yesterday launched the International Alliance for Media Research and Innovation.
The Press Complaints Commission has not upheld a complaint made by Richard Hillgrove against The Sunday Times concerning an article published in the wake of the trial of two former assistants to Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson.
Robot, a new monthly independent video games magazine for children published by Reset Media AB, goes on sale 20 June, with a launch price of £2.99 (regular price - £3.99).
Forbes Media yesterday announced the launch of the company’s new vertical – ForbesLife.com – on September 2, 2014. The luxury lifestyle web site is a digital extension of ForbesLife, Forbes’ luxury lifestyle magazine.
Thousands of readers have cast their predictions for the World Cup in a live animated poll running across Trinity Mirror’s regional websites.
Haymarket Consumer Media’s Autocar, What Car? and PistonHeads are now providing motoring content for Metro.
Haymarket joined Prince William and David Beckham this week for the launch of United for Wildlife’s new campaign, #WhoseSideAreYouOn.
Starting 13th June, supermarket chain Iceland launches a commercial partnership with News UK for The Sun. This is the biggest partnership Iceland has ever signed outside TV or with any national newspaper.
