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.
Guardian Media Group plc (GMG), publisher of theguardian.com and the Guardian and Observer newspapers, has signed an agreement to sell its 50.1% stake in Trader Media Group (Trader Media) to its joint venture partner Apax Partners.
Future has appointed Ian Robson to Head of T3 following the promotion of Nial Ferguson to Managing Director of Future UK in December.
Hearst Magazines UK, Hearst Corporation’s principal business in the UK, yesterday announced the launch of a new luxury magazine, British Town & Country.
The latest version of K4 features a powerful Lucene-based, full-text search engine that extends the platform's built-in digital asset management (DAM) capability.
Prime Minister David Cameron visited the Eastern Daily Press head office in Norwich on Friday after answering the paper’s rallying call to visit the region to see how an upgrade to the A47 could help Norfolk and Suffolk become Britain’s new powerhous
White Dwarf, the monthly magazine from Games Workshop, is to relaunch as Warhammer Visions. The first issue of the renamed magazine goes on sale 1 February, priced £7.50.
Crochet Gifts, a new oneshot from Practical Publishing International, goes on sale 23 January, priced £7.99.
Attitude Magazine will publish its first-ever bookazine – a 148 page glossy guide to love and marriage to mark the occasion of the first same-sex marriages taking place in England and Wales.
Air Business, the global mail, distribution, fulfilment and integrated subscriptions management bureau, has appointed Clara Philpin as Senior Business Development Manager.
Weddingsite.co.uk, the online wedding planning tool provider, has just launched a free wedding planning app for the iPhone.
Guardian News and Media (GNM) last week launched the inaugural Guardian Film Awards, a brand new celebration of contemporary cinema which rethinks the categories from the ground up and puts the movie-goer at the heart of the experience.
The Shropshire Star celebrates its 50th birthday this year.
Responding to international concerns surrounding the situation for press freedom in the United Kingdom, WAN-IFRA has concluded a series of high-profile meetings during a two-day fact-finding visit to London, held over 15-16 January.
evo, Dennis Publishing’s performance car magazine, is to be licensed in China, making it the publisher’s most prominent international brand with a total of 18 licenses globally in addition to the UK title.
Archant Suffolk’s East Anglian Daily Times has launched its Shoulder to Shoulder campaign to help those who have served their country and now need its support.
