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.
Immediate Media Co, the cross-media special interest content company, has announced the launch of BBC Tree Fu Tom magazine, based on the CGI CBeebies programme of the same name.
New client for Abacus e-Media, LSG, has re-designed and re-launched their main website for their weekly society magazine using their Webvision CMS and ADvance audience development platform.
The Financial Times is launching a brand campaign to coincide with news of a resurgence in the British economy.
Victims of press harassment have sent an open letter to the Prime Minister ahead of his appearance at the Commons Liaison Committee on Tuesday.
Journalist has residence searched and computer equipment seized in dawn raid that raises serious concerns over protection of sources in Switzerland.
Telegraph Media Group (TMG) has announced it will stage the third Telegraph Festival of Business at The Brewery in London, on Tuesday, 12th November, 2013.
Metro has appointed Dominic Rowell as Chief Customer Officer.
Paul Vickers, Chairman of the Industry Implementation Group, issued the following statement on Friday 6 September:
India is a country of champions when it comes to news media initiatives aimed at attracting young readers, which has earned it the designation as WAN-IFRA World Young Reader Country of the Year for 2013.
Chief editors from around the world, and experts leading the digital media revolution, will gather in Berlin next month for a day and a half of networking, discussion and case studies at the World Editor Forum’s annual International Newsroom Summit.
British Vogue has devised a lesson for schoolchildren, to give them an insight into the creation of the fashion shoots seen on the pages of the magazine.
News UK has secured the rights to show video clips of goals and other key moments from Scottish Premiership matches and some Glasgow Rangers matches.
Chris Grayling, a member of the Privy Council committee of MPs tasked with looking at the industry’s Royal Charter for press regulation, has said that any new system must not cripple the regional press.
Linkz IM Ltd, the print-2-mobile specialist, has announced a partnership with Paragon Group UK to offer its clients Interactive Print, an app that turns printed marketing and brand collateral into a mobile interactive experience using the Linkz platf
Haymarket Business Media’s PRWeek is preparing the biggest overhaul in its 25-year history, with the launch of a monthly magazine and a series of digital products, set to be revealed next month.
