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.
At last week’s Science Writers’ Awards in London, the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) announced the addition of a new award which is being sponsored by the Institute of Physics (IOP) and its publishing company, IOP Publishing.
Condé Nast Johansens has announced that its re-imagined website is now live, further establishing, says the company, its position as the leading independently produced multi-media source for today’s traveller, curating hotels, spas and venues for lei
Conservative and Labour MPs have rubbished proposals to scrap the requirement for alcohol notices to be advertised in local papers saying the proposals could lead to a decrease in transparency hindering Government efforts to cut alcohol fuelled crime
National newspaper editors Chris Blackhurst and Lionel Barber have pointed to proposals for a free arbitration service as one of their key areas of concern in the Government’s Royal Charter for press regulation.
Trinity Mirror has announced plans to unify its regional newspaper libraries to create one of the biggest and best photographic archives in the world.
The PPA Awards were handed out at a glittering ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel this week.
The Guardian's global development editorial team have won the 2012-2013 UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) A.H. Boerma medal.
David Levin, CEO of UBM plc visited China from May 26 to June 5, 2013 and had successful meetings and exchanges with Chinese government bodies and exhibition industry during his visits to Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.
Community projects across a large part of East Anglia are being offered a dream ticket to a major funding boost, thanks to a new campaign from Archant Norfolk’s Eastern Daily Press.
ABC has announced PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as the first ABC Associate to be accredited as a Data Integration Associate.
ABC has announced the launch of a new measurement for the Business Media market.
IPC Inspire cycling magazine, Cycling Weekly, has partnered with sports software company Training Diaries to devise and launch what it describes as the world’s first general performance rating system for amateur road cyclists.
Toxic, Egmont’s magazine for tween boys, has launched its first two apps available on iPad and iPhone.
Musicradar, the site for musicians from Future Publishing, is launching the “ultimate two-day online DJ fest” in association with Beatport, the DJ and electronic community.
RBI’s online resource XpertHR has announced a partnership in the USA, with Talent Management Solutions company LivingHR.
