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.
Spyro Korsanos, CEO at Mediasyndicator, discusses why publishers and advertisers need to co-operate to manage the hype behind automated advertising technologies and ensure the value of human judgement does not become underestimated.
The Mail on Sunday says it will be the first national newspaper to bring out a fully digitally interactive version of its supplement, Live Magazine, later this month.
Readers of The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times will soon be able to access video clips of the best moments of their favourite Barclays Premier League matches following a groundbreaking deal between NI Group Ltd and the Premier League.
To improve the online experience for its consumers, advertisers and businesses using their publishing services, a leading specialist magazine publisher, Warners Group Publications plc has launched their new corporate website.
Madgex has announced the launch of their first Danish language job board for leading Copenhagen based publisher Mediehuset Ingenioren A/S.
Technology media company, IDG UK, has launched TAP (Technology Audience Platform), a new generation Publisher Trading Desk that, says the company, is the first to combine buy-side, sell-side and first party data overlay capabilities in programmatic b
Creative agency Engine Creative have continued their collaboration with heat magazine to create an Augmented Reality (AR) competition to support the magazine’s sponsorship of the National Television Awards held at the O2 Arena on Wednesday 23rd Janua
EMAP has appointed Fiona Miller to the newly created role of Conference Director.
Digital publishing platform provider Mag+ invites iOS developers to “crack open its code” and build new Mag+ reader apps.
Star Posters, a new monthly magazine for young girls, from LCD Publishing, goes on sale 25 January, priced £2.25.
The new Swedish Publishers Association, which represents the news media industry in Sweden, including broadcasters, magazines and newspapers, has joined the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
heat magazine, a longstanding media partner of the annual National Television Awards, is to stream exclusive interviews live from the red carpet on its website www.heatworld.com.
Jamie Labate, Dennis Publishing Deputy MD of Advertising, has been named Chairman of the AOP Commercial Committee for 2013.
Johnston Press has announced the appointment of Steve Gilliver as Group HR Director with effect from 15 April 2013.
Mail Connected’s latest competition, to win £250,000 of media space in Mail newspapers, has been won by Carat for their entry on behalf of Santander.
