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.
Johnston Press plc, one of the leading community media groups in the UK and Ireland, has announced the appointment of Richard Thomson as Group Newspaper Sales Director with effect from 7 January 2013.
ELLE Decoration, the lifestyle and interiors magazine, published by Hearst Magazines UK, has launched a visually stunning, supersize volume of some of the world’s most spectacular countryside homes.
Haymarket’s What Car? is to launch What Car? Connect – an all-new data marketing and insight service for the automotive industry.
UBM plc has announced that it has appointed Richard Piercy as UBM’s Group Chief Information Officer.
The Society of Editors has announced the timetable for ‘The Press Awards’ that will celebrate the best in British national newspaper journalism published during 2012 either on paper or digitally.
The shortlist for the third round of Journalism Diversity Fund bursaries has now been announced.
Good Housekeeping, the women’s lifestyle magazine published by Hearst Magazines UK, has extended its successful Reader Recommended scheme by launching its first ever Book endorsement.
The PPA celebrated the best in subscriptions, circulation and one-to-one marketing at the Customer Direct Awards 2012 on November 21.
On Saturday 24 November, says Imagine Publishing, issue 129 of gamesTM goes on sale worldwide with a never-before-seen sliding cover treatment to celebrate the release of Wii U and Mario’s long awaited return.
Royal Life, a new alternate monthly magazine from Legacy Magazines, goes on sale 6 December, priced £3.60.
As the United Nations takes up the issue of journalists’ safety in a Vienna meeting this week, media organisations, including WAN-IFRA, presented recommendations on how to better protect journalists.
According to the latest forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, the global online-video market will be worth US$37 billion in 2017, driven by the popularity of services like Netflix and YouTube.
Classic Rock, the leading rock magazine, has announced the release of This Day In Classic Rock, developed in conjunction with leading music App developers This Day In Music Apps.
Future, the international media group and leading digital publisher, is to launch tech., a weekly international iPad magazine aimed at busy technology enthusiasts.
Chloe Hubbard, editor of the North Devon Journal, has been named Woman of the Future in Arts, Media and Culture in the annual Woman of the Future awards held this week by Caspian Media.
