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.
Visitors to the WAN-IFRA World Publishing Expo, to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, next week, will enjoy free admission to two major events dealing with business communication and cloud computing that are being held in Frankfurt at the same time.
Hearst Magazines UK has announced the launch of the British version of Esquire’s style manual for successful men – The Big Black Book.
5 fifteen, one of the leading UK software companies supplying dedicated software to publishers throughout the world, has announced that it will supply France’s English language newspaper, The Connexion, with its cloud-based Audience Media Content Man
IPC Advertising has appointed Chris Dicker to the newly created role of digital business director for IPC’s Inspire brands.
Condé Nast recently decided that it was time to introduce an innovative technology and give readers a more interactive way to enjoy its content.
Bauer Media has announced that Lucie Cave has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of its heat brand with immediate effect.
Drapersjobs.com (Niche Job Board of the Year – OnRec Awards 2012), has seen its highest number of visitors in September with 78,621 unique users.
Future, the leading digital publisher, has unveiled Gathered by Mollie Makes, a brand new international, fully interactive digital-only craft weekly.
Trinity Mirror has unveiled further changes in a move to create a single unified publishing structure.
Prohibition Magazine, the true crime and showbiz title, has its UK newsstand launch on 2 November, priced £3.
The international medical publisher BMJ Group has launched six specialty editions of its innovative online journal BMJ Open (bmjopen.com/editions) to coincide with Open Access Week.
Newspaper executives from Libya and Egypt are participating in a new training programme from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).
O2 and Bauer Media have jointly created GoThinkBig with a pledge to commit £5 million to its development and up to 30,000 work experiences (or work skills opportunities) for 14-25 year olds across the UK over the next three years.
Green issues have gone top of the agenda at the Stationers’ Company. It has created an Environmental Group under the chairmanship of Mike Hancock with the focus on promoting awareness and understanding of environmental and sustainability issues.
The River Group has announced the launch of their latest iOS magazine app for leading UK wealth management company Ashcourt Rowan.
