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.
The NFRN has today (August 28) renewed calls for wholesaler funding to be reviewed following the announcement by EM Menzies Distribution of an increase in its carriage charge template of 4.31 per cent from September 30 2012.
When Stylist magazine decided to create a special art issue, they wanted to answer the question “What is art?” And so for five days in August the entire team became a living, breathing art installation in London’s Saatchi Gallery.
KM Group has submitted plans for a new purpose-built headquarters as part of a major redevelopment of its site in Larkfield, near Maidstone.
The Guardian has launched new awards designed to recognise and celebrate all that's best about Britain's universities, from quality of teaching to the impact of research, student experience to contribution to local communities.
Archant is a leading partner, along with fellow media groups Tindle and Trinity Mirror, in the Channel 6 Consortium which has submitted a bid for the London local TV franchise.
63% of UK adults said The Sun was wrong to publish naked pictures of Prince Harry because it infringed his privacy, according to a nationwide poll of 1,000 people conducted today (24.8.12) by Usurv.
L.A. based make-up brand Smashbox Cosmetics is to be the headline sponsor of Look’s high street catwalk event, The Look Show.
Hot Off The Press Vintage Christmas, a oneshot from Practical Publishing International, goes on sale 6 September, priced £7.99.
Dial Global, America’s network radio leader, has chosen Atex Advertising to power its online advertising business.
A team of 30 cyclists from Menzies Distribution will complete a 1,500km charity bike ride along the east coast of the UK to raise money for the newspaper industry’s charity, NewstrAid.
Heat, the celebrity weekly, has committed to using the Aurasma augmented reality platform in future issues.
The debut issue of Allure Russia and accompanying website has now launched.
Johnston Press has announced an operating profit of £30.4 million and an increase in digital revenues and audiences, particularly to mobile platforms, in its interim results for the first half of the year.
Sir Michael Parkinson, one of Britain’s best-known television presenters, is to deliver the after-dinner speech at this year’s NCTJ Journalism Skills Conference in Nottingham.
The popular weekly partwork, Victorian Dolls’ House Collector, from RBA Coleccionables, relaunched on 29 August.
