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.
Now live on Google Play, Imagine Publishing has brought its entire technology eBook range to the global online digital outlet, with all current 35 titles also natively available on the brand new Google 7” Nexus 7 tablet.
British VOGUE goes monthly on iPad today, with the September ‘International Collections’ issue available to download from Newsstand on the App Store.
RollUp Media is adding to its network of independent publishers by partnering with Handpicked Media, a premium collective of UK sites and bloggers.
The AOP has announced the first speakers for its 2012 Summit, which has the theme, ‘Unleashing your Inner Startup’.
The PPA’s Mail Distribution Accreditation Scheme (MDAS) customer satisfaction survey is set to go live.
The Helensburgh Advertiser is the latest local newspaper to launch a free mobile app with local news and sport.
Future has announced HMV as the headline sponsor for this year’s GamesMaster Golden Joystick Awards.
FIPP, the worldwide magazine media association, has launched a new website.
On the same day as GB’s Olympic team hit gold so did dozens of Archant staff who have raised £14,551 for good causes in the last six months by running, walking, sleeping, dancing and cycling and the Archant Gold staff matched funding scheme has doubl
Haymarket Network, a top UK content marketing agency, is taking on one of the biggest challenges in publishing.
EMAP, the multi-channel publishing, conferences and awards business, has been welcomed into the membership of the Professional Publishers Association (PPA).
Professor Mervyn Miles has been announced as the new Chief Scientific Advisor for IOP Publishing (IOP).
A decision to deliver newspapers and magazines to retailers 90 minutes earlier than usual during the Olympics in London has allowed Menzies Distribution to record a 100% success rate in London during the first few days of the Olympics.
Egmont Publishing Group, the leading publisher of books and magazines for babies – teen, has signed a deal with Sanrio to publish the Hello Kitty Magazine.
Leading global software company Atex has achieved its first Atex Content go-lives for print editions in Slovenia and Lithuania at Bonnier Business Press, part of the Bonnier Group, the largest media corporation in Scandinavia.
