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.
Wallpaper*, the international design and style title, has launched Paper Passion, a perfume that captures the scent of freshly printed books, with German publisher Gerhard Steidl, fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld and celebrated perfumer Geza Schoen.
On Monday, 09 July 2012 the Stationers’ Foundation, the charitable arm of the Stationers’ Company, Company, hosted a Garden Party at which the important work of the Foundation was brought to the attention of the 170 guests.
With its relatively young populations and growing literacy, it is no surprise that Asia is leading the way on strategies to attract young people to newspapers, on all platforms, says WAN-IFRA.
In a first for women’s consumer magazines, Glamour held a special private reader question and answer session on July 12th, with Prime Minister David Cameron at 10 Downing Street.
Kevin Dewey, former managing director of Hedsorboard, has taken on the mantle of Master of the Stationers’ Company and says he is committed to helping the Livery Company to extend its position in packaging and new media.
Zest, the health, fitness and well-being title for women, has secured three Olympic cover stars for its August issue. This is the first time in the magazine’s 17.5-year history that a trio has graced the cover.
Men’s Health, the men’s lifestyle brand published by Hearst-Rodale UK, has strengthened its digital offering with a relaunch of the Men’s Health mobile site.
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is to become the first engineering, not-for-profit publisher to adopt an open access model with the launch of a comprehensive, online-only open access journal.
It's summer holiday time for the InPublishing news desk.
New research, launched by IPC Media, has found that magazines drive consumers towards purchase, are highly engaging and trusted, and are the medium most likely to hold consumers’ sole attention.
House & Garden, in association with Clarion Events, has announced the launch of Spirit-Boutique.com.
Menzies Distribution Limited has acquired the retail consultancy division of the Fore Partnership, which it will integrate with its own category management business D-Cipher to become part of Menzies Marketing Services.
The World Editors Forum has drawn together the leading arguments for open journalism - supplementing original reporting with the vast resources of the web - and collected key examples in a new report that offers an overview of a wide variety of appro
Air Business, the global distribution, fulfilment and integrated subscriptions management bureau, has appointed Ian Fraser as Client Management Director.
The NFRN has condemned News International’s threat to stop supplies to an independent newsagent who had added a surcharge to the price of the weekend Sun.
