FEATURE
Off The Page – David Hepworth on magazines and beyond
David Hepworth's regular column, in the July / August 2012 issue of InPublishing magazine.
News Media
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.
Essential Resources
FEATURE
Returning to growth
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.
Best Practice in Publishing
News media
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…
INTERVIEW
Stand and deliver!
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.
INTERVIEW
Change before charge
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.
INTERVIEW
Ditching the generic
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.
INTERVIEW
The Observer’s premium future
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.
FEATURE
Opportunities & Threats: National News Media
What’s the outlook for national news media in 2024? Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, looks ahead.
FEATURE
Breathing new life into local media
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.
OPINION
We Need Trusted News Brands Now More Than Ever
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.
OUT & ABOUT WITH ALAN GEERE
Weekly does it
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.
All Articles
FEATURE
Managing content – fairytale or nightmare?
Content, which might have previously found one outlet, print say, now finds itself being output through an every growing array of channels. This has, says Peter Houston, put considerable strain on editorial teams who have had to radically change the
FEATURE
Feral Beasts: A Walk Through The Media Jungle
Sir Christopher Meyer, former press secretary to John Major, ambassador to the US and chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, gave the annual lecture at the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspapermakers on 16 April. This is the full text
FEATURE
MediaTel seminar
MediaTel recently held a seminar looking into the future of national newspapers. Ray Snoddy, who was one of the panellists, picks out some of the main talking points.
News
Winner of Mag+ Magnify Your World competition announced
Mag+ has announced that Scrawl, an independent illustration magazine, has claimed the “Best in Show” prize in Mag+’s Magnify Your World design contest.
News
Mag+ enhances its offering
Mag+ has announced the availability of the latest iteration of its digital publishing platform.
News
Guardian partners with BlackBerry for festival coverage
Guardian News & Media has announced a partnership with mobile phone provider, BlackBerry, that will allow individuals to get inside the UK's major music festivals and be a part of the Guardian's festival coverage.
News
Autosport creates its first ever iPad-only edition
Autosport, the weekly motorsport magazine produced by Haymarket Consumer Media, has just launched a one-off iPad-only edition for its British Grand Prix special.
News
Herald Sun chooses WoodWing
The Herald Sun, one of Australia’s leading daily newspapers – read by 1.3 million Victorians every weekday – has selected WoodWing’s multi-channel publishing system Enterprise and its Digital Publishing Tools to create its daily iPad editions.
News
olive to include Sustainable Restaurant Association ratings
olive magazine is to carry ratings from the Sustainable Restaurant Association, the first UK food magazine to do so.
News
Atex announces new Group CEO
Atex has announced a new Group CEO to strengthen the ongoing leadership and development of the business and support its accelerated growth into the digital marketplace.
News
New business wins for Intermedia
Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd, a provider of integrated brand marketing and distribution solutions, has announced further new business wins, with an additional three titles joining its growing portfolio.
News
NME partners Nikon for 2012 Photography Awards
Leading music brand NME has partnered camera manufacturer Nikon to find the UK’s best music photographers with the 2012 NME Music Photography Awards competition.
News
NS welcomes Welsh Gov’s Traffic Notices decision
The Welsh Government has scrapped plans to remove the requirement to publish traffic notices in local newspapers after just 12 per cent of respondents to a public consultation voted in favour of the plans.
News
DandG Media put UK cruise list online
DandG Media, press distributor to the cruise sector, have put the live UK cruise list online. The company has also recently moved into new bigger premises in Southampton.
