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.
Haymarket Medical Media has signed a letter of understanding with the Academy of Family Physicians of India (AFPI) forming an educational partnership via Haymarket’s international education website www.myCME.com.
Guardian News & Media (GNM) ran its first augmented reality print ad last weekend to promote the Guardian iPad edition.
The Computeractive guide to the iPad is out and ready for free download from the App Store.
As newspaper publishers launch digital initiatives and experiment with various business models, they should not underestimate the power of their brands, the importance of creating value from their customers, and they should make the audience’s user e
The British Journal of Photography has launched a brand new new online shop offering a host of products for photographers and BJP enthusiasts.
Journalism.co.uk has announced the date for its next digital journalism conference: news:rewired - full stream ahead.
Two thirds of news retail outlets in London are “likely to be affected” by disruption to deliveries this summer, a figure that has prompted Menzies Distribution to introduce a number of changes to its time critical delivery service.
A new workshop to show trained journalists how to create, run and make money from their own hyperlocal newspapers is to be launched in June.
Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) – the IAB council established to verify and promote the activities of ad networks in the UK – has announced that 25 Members are IASH accredited following the latest ABC audit (for the period July to December 2
Metro has announced a headline partnership with SCIPMYLO Festival 2012, a sixteen day long festival of live arts, entertainment and international food taking place on Hackney Marshes 27th July-12th August 2012.
A new edition of the Brentwood Gazette has been launched in neighbouring Romford - going head-to-head with regional publishing rival Archant.
Those simplistic explanations about why Asian newspapers continue to grow went right out the window when Asian newspaper leaders gathered in Bali, Indonesia, last week, says WAN-IFRA.
The newly formed Digital Trading Standards Group (DTSG) has agreed a set of trading principles aimed at growing safer online ad placement.
Barry Askew, former award-winning regional newspaper editor, who went to Fleet Street to edit the News of the World for eight months in 1981, has died aged 75.
Brightcove, a leading global provider of cloud content services, has announced it has become a Certified Widevine Implementation Partner.
