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.
Dr Jason S Gardner has been announced as the new Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, a leading international publication in condensed matter physics.
Trinity Mirror plc has announced the acquisition of The Communicator Corporation Limited (Communicator Corp) – a leading digital communications company specialising in providing highly-targeted and sophisticated email and mobile communications.
Andy Phelan, currently editor of the Torquay Herald Express, has been appointed editor of the Exeter Express & Echo with immediate effect.
WAN-IFRA's 3rd annual Printing Summit, to be held in Berlin, in March, will provide publishers and printers with fresh insight into the best uses of the latest technologies, and will also explore how creativity in print advertising can maximize reven
The Evening Standard has announced a number of promotions, consolidating a “year of success” in which it won awards for Newspaper of the Year and Campaign of the Year.
The Wired brand will take a new step in its global expansion with the launch of a website in Taiwan in January, it was announced yesterday by Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive of Condé Nast International.
Following reports in the media about some aspects of the Wall Street Journal Europe’s circulation, ABC has carried out a thorough review of the relevant arrangements.
Future Publishing has launched a new customer rewards programme for users of its tech website, www.techradar.com.
Mail Connected, the advertising sales department for the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Mail Online has restructured its agency print sales division to provide a clearer point of contact for media agencies across its entire print portfolio.
National newspapers and their journalists can enter The Press Awards 2011 at www.pressawards.org.uk from today, Wednesday 4 January 2012.
Britain’s newspaper and magazines have agreed to new rules to promote compliance with the Editors’ Code of Practice, to which the British press subscribes voluntarily and which is enforced by the Press Complaints Commission.
The NFRN has condemned the Mirror Group for what it describes as “sly and cynical action”.
The Specialized Information Publishers Association has relaunched its website.
British photography publisher Ilex and 2.5-million selling author Michael Freeman have joined forces to produce a new digital magazine.
National newspapers and their journalists can now register for The Press Awards that will celebrate the best of British national newspaper journalism in 2011.
