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.
The Daily Telegraph has been applauded by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) for maintaining pro rata retail terms alongside weekday and Saturday cover price increases announced yesterday.
With Apps World taking place at Olympia on 29 & 30 November, Matthew Henkes looks at some of the strategic issues facing publishers.
mediaPro 2011 took place last week at Olympia 2 in London. Andrew Lugton, who blogs regularly on media matters, summarises the main talking points.
Barry Henderson’s recent article for InPublishing magazine on the sorry state of ad sales in the regional press obviously struck a chord. Jim Chisholm reflects on what the response to Barry’s piece tells us about the current state of the newspaper se
News Limited, the Australia-based vertically integrated media company a division of News Corporation, has signed a new advertising contract with Atex, a leading software company selling solutions for media-rich industries.
PistonHeads.com has launched its all-new classifieds platform, providing users with a range of new tools to make the search for a used car easier and more absorbing than ever.
Metro, the leading urban media brand, has appointed Bryan Scott to the new role of Marketing Communications Director.
By 2015, one fifth of African internet traffic will be carried by cellular networks, compared with a global equivalent of just three per cent.
Study reveals visibility of top UK newspaper web sites on Facebook, Twitter and four other social networks.
Artists & Illustrators, one of the UK’s leading magazines for artists, has unveiled a new website.
The London Evening Standard yesterday launched the fifth edition of The Top 1000 Influential People of London.
ABC has announced the launch of a new web audit scheme, webBase, making it easier for media owners to show their online performance data meets industry standards.
The Press Complaints Commission has ruled that The Sunday Telegraph breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors' Code in a story about Gordon Brown MP, but that the action it subsequently took and offered represented a sufficient remedy to the compla
The Associated Press and Express Group Syndication have announced a worldwide distribution and licensing agreement covering the archive and contemporary images of the one of the UK’s leading newspaper photo archives.
Jemm Group, the real-time advertising network, has announced its merger with ADSOVO, a global leader in online brand-safety.
