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 World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has concluded a five-day mission to Ecuador, where it found “an increasing polarization and climate of hostility amongst media professionals and amongst society as a whole”.
Victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World (NotW) can apply for compensation in a new voluntary scheme.
Last week, Lord Black of Brentwood highlighted “one of the jewels in the crown of the UK’s creative industries – the local and regional press” which provided “in a fiercely independent fashion a watchdog role no other medium matches.”
Sci-fi fans the world over can now test their knowledge – and pit their wits against each other – thanks to the launch of the SFX Sci-Fi Quiz, the magazine’s first trivia app.
Ipswich Evening Star editor Nigel Pickover said he was “thrilled, delighted and honoured” to be recognised at a university graduation ceremony in Suffolk last week.
Operative, the advertising business management company, has announced that Guardian News & Media Limited, one of the world’s leading news organizations, has selected the Operative.One platform to consolidate and run both their digital and print media
The number of paying digital subscribers to the Financial Times has broken the quarter of a million mark; an increase of more than 30% year on year.
Publishers that have been largely ignored by big advertisers and agencies in the past can now use a new suite of tools previously only available to the biggest websites, says Crimtan.
New PCC Chairman Lord Hunt and Attorney General Dominic Grieve will speak at the Society of Editors’ Magna Carta II conference next week on November 14.
The Press Complaints Commission has ruled that the Wishaw Press and the Hamilton Advertiser breached Clause 6 (Children) of the Editors' Code of Practice following stories in which a thirteen-year old child was identified.
In a move that can only be described as suicidal, says NFRN, from October 29 the Leicester Mercury has increased its cover price on the Saturday edition from 40p to 60p, but is giving retailers none of the price increase.
Factory Media is the latest business to be shortlisted for the 2012 Media Pioneer Awards. Carolyn Morgan looks at their success in building an online community of action sports fans.
The Financial Times and Sightsavers are hosting a free photography exhibition at London’s Getty Images Gallery to mark the launch of this year’s seasonal appeal.
Total Film the modern movie brand for film fans has unveiled a new-look website which puts video at the centre of the site’s core editorial proposition.
Haymarket Network has launched a ground-breaking new online project for the Volkswagen Group (VWG) designed to host questions and approved answers to customer queries, and to drive improvements in customer satisfaction.
