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.
Don Williamson has been appointed Circulation Director for Archant Anglia, the newly-formed division of Archant which encompasses Norfolk, Suffolk, Herts and Cambs, just days after he helped achieve industry-leading newspaper circulation figures for
The longlist for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award, in association with Davidstow, was announced last week.
The Financial Times has boosted its editorial operations in Europe by appointing Hugh Carnegy to the position of Paris bureau chief and European managing editor, and Tony Barber as Europe editor and associate editor, with immediate effect.
The London Evening Standard has published a book about its award-winning Dispossessed Campaign.
Archant has produced strong ABC circulation figures for the second six months in a row.
Gizmodo, perhaps the most (in)famous technology website in the world, is coming to the UK following a new partnership between Future Publishing and Gizmodo’s publisher, Gawker Media.
After a summer when the media was at the centre of a political storm the programme for the Society of Editors’ annual conference has been revised to debate the key issues.
The Press Complaints Commission has upheld a complaint from an NHS Trust against the Essex Chronicle under Clause 8 (Hospitals) of the Editors' Code of Practice.
Johnston Press has released its interim results for the 26 weeks ending 2 July.
Metro, the free urban newspaper, has partnered with Fiat 500 to offer readers the opportunity to win fun prizes as part of their Everyday Fun campaign.
Telegraph Media Group (TMG) announces the creation of a supplement to promote the one-year countdown to the London 2012 Paralympics.
CWJobs is looking to significantly increase traffic through a partnership with four top technology sites.
Menzies Distribution Carriage Charges, and the banding levels within its carriage charge template, are to increase by an average of 4.8% with effect from 1st October 2011.
Sports publishers Faragher Jones have launched Football Espana, a digital magazine also available as an app.
The Radio Times is in the process of launching a new website, for the next generation of television viewers.
