News
NFRN Chief Executive Officially Takes Up Reins
New NFRN chief executive Paul Baxter officially took over the reins this week.
News Media
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.
Essential Resources
FEATURE
Returning to growth
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.
Best Practice in Publishing
News media
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…
INTERVIEW
Stand and deliver!
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.
INTERVIEW
Change before charge
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.
INTERVIEW
Ditching the generic
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.
INTERVIEW
The Observer’s premium future
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.
FEATURE
Opportunities & Threats: National News Media
What’s the outlook for national news media in 2024? Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, looks ahead.
FEATURE
Breathing new life into local media
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.
OPINION
We Need Trusted News Brands Now More Than Ever
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.
OUT & ABOUT WITH ALAN GEERE
Weekly does it
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.
All Articles
News
Somerset Standard celebrates 125th anniversary
Northcliffe Media weekly the Somerset Standard has celebrated its 125th anniversary with a special 16 page souvenir supplement given away free with the paper.
News
Taylor & Francis Online goes live
Taylor & Francis Online (the successor to Informaworld) has launched successfully and the site is now fully operational.
News
Guardian to axe international print editions
Guardian News & Media (GNM) has announced it will cease publishing the international editions of the Guardian and Observer from 1 October 2011.
News
Mail Rewards Club hits Half a Million Members
The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday’s Rewards Club claims to be the fastest growing Rewards Club in Britain with over half a million members signing up since it launched on June 11th.
News
Associated Press announces agreements with North Korea
The Associated Press has announced agreements with the Korea Central News Agency, including one to open an AP news bureau in Pyongyang.
News
100k digital subscribers as Times websites reach 1st birthday
News International has announced that the number of digital subscribers to The Times and The Sunday Times has exceeded 100,000.
News
NFRN Scottish President steps down
The NFRN’s Scottish President Robert Paton has stepped down for personal reasons.
News
IPC Inspire launches NME Video
IPC Inspire multi-platform music brand NME has announced the launch of www.nmevideo.com.
News
WikiLeaks Roundtable at Stationers’ Hall
On Monday, 11 July 2011 from 6.30pm-9.30pm the Digital Media Group of the Stationers’ Company is holding a really special roundtable all about WikiLeaks.
FEATURE
T3: learning through doing
Last Thursday, T3 published the 10th consecutive issue of its iPad edition. Nial Ferguson, T3’s Group Publishing Director, says the experience has been illuminating.
FEATURE
One-push publishing is the way forward
Peder Bonnier, Head of Digital Media at the publishing house that bears his family name, is adamant that magazine publishers should be expecting – even demanding – a one-push solution across all tablet platforms.
News
IPC reports successful introduction of new email marketing system
Experian CheetahMail has boosted business performance and brand engagement for IPC Media by improving the effectiveness and evaluation of the media group's email marketing communications in the UK.
News
AP names Andrew Shaw VP Commercial for EMEA and Asia
The Associated Press has appointed international media executive Andrew Shaw as vice president/commercial for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
News
RBI acquires Ascend
Reed Business Information, the business information division of Reed Elsevier, has announced that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of Ascend Worldwide Group Holdings Limited.
