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 Financial Times and IFC have launched the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, a global programme designed to recognise the financial institutions that have shown leadership and innovation in integrating environmental, social and governance conside
PCC initiates investigation into Daily Telegraph under Clause 10 of the Editors' Code.
The Financial Times is launching an integrated marketing and advertising campaign to support a new editorial series exploring the rise of China – the world’s fastest growing super power.
Maney Publishing has extended its open access (OA) business model, MORE OpenChoice, to its humanities journals.
Archant has announced its acquisition of a 50% stake in Tickles.co.uk, a local group-buying website, where merchants offer significant discounts on a specific product or service, in return for a guaranteed minimum number of sales over a limited time
Sixty-six journalists and other media workers were killed world-wide because of their professional activities in 2010, with Mexico and Pakistan emerging as the most deadly countries for journalists, said World Association of Newspapers and News Publi
Brand Republic Jobs has launched a new push notification iPhone app which is available now to download free from the Apple Store.
Stuff, the gadget magazine, has announced the launch of two iPad apps, Stuff DNA and Stuff Live.
FourFourTwo has extended its digital offering with the launch of FourFourTwo Performance, a website built by Haymarket Network that provides professional advice to footballers of any standard.
In its battle for survival, the regional press embarked on a programme of cost cutting and centralisation. But have they gone too far, asks Carolyn Mackinnon-Ure. Will these measures, introduced to save local papers, actually end up killing them off,
There were many big hitters at the conference in Glasgow. They ranged from the owner of the Independent and the Evening Standard, Alexander Lebedev, to Alex Salmond, first minister of Scotland and Ellis Watson, chief executive of Simon Cowell’s Syco
Jon Slattery looks at the implications of this week’s decision to exclude Northern & Shell titles from the PCC.
National newspapers, regional and local newspapers, and magazines have confirmed their total support for the Press Complaints Commission.
The Press Standards Board of Finance (PressBoF) has moved to exclude Northern & Shell Group titles from the system of industry self regulation.
Cosmopolitan is embracing the world of eBooks by digitalising some of its current book content.
