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.
Johnston Press plc has announced that Stuart Paterson, Chief Financial Officer, has resigned to pursue another business opportunity and will be leaving the Company after announcement of the full year results in March 2011.
Guardian Media Group (GMG) has appointed Darren Singer as chief financial officer.
The International Herald Tribune (IHT) has announced that it has opened a new printing operation in Beirut to serve the Levant region, increasing its number of print sites in the Middle East to five.
IPC Media web technology director Kelly Waters has been named Most Valuable Agile Player in the UK at the first UK Agile Awards.
Users of the new Windows Phone 7 will be able to search for jobs quickly and easily wherever they are with the Jobsite Jobs app.
Ellis Watson, CEO of Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment, will speak at the Society of Editors gala dinner at this year’s annual conference.
Some 200 people will mark the 300th anniversary of the world’s first copyright legislation at the 2010 Stationers’ Company Industry Forum on Monday evening, 8 November which will be opened by James Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive, Europe and As
The Wall Street Journal has announced the expansion of its existing iPad app to include regional editions for users in Europe and Asia.
Concern has been raised by Scottish newsagents this week at what appears to be a new bout of “price-wars” between the Scottish Saturday Sun and the Scottish Saturday Star.
Imagine Publishing has announced the appointment of Mat Toor as its new Head of Digital.
The great and the good of the online publishing world met at the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza Hotel last Friday for the AOP annual conference. James Evelegh was there too.
Digital publishing vendor YUDU Media recently announced the results of a new survey on how organizations’ use of digital publishing is changing. Robert Elding summarises the main findings.
Sift Groups hosted a seminar recently entitled ‘Publishing is dead – Long live publishing’. One of the sessions – Making money in the new world of online publishing – was presented by Andy North.
Europe’s most powerful business people continue to read more copies of the Financial Times than any other publication, according to the latest Business Elite Europe survey from Ipsos MORI.
i, claiming to be the UK's first quality daily newspaper to launch in almost 25 years, will go on sale nationwide on Tuesday 26 October.
