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.
LexisNexis UK, a leading provider of content-enabled workflow solutions, has announced that it will be partnering with Guardian Law, offering unique access to a selection of specialist content from one of the most authoritative sources of legal mater
STAR – Special Terms for Authors and Researchers – is a “pioneering” online access scheme for individual academic and scientific authors from emerging regions of the world.
Sebastian Coe and Boris Johnson have praised the London Evening Standard’s Olympics coverage and its commitment to the 2012 Games.
The Metro newspaper in Poland has been named the 2010 World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year in the annual competition organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishing (WAN-IFRA).
New window stickers have been produced for newsagents looking to grow their home news delivery sales.
Telegraph Media Group has launched a new dedicated fashion and beauty website within Telegraph.co.uk.
The London Evening Standard has announced promotions for three journalists from its news team.
Johnston Press has appointed Henry Faure Walker as Digital and Business Development Director and Steve Brown as Divisional Managing Director North.
Future, the special-interest media group, has announced the launch of its first fully bespoke digital magazine for the iPad – T3: iPad Edition, scheduled to go on-sale in autumn 2010.
Africa's leading press freedom advocates met in Kenya last week to support the Declaration of Table Mountain, a freedom of expression campaign organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers to repeal criminal defamation and insu
Robin Esser, executive managing editor of the Daily Mail is set to be the new president of the Society of Editors.
The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has announced two keynote speakers for its annual flagship Digital Publishing Summit, Jacek Utko, Design Director, Bonnier Business Press International and Jay Altschuler, Global Communications Planning Dire
What Car? has launched a new financial services comparison tool for their customers in partnership with BeatThatQuote.com.
United Business Media has announced that it has acquired Astound LLC, a privately-owned US virtual career fairs business, on behalf of UBM Studios for an initial cash payment of $120,000 and further performance related consideration of up to $3m paya
Future has launched its first Total Film iPhone application, as the movie brand seeks to further widen its appeal amongst UK cinema goers.
