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 World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is offering a free, twelve-part serial story for children to the world’s newspapers to publish and to encourage family reading in celebration of International Literacy Day on 8 Septem
Trinity Mirror plc has announced the group's interim results for the 26 weeks ended 4 July 2010.
The National Federation of Retail Newsagents has released the following statement in relation to a Press Distribution Forum press release issued in July.
Amazon has introduced a new generation of Kindle.
The Daily Mail & General Trust has published its interim management statement.
The Press Complaints Commission has published its ruling in a case against the Hull Daily Mail, over a complaint made under Clauses 1 (Accuracy), 3 (Privacy) and 10 (Clandestine devices and subterfuge) of the Editors' Code of Practice. The complaint
NFRN members in the Northern District have said a “huge” thank you to their delivery staff by sending them on a visit to a theme park.
The PCC has upheld a complaint against the Sunday World under Clauses 1 (Accuracy), 3 (Privacy) and 10 (Clandestine devices and subterfuge) of the Editors' Code of Practice over two articles which exposed a "shocking new sex craze" (known as "bukkake
The National Readership Survey (NRS) has appointed research specialist RSMB and UKOM/Nielsen to conduct a test fusion of online audience data with NRS readership data.
Vietnamese media managers have begun the country’s first training course on how to set up converged multimedia content newsrooms to produce news for multiple devices.
The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is launching its annual flagship Digital Publishing Summit with the theme “Building World Class Digital Media Businesses”, to be held at Westminster Bridge Park Plaza on 15 October 2010.
www.instyle.co.uk, the website from fashion and beauty title Instyle, is launching a new travel channel, backed by a six-month partnership with LUXE City Guides.
AT Internet, a leading international web, mobile and social media analytics company has announced its 2-star ABCe accreditation for its web analytics product Analyzer NX.
A student at Bath University has won the Sports Journalists’ Association summer bursary, worth almost £2000.
IPC Media has announced a new licensing arrangement with Town & Country Broadcasting for NME Radio.
