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.
Wave2 Media Solutions has announced the imminent release of a new version of its Wave2 Publishing Platform with a host of new features including a built-in video capability and support for Portal2 technology.
IPC’s Cathy Ma looks at trends in social media, from User-Generated-Content (UGC) to User-Curated-Content (UCC).
National newspapers have just taken an important step forward in their efforts to make themselves more accountable to advertisers, writes Maureen Duffy.
With ad revenues in decline, publishers are looking at alternative revenue streams, writes Ron Nussey. A recent forum at the AOP explored some of the options.
Johnston Press plc, one of the UK's leading regional media groups, has announced the appointment of Kjell Aamot as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from 1 August 2010.
Apple has announced financial results for its fiscal 2010 third quarter ended June 26th, 2010.
Waitrose is set to build on the success of its new Waitrose Kitchen magazine with the launch of a website in the autumn.
Amazon.com has announced that Kindle device unit sales accelerated each month in the second quarter - both on a sequential month-over-month basis and on a year-over-year basis.
Choices, choices, choices. Just as you’d got to grips with web 2.0, along comes the tablet and app store. Aaaaaaaaaagh! What now? Well don’t panic, but don’t do nothing either. Dominic Jacquesson has some advice for navigating the platform jungle.
Do you remember when SEO seemed to be the be-all and end-all of web strategies? Now, tweets, apps and paywalls are all the rage. But, be careful, search has not gone away and is still critical for online success. Amanda Watlington looks at recent dev
For a country so wedded to the newstrade model, it’s perhaps surprising that the retail channel isn’t in ruder health. With the recent demise of Borders and the continuing pressure on independents, Martin Ashford takes the pulse of the retailing sect
Can the iPad save magazine publishing? That question was attention-getting, until it became the headline du jour for media and tech bloggers. But asking it on more than a rhetorical basis was always a bit hyperbolic, says Karlene Lukovitz.
The inaugural Specialist Media Show was held on 25th May at the Exec Peterborough. Carolyn Morgan, content director of the show, looks at some of the key themes and business strategies discussed on the day.
With its regular monthly output, loyal readership and powerful branding, book publisher Mills & Boon has much in common with magazine publishers. Michael Upshall looks at their success in building an online community and marketing ebook versions of t
The letters page was so simple. Correspondence from the loonies, illiterates and time-wasters would be put in the bin, while the good stuff was made ready for the next day’s paper. But, says former Trinidad Express editor Alan Geere, the online invit
