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) has launched Women in News (WIN), an initiative to help women in middle management in southern African news media to advance their careers.
The managing director of Trinity Mirror Regionals division Georgina Harvey has been elected president of the Newspaper Society.
Amazon.com has introduced the new latest generation Kindle DX and new lower price of $379, down from $489.
The NUJ Regional Press Awards took place this week, bringing together people from across the UK to celebrate quality journalism.
The International Herald Tribune (IHT) will expand its education coverage starting in September with a weekly higher education section dedicated to the latest developments in courses for professionals and international academia.
IPC Media has announced the selection of the Pluck social media platform from Demand Media, Inc.
Online video specialist Video Direct has launched Mothership, an interactive multi-channel video player designed to help publishers generate revenue from their advertisers’ existing video content.
Amazon.com has announced that its suite of free Kindle reading apps now includes Kindle for Android.
Quark has announced that it has partnered with NewsGator, a leading social computing provider, to help publishers and other content creators deliver digital content to the iPhone, iPod Touch, and soon, the iPad.
Amazon.com has announced a new update to Kindle for iPad and Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch, which allows readers to enjoy the benefits of embedded video and audio clips in Kindle books.
The Article 29 Working Party “Opinion 2/2010 on online behavioural advertising” adopted last week, calls for an opt-in by users for placing cookies on their PCs.
Working in conjunction with Local Newspaper Week the Midland News Association launched a special fundraising initiative to support two great charities and also develop links with two major supermarket chains.
Brand Republic has relaunched with a new structure based upon pillars of news, intelligence, comment and jobs.
Daily Mirror Editor Richard Wallace and Geordie Greig, Editor of the London Evening Standard and former Editor of Tatler magazine, have joined the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee.
The PCC has ruled that the Mail on Sunday did not breach Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors' Code of Practice in an article which referred to Heather Mills.
