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.
In a review of one of my copywriting books, writes Andy Maslen, a fellow wordsmith said I haven’t “…fallen for the fashionable bullshit about online copywriting – that it has its own rules, techniques and formats that exempt it from being treated lik
On 29 April, the PPA held its annual conference (Inspiration & Innovation: Publishing 2010) deep in the vaults of the gleaming new Westminster Plaza Hotel. The star of the day, reports James Evelegh, was undoubtedly the iPad, a product net yet even o
The International Herald Tribune (IHT), part of The New York Times Media Group, has opened a commercial office in the United Arab Emirates to support its growing presence in the Middle East.
Sun-Times Media, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times, as well as 60 websites and 58 daily and community publications, has signed a 250-seat managed services agreement for the Atex advertising and accounts receivable system.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has called off the World Newspaper Congress and postponed the World Editors Forum, planned for Beirut from 7 to 10 June next.
Haymarket Network claims to have broken new ground with the go-live of an all-new online magazine for the UEFA Europa League 2010 final.
Online video production specialist Video Direct has been chosen by IPC Media to supply video production services to its online classified directory advertisers.
Melcrum, specialists in internal communication research and training, has appointed Simon Abrams as UK managing director.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have condemned proposed legislation in Russia that "would effectively reintroduce Soviet-style censorship", and have called on President Dmitry Medvedev to
Multi-platform music brand NME has announced the launch of NME Breakthrough – an innovative community platform on its award-winning international 24/7 music website NME.COM.
The latest version of NewspaperDirect’s PressReader, optimized for the Apple iPad, is now available for download from the iTunes App Store.
Apple, the computing and consumer electronics giant proves it continues to lead the pack, as it walks away with a massive haul of seven gongs at the first-ever TechRadar Awards, decided solely by the votes of technology enthusiasts.
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum have welcomed the release of Tunisian journalist Taoufik Ben Brik, but repeated calls for the Tunisian government to free all journalists held in detention
Independent News & Media has announced the completion of the sale of the Independent newspaper.
Over one-third of Maney journals in materials science and engineering, health sciences, and humanities now have full archives available online following an extensive programme of retrodigitisation.
