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.
Archant London has appointed Archant Dialogue MD and former Norwich Evening News editor Bob Crawley to a new position as its editorial director to help underpin expansion plans for its portfolio of 29 weekly newspapers and around 30 local community w
The International Herald Tribune (IHT) has launched a viral campaign to raise awareness of its new editorial series, The Female Factor.
Britain’s national newspaper industry is calling on the BBC Trust to undertake a Public Value Test to examine the BBC’s plans to launch a range of free mobile applications for smart phones before the first of these are launched in April.
Hachette Filipacchi has selected Tremor Media to deliver engaging, targeted online video ads on two of its websites in the UK.
Future, the special-interest media group, has relaunched SFX.co.uk – the website for SFX, the sci-fi and fantasy magazine.
NewspaperDirect has announced that it has partnered with Atlas Media Communications in Dubai to provide NewspaperDirect's publishing partners with high-quality newspaper printing and distribution services, with volume flexibility, throughout the Unit
The Advertising Association (AA) has submitted the industry’s recommendations to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), for the extension of the non-broadcast Advertising Code in digital media, which will be administered by the Advertising Stan
Carley Ayres has been appointed Fashion and Luxury Brand Partnership Director at Telegraph Media Group (TMG).
Archant, the regional media business, has announced a fall in operating profits for the year to December 31, 2009, against a background of challenging economic conditions and advertising revenues declining in all major categories.
The Financial Times has announced the relaunch of exec-appointments.com, the global executive job board, part of Financial Times Recruitment Solutions.
Finding a job just got a little easier for iPhone users, as Jobsite.co.uk launches 'Jobsite Jobs' - its free job search application.
IPC Southbank’s Wedding magazine and Saffron Building Society have joined forces to launch a new online wedding tool that will help users to both plan and save for their dream wedding.
UBM, a leading global provider of business media and marketing services, is relaunching COMDEX as a virtual event which will take place November 16-17, 2010.
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has announced the publication of a new whitepaper focused on the marketing and advertising opportunities and considerations associated with the growing area of ring-back tones (RBTs).
Telegraph Media Group (TMG) will be the exclusive digital partner for live coverage of the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha, with live streaming of the events sponsored by Aviva on Telegraph.co.uk.
