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.
Independent News & Media has announced that it has now completed the disposal of its 100% interest in INM Outdoor (‘INMO’), its South African outdoor media company, to a pan-African private equity investor group led by Helios Investment Partners.
United Business Media has announced that it has acquired Virtual Press Office (VPO) from its private shareholders on behalf of PR Newswire for an initial cash consideration of $6.5m, with a further performance-related consideration of up to $3.5m pay
Doubling the value of Scotland’s digital media sector revenue to £6.3bn by 2012 is one of the aims of a new strategy published today by The Scottish Digital Media Industry Advisory Group.
PageSuite Limited and KOS Media, publishers of Kent on Sunday hope to drive forward the publishing industry with the ‘Kent News’ iPhone application, released this week.
Matt Kelly has been promoted to the new position of Digital Content Director for Trinity Mirror Nationals division.
YOC has announced that it has been selected by regional media business, Archant, to create mobile sites for three of its key titles; the Norwich Evening News, Ilford Recorder and Norwich City FC Fanzine The Pink’Un.
Nstein Technologies, a provider of digital content management solutions, has announced that it has been named to EContent Magazine's 100 list for the sixth time.
Regional media company Archant has successfully refinanced its existing debt facility of £50m until April 2013, securing its operating cash flow needs and leaving funds available for strategic investments.
Baroness Buscombe, Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, has announced the appointment to its board of Professor Ian Walden.
As the international environmental conference unfolds in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, Haymarket environmental publisher ENDS is blogging direct from the summit.
The Press Complaints Commission has published its adjudication on a complaint from Dr Julian Lewis, MP for New Forest East, over coverage of his expenses claims in The Sunday Telegraph, Daily Telegraph and on telegraph.co.uk.
The Editors' Code of Practice Committee, which writes and revises the voluntary code of standards overseen by the Press Complaints Commission, is undertaking its annual review of the Code.
Johnston Press plc has announced that Geoff Iddison has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from 1 January 2010.
Independent News & Media PLC has announced that it has agreed and completed the disposal of its 49% interest in Verivox Holdings Limited, a German online price comparator for energy and telecom services, to VVX Investments Ltd, a wholly owned subsidi
The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is restructuring its current co-chairmanship structure following the appointment of Lee Baker as Director in September this year.
