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.
Traditionally, the sale of back issues has amounted to little more than petty cash. Fiddly to administer and market, the returns were just too low. The digital age has changed all that, and, for the first time, opened up the possibility of realising
What is the biggest online debate at the moment, apart from the merits or otherwise of Twitter? It’s got to be micropayments, and for that we have Rupert Murdoch to thank. Robert McCaffrey summarises the options and looks forward to the arrival of a
Their traditional revenue streams might be in decline, but, by using their brand strength and direct marketing skills, national newspapers are finding new sources of high margin revenue, says Tony Coad.
Online, mobile? Digital edition, ereader? The choices are growing by the day and technology is developing with incredible speed. It’s quite tempting to stick with print and website, but that is unlikely to be sufficient long term. Graham Duffill take
For many years, mobile evangelisers have held forth on the potential of mobile; potential that remained largely unfulfilled until the arrival of the iPhone, when the market changed, seemingly overnight. Andrew Bagguley looks at publishers’ evolving m
As a nation, we’re footy mad. Each week, millions follow their favourite team and passions run high, however big the club, be it mighty Man U or lowly non-league Dartford (come on you Darts!). Surely, a website that could tap into that passion, and t
Do you remember when subscriber data amounted to little more than name, address and start date? And when this information was updated once a year at renewal? Well, we now have the ability to know soooo much more and in real-time, and it is this deepe
Strip away the sport, the celebrity flim-flam, the weekend supplements and what do you have left? A newspaper’s main calling; to investigate and hold to account. What is the state of investigative journalism in the UK today? Are the newshounds still
2009 has been a truly horrible year for the regional press and the result has been the rapid onset of siege mentality. Aside from closure, where does the press go from here? How can they break free from this downward spiral? Peter Sands goes in searc
The BIG press story of the year? No question – the Telegraph’s exposure and forensic examination of MPs’ expenses this summer. It will linger long in the memory. Bob Satchwell applauds the Telegraph’s news values and looks to see what wider lessons c
In the midst of our current recession, media owners don’t instinctively look to Azerbaijan for inspiration. Dennis Jared was there a few years back advising local media owners on product survival. At the time he didn’t realise just how transferable s
Isn’t there enough bad news around at the moment for the newspaper industry? Would you like, just for one brief shining moment, to hear something positive? Ray Snoddy is pleased to be able to oblige ...
The Wall Street Journal Europe today introduced a significantly enhanced and improved newspaper, along with associated new online offerings, providing readers and advertisers with more relevant, contemporary and lively editorial products in Europe.
Baroness Buscombe, Chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, has delivered the Society of Editors annual lecture at its conference in Stansted.
Donald Martin is set to be the next president of the Society of Editors.
