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.
Haymarket’s editorial agency, Haymarket Network, has earned a top spot on a list that measures the efficiency of UK commercial media firms specialising in website design and build.
Quark has announced significant advancements to Quark Dynamic Publishing Solution (Quark DPS), intended to improve user productivity, lower publishing costs, and automate multi-channel publishing.
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and Chief Executive of News Corporation, has urged the Chinese Government to take full advantage of the country’s creative potential by opening the door to media competition and ensuring that intellectual property is protecte
KM Group has announced the top 50 fastest-growing businesses in Kent and Medway in 2009. Published in Kent Business and supported by Lloyds TSB Commercial and Reeves & Neylan, the MegaGrowth supplement profiles these 50 businesses and charts their su
Kindle is Amazon’s most wished for, most gifted, and #1 bestselling product, but prior to yesterday it has been available only to US customers. Now for the first time, Kindle is available to customers around the world.
The Economist has announced it will begin experimentation with a new website pay wall from October 13th.
Four independent regional press groups have teamed up with motors.co.uk in a move to drive up online automotive revenues.
The Times and The Sunday Times have announced the launch of Times+, a new membership scheme and customer retention programme.
TMP has been awarded the contract by Johnston Press to print The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.
The Italian editor whose newspaper is being sued for defamation by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has likened the situation to attacks on the American press during the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of US President Richard
From Monday 12 October the London Evening Standard will be handed out free. This is a statement released on the Standard’s website last week.
Google often touts the massive traffic it drives to newspaper websites – 1 billion click throughs from Google News per month. But what if that traffic is all but worthless?
An updated set of guidelines on open justice and reporting restrictions in the criminal courts has been published by the Judicial Studies Board (JSB), Society of Editors, Newspaper Society and Times Newspapers Ltd.
YOC AG has spun its mobile advertising product group off into an independent unit: YOC Mobile Advertising GmbH.
SoGlos.com – The online magazine for Gloucestershire, has announced the launch of a series of seven new interactive widgets, allowing readers to embed, share and interact with its editorial content like never before.
