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.
While there has been much talk about the Daily Telegraph’s shiny new newsroom, less well publicised has been the progress made by many regional papers down the integrated path. Andrea Kirkby talks to some leading lights in the regional press about th
With newspaper circulations generally heading in the wrong direction, the onus is on marketing teams to help stem, and if possible reverse, the tide. Most newspapers invest heavily in reader promotions, and it is increasingly difficult to create inno
With so many pundits talking the newspaper industry down, it is refreshing to find someone prepared to fight its corner. Gavin O’Reilly acknowledges some structural problems with the UK market, yet sees a bright future for the printed newspaper. Ray
AOP research into the digital lives of UK consumers shows that new patterns of consumption continue to develop, as users access content in new and evolving ways, presenting publishers with new opportunities. Ron Nussey summarises the key findings.
Most publishers now make some money from the web, some of the time. Some make lots all of the time. But the challenge for both groups is to find new ways of monetising their online presence, because, says Ian Jindal, the current business model is uns
The marketer’s lexicon has expanded dramatically in this online age. Terms and phrases unheard of even five years ago, are now commonplace in our marketing departments. One such ‘new’ term is ‘landing page’. Don Nicholas explains its significance and
Across the web, the big search engines rule supreme, seemingly sweeping all before them. Yet there is one corner of the internet, where the volume driven models of Google & co are having trouble servicing effectively, and that is B2B. Highly targeted
When Old Ben, the newstrade’s very own charity, was founded, Queen Victoria had been on the throne for just two years! The charity’s name has changed a number of times since then and the challenges today are very different. Alex van Straubenzee, its
Today’s multi-media world and publishers’ focus on multi-platform content delivery have served to greatly enhance the standing of the IT function. IT specialists are now highly prized. Nick Cutts looks at how newspaper publishers should organise thei
Is the print paper doomed? Judging by the wailing and gnashing of teeth in some print circles, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was. Yet the printed newspaper remains hugely popular. Yes, it needs to adapt to changing technologies and markets, but w
Controlling the presentation of your newspaper at retail is central to maximising sales. Archant Norfolk has recently given its field sales teams PDA technology to help improve the effectiveness of their calls and the quality of the information comin
2007 promises to be the year that consumer publishers get their online act together as all the main publishers announce significant plans for the internet side of their business. So exactly what do they need to do to truly integrate their publishing
Chris Gregory takes us back in time to assess what the writings of a long-dead copywriter can tell us about direct marketing in the digital age.
Can you charge for content? Yes, you can - but the challenge is to do it without alienating your customers. Here, Michael Upshall outlines some ideas on how to go about it.
Who’s in control of your website – an editor or a marketer? If you’ve left it in the hands of the former, then now is the time to think again. Mark Edwards says that marketing savvy is essential when it comes to bringing relevant traffic to your site
