FEATURE
Online publishing: how to profit from new online revenue models
In February 2006, NEPA held a half day workshop looking at online revenue models. James Evelegh went along to listen.
News Media
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.
Essential Resources
FEATURE
Returning to growth
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.
Best Practice in Publishing
News media
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…
INTERVIEW
Stand and deliver!
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.
INTERVIEW
Change before charge
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.
INTERVIEW
Ditching the generic
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.
INTERVIEW
The Observer’s premium future
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.
FEATURE
Opportunities & Threats: National News Media
What’s the outlook for national news media in 2024? Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent, looks ahead.
FEATURE
Breathing new life into local media
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.
OPINION
We Need Trusted News Brands Now More Than Ever
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.
OUT & ABOUT WITH ALAN GEERE
Weekly does it
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.
All Articles
FEATURE
Turn & fight
What do you do when sales of your core product are in long term decline? Do you accept the inevitable, and seek to manage that decline as gracefully as possible, or do you resolve to do something about it. The Manchester Evening News has chosen the l
FEATURE
Software trends
Most publishers recognise the need for change, even if they might disagree on the precise direction. Few, though, dispute that systems will play an increasingly pivotal role in tomorrow’s publishing world. James Evelegh looks at how newspaper sales s
FEATURE
Manchester 2006
The Newspaper Society held its annual Circulation, Editorial and Promotions Conference in Manchester, on 27 March. Many of the great and good of the newspaper world attended, including Russell Borthwick, armed with notepad and pen.
FEATURE
Just tap and go!
Star columnists, DVD give aways, glossy supplements, Sudoku. What is your strategy for building sales, or at least slowing their decline. Could it be that a large part of the answer lies in smartcard technology? Deloitte’s Peter Simon and William Yar
FEATURE
Alan Geere on the nationals - 4
Each issue, Alan Geere casts an eye over the performance of the national press.
FEATURE
B2B magazines - online
B2B is flourishing online, both in its use of technology and in its ability to make serious money. The key to its success is the value of its content – content which users need and are prepared to pay for. In the last of the series, Andrea Kirkby loo
FEATURE
Adwords and the Rules of Attraction
Having every man and his dog visit your site is all very well, but, in all likelihood, your conversion rate will be lousy and you’ll be stung on cost per click. The important thing, says Mark Edwards, is quality not quantity and, here, he gives his s
FEATURE
Beyond circulation – the dangerous, dark world of media currencies
Using audited figures as a starting point, and data from just about everywhere, readership is the current trading base for advertising and, says Roger Holland, it is not quite as straightforward as some may think.
FEATURE
Design that sells
A compelling front page sells extra copies. Simple! You’d be hard pushed to find anyone who disagrees with that statement. Why is it then, asks Peter Sands, that newspapers so often fail to do themselves justice in this crucial area of sales and mark
FEATURE
Managing transition at the Telegraph
The Telegraph has had a tumultuous time of late; new owners, new management, new editor and, agonisingly, a circulation dip below the magic million. Tony Coad meets group marketing director Katie Vanneck and hears an upbeat and optimistic view of the
FEATURE
Alan Geere on the nationals - 3
Each issue, Alan Geere casts an eye over the performance of the national press.
FEATURE
Building incremental revenues – achieving success when moving existing B2B brands online
This was one of the topics considered at the recent PPA Subscriptions 2005 Conference. Organised and run for the PPA by the Business Circulation Management Association (BCMA), the session examined the opportunities and challenges of taking existing b
FEATURE
What are search engines really looking for?
As all publishers continue to engage with the web, Jonathan Feroze, managing director of Business Monitor International and chairman of the UK Newsletter & Electronic Publishers Association (UK NEPA), reports on the latest onslaught of the search eng
FEATURE
Regional newspapers - online
In the third of her series, Andrea Kirkby looks at the online performance of the regionals … and finds them wanting. With some honourable exceptions, the regionals appear to be following market trends rather than leading them; the sites too often lac
