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.
The Wall Street Journal has been using this mailing to acquire subscribers for over 30 years. Drayton Bird calls it a “wonderful example of attention to detail, hard work and a real understanding of human nature”. Here Drayton explains what makes it
Our circulations are in decline, yet are we making full use of every tool in the marketing toolbox? Nigel Davis of Genesis DM argues that direct marketing techniques are being under-utilised by the regionals and that, if we want to retain (and even g
Irregular readers form a large and growing proportion of the circulation of our regionals. Developing a coherent strategy for them requires positive thinking, an effort to understand their needs and an acceptance that they are here to stay. Chris Bra
Traditionally, the relationship between circulation managers and readers could best be described as ‘at arm’s length.’ However, with the explosion of the internet and the, surely irreversible, arrival of multi-media platforms, circulation managers ar
For many UK newspapers, the words ‘circulation’ and ‘growth’ are too infrequently juxtaposed. Not so in India where newspaper sales are thriving and the media in general booming. Foreign publishers are aware of the potential and are investing heavily
When you hear the word “delivery”, do you think of vans or mission statements? Russell Borthwick thinks that responsibility for delivery stretches deep into the organisation. Here he looks at how some publishers are changing their approach to improve
To maximise sales from your website you must establish its presence within your products’ virtual marketplace - the community of websites frequented by your potential customers. For this you need a strategy, a budget and specialist knowledge, explain
Perhaps slow out of the blocks, the regional press has been frantically developing its new media offerings. However, too often, in the rush to go online, not enough thought was given to devising strategies to ensure proper synergy between the differe
As newspapers evolve into brands – in which the print product is just one of a number of content delivery platforms – are publishers going to set up parallel circulation teams to deal with each? On the evidence so far, the answer is ‘probably’, yet,
Newspaper publishers are waking up to the potential of database marketing – and not just for managing subscription programmes. Tony Coad finds that publishers are now using the database to drive everything from editorial content to broadsheet-to-comp
To cope with the breathtaking speed of technology take-up, newspaper publishers need to go back to basics and ask “what is a newspaper anyway?” Those who can answer that question with the words “information provider by whatever means possible” have a
Revolting readers are not nice; especially when the cause of their disaffection is the very carefully thought through and expensively researched re-launch you’ve just undertaken. The Norwich Evening News’ Philip Preston takes up the story.
The big question is: when (or will) digital editions go mainstream? When will a critical mass of readers be reached? NewsStand’s Michele Chaboudy sees some encouraging signs.
With a growing trend towards casual purchase, our interaction with potential purchasers at the point of sale becomes ever more important. If we can grab their attention then the likelihood of sales is increased. Newsbills are, to varying degrees, par
There are three simple steps regional newspapers can take now to achieve sustainable newspaper sales increases, but it needs a change of approach. In our second visit to Norwich this issue, Margaret Snowdon explores these three steps and talks to an
