News
IPA reacts to Scottish Government
The IPA has issued a response to the Scottish Government’s halt on public service advertising.
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
News
Scotsman staff write to National World
In a letter to National World’s HR, they say the loss of five more posts means readers will lose out on quality, in-depth coverage of important issues, such as health.
News
Government acknowledges 'vital role' of media
The government has acknowledged the vital role of the media in reporting the courts’ response to recent public disorder offences across the UK.
News
Mail Sport partners with the British Boxing Awards
Mail Sport has been revealed as the official partner of the British Boxing Awards, which will celebrate the great and good of the sport.
News
Society welcomes fake news initiative
The Society of Editors has welcomed an announcement by the government that differentiating fake news from accurate reporting online may be taught in primary and secondary schools in the wake of far-right riots across the UK.
News
WARC releases programmatic report
According to WARC, declining addressability, brand safety and ad fraud are set to define programmatic advertising over the next year.
News
Mail’s TikTok surpasses 15M followers
The Mail says it has hit a milestone of 15M followers across all Mail accounts and claims the Daily Mail has had 13.6 billion views in 12 months.
News
Media Minister visits The Yorkshire Post
The “really important” work of the local media in covering the recent riots has been praised by a Government minister during a visit to The Yorkshire Post in Leeds.
News
World News Day: New campaign announced
Global News Media has launched the ‘Choose Truth’ Campaign for World News Day.
News
FT appoints Leo Lewis
Leo Lewis has been appointed Financial Times Tokyo bureau chief.
RESEARCH
Platform resets create new uncertainties for publishers as audiences worry about AI and misinformation
This year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report documents the scale and scope of ongoing ‘platform resets’, which are putting intense pressure on publisher business models, writes Nic Newman.
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.
FEATURE
The changing landscape of local coverage of general elections – can hyperlocals close the democratic deficit?
As the coverage of general elections by legacy media becomes more generic, Dave Toomer, a former hack turned academic, asks what prospects there are for hyperlocal community publications to fill the localness gap in deprived areas.
INTERVIEW
Truth teller
Life for a mainstream media journalist can involve compromises. Their editor will have a say, sometimes their proprietor, sometimes, even, their commercial team. Their brilliant story might be cropped, edited or spiked. What should they do?
News
NUJ writes to National Police Chiefs’ Council
Journalists must not be “exploited as investigative shortcuts” by police, says NUJ.
