• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

2

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

3

When SpaceX starts trading, some 'shareholders' will discover they own nothing at all

1

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

2

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

3

When SpaceX starts trading, some 'shareholders' will discover they own nothing at all
TechMedia

News Corp Brings a Tablet Publishing Model to the Web

By
Mathew Ingram
Mathew Ingram
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Mathew Ingram
Mathew Ingram
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 30, 2016, 3:42 PM ET
Courtesy of News Corp.

Since the arrival of the consumer Internet, it’s become axiomatic in the media industry that a news site should be updated whenever there is news—in other words, every minute of every day.

News Corp., however, is taking a different approach with two of its British newspapers: The Times of London and the Sunday Times. The website belonging to the two publications will only be updated four times a day.

The motivating force behind this model, Times executives say, is that breaking news has more or less become a commodity because anyone with a website—or even just a smartphone and a Twitter account—can publish news as fast or faster than a newspaper. So the Times explains it has decided to focus on adding analysis and context.

“The power of an edition has endured at the Times for more than 230 years. Our challenge is to update this concept for the digital age: to put readers first and cut through the babble,” Times of London editor John Witherow told The Guardian.

The Times explains it will break into this publishing schedule when there is extraordinary news, such as the recent bombings in Paris. But for the most part, the site will be updated four times a day from this point forward. The hours chosen—midnight, 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m.—correspond to the periods in which traffic to the Times website normally peaks.

Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune‘s technology newsletter.

“Hitting these times gives us a great opportunity to report more in-depth, to get things right, to provide analysis on the breaking news that happens throughout the day, but also to serve readers at the times they want it,” Times head of digital Alan Hunter told the Nieman Journalism Lab. “They want a package of news so they feel up-to-date.”

Until now, publishing at specific times has been more of a tablet-based model than a web-based one. The Daily, an abortive attempt at a tablet newspaper launched by News Corp. in 2011 (at an estimated cost of more than $60 million) was updated several times a day.

Other newspaper companies, including Canada’s Postmedia, have experimented with apps that update at specific times, but those have been largely unsuccessful. Still, the Times says the success of its tablet apps convinced the paper to try the model online.

https://twitter.com/sarahw/status/715181432952516609

The Times newspapers are in a somewhat different position from news publishers such as The Guardian or the Daily Mail in the sense that the two News Corp. titles have a hard paywall. There is no metered access, as there is with a site like the New York Times, and until recently there was no “social media pass-through” either, although the papers have apparently relented on that with the new design and will now allow non-subscribers to read a link shared on Twitter or Facebook or by email.

Given the hard paywall model, the Times of London is arguably under somewhat less pressure to constantly be publishing news in the hope of attracting new readers for the advertising revenue they might generate. There’s also the added phenomenon of the BBC, which runs a massive website filled with free news funded by British taxpayers, something that makes the daily news business even more competitive.

Watch: “We want to make media for the way the world is today.”

“Readers don’t come to us for breaking news; they can go to the BBC and Twitter for that, which are free,” Hunter told Digiday. “They come to us for the authority of our reporting, opinion and analysis. Breaking news has become a commodity, and it’s hard to charge people for it. We believe in the power of digital editions.”

Can a newspaper make a four-times-daily publishing schedule work? That depends on what you mean by the term “work.” While that approach may work well for retaining existing readers, it suffers from the same kind of problem that a hard paywall does: attracting new readers. It’s possible that News Corp. doesn’t really care about doing that. But if it does, then News Corp. has likely just made its job even harder (although the social sharing helps).

Publishing strategist and journalism instructor Adam Tinworth suggests in a blog post about the changes at the Times that while the strategy may be flawed, at least the newspapers are trying something different.

“If there’s one issue the whole industry is sticking its head in the sand over—it’s the over-supply of news,” Tinworth writes. “We have far too much of it, and too much of it is repetitious without bringing anything new to the table.”

The news business is “a hard, vicious and expensive game to play in, with high staff costs, intense pressure and a deep reliance on an ever shifting advertising market,” continues Tinworth. “We need other models of news. The crew at The Times and The Sunday Times are to be commended for trying something different—something that has the potential to mix the best of digital and print thinking in a whole new way.”

About the Author
By Mathew Ingram
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

elon
Startups & VentureWealth
Elon’s wealth: 1 trillion dollar bills would stretch 97 million miles, to the moon and back over 200x
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJune 12, 2026
33 minutes ago
With SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk is the world’s first trillionaire — but he mostly lives in a tiny home in south Texas. ‘There is no food in the fridge’
Startups & VentureElon Musk
With SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk is the world’s first trillionaire — but he mostly lives in a tiny home in south Texas. ‘There is no food in the fridge’
By Jason MaJune 12, 2026
41 minutes ago
Elon Musk’s wealth could double the economy of his native South Africa as world’s first trillionaire
Startups & VentureElon Musk
Elon Musk’s wealth could double the economy of his native South Africa as world’s first trillionaire
By The Associated Press and Wyatte Grantham-PhilipsJune 12, 2026
54 minutes ago
musk
Startups & VentureSpaceX
Elon Musk, the trillionaire: pay packets go multi-planetary in SpaceX IPO
By Bernard Condon and The Associated PressJune 12, 2026
1 hour ago
Warehouse workers with robot
SuccessJobs
Walmart has a message for its 2.1 million workers: AI is going to improve your job, not take it: ‘Technology will power our future’
By Emma BurleighJune 12, 2026
1 hour ago
blunt
Arts & EntertainmentReligion
Aliens are so mainstream the Catholic Church just fired an exorcist for saying UFOs are demons
By Krysta Fauria and The Associated PressJune 12, 2026
1 hour ago

Most Popular

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back
Environment
Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back
By Catherina GioinoJune 9, 2026
3 days ago
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
Energy
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
2 days ago
When SpaceX starts trading, some 'shareholders' will discover they own nothing at all
Investing
When SpaceX starts trading, some 'shareholders' will discover they own nothing at all
By Jim EdwardsJune 12, 2026
6 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 11, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 11, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 11, 2026
1 day ago
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
Innovation
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
By Amanda GerutJune 9, 2026
3 days ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
4 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.