Is the homepage still relevant?

There was a time when the front page was everything.

For newspapers, it was the shop window that determined whether a reader would buy a copy. For television, the opening bulletin set the news agenda for the day.

When media organisations launched websites, the homepage became the digital equivalent of the front page, a carefully curated destination designed to showcase the most important stories.

Today, however, a fundamental question confronts publishers across the world: Does the homepage still matter?

The answer may be uncomfortable for many media executives. Increasingly, audiences are not starting their news journey on a publisher’s homepage.