Photo: RNZ/ Brad White
A number of high profile senior reporters will leave the New Zealand Herald under its restructure to cut about 30 roles from the newspaper’s editorial team.
According to the Herald’s Media Insider, staff that have taken voluntary redundancy include political editor Claire Trevett, deputy business editor Grant Bradley, senior sports reporter Chris Rattue, specialist science reporter Jamie Morton, investigative journalist Nicholas Jones, long-time reporter Kirsty Wynn and social media head Mitch Powell.
RNZ understands other senior journalists also applied for voluntary redundancy under the proposal by the Herald’s owner NZME, which was announced in January and originally aimed to axe 38 jobs.
A source said some of those who had applied for voluntary redundancy had been denied.
In a company-wide email this morning, NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said the confirmed structure was shared with newsroom teams this morning and the changes included a new Herald streaming channel.
Boggs said in the email, read to RNZ, that NZME believed there was significant potential to grow audiences and revenue in video and their strategy included expanding that team.
Other key changes included, reshaping and resizing the newsroom, a high focus on strong audience engagement and/or generating subscriptions and a specialist print team created to service the needs of readers.
Boggs said NZME would continue to invest in innovative editorial tools and productivity.
The email said more details on the streaming channel would be released at a later time but RNZ understands the plans are for a free, ad-supported news channel called Herald NOW.
It would be live for six hours each morning followed by repeats throughout the day.
RNZ understands the channel would be supported by partnership deals with brands, sponsored content, and branded segments and integrating investigations from ex-Three News reporter Michael Morrah’s as well as Madison Reidy’s business podcast with news content and six daily weather and sport updates.
Michael Morrah.
Photo: Supplied / NZME
A leaked sales document to RNZ’s Mediawatch stated the channel would launch in the first half of this year.
A document leaked to RNZ showed multimedia editor and stream producer roles had been created.
RNZ understands there was deep scepticism within the newsroom about losing the experienced reporters in order to focus more on video.
Media Insider’s Shayne Currie wrote the proposals included more investment in video – including the new, daily video stream – and a stronger focus on ensuring the newsroom was focused on journalism and other content that resonated with audiences, including subscribers to the Herald’s Premium content.
The restructure targeted a reported savings of $4 million including additional cuts to contributors, casuals and contractors.
Editor-at-large Currie, once the Herald’s managing editor, wrote the job cuts were the biggest reorganisation of the Herald newsroom in a decade.
“The total number of full-time NZME editorial roles will drop to about 250.”
The announcement confirmed internal applications would now open for new and vacant roles and those staff in reduced roles would be able to indicate their preferences.
Applications would close on 24 February followed by an internal selection and interview process.
The outcomes would be communicated to staff by 6 March with the new structure taking effect from 17 March, while production journalist changes would take effect from 30 April.
Govt ‘sitting on its hands’ as media in crisis – union
E tū union director Michael Wood called the job losses “deeply concerning” and a blow for media and democracy.
He said NZME’s capacity would be significantly reduced as a result of the changes.
“The ability of NZME to provide analysis, to be able to provide good information – not just about politics and the news of the day – but about future public health events or natural disasters will be impacted.”
That investigative, political, sports and specialist writers at a major media organisation were being made redundant was worrying, he said.
“It surely is a sign when one of your biggest media organisations has to make these decisions, that we need a much more supportive framework from the government which so far continues to sit on its hands in the wake of an unfolding crisis in our media system.”
Wood said some of the language used in the restructure was unsettling.
“One of the other concerns as well are the very clear signals that NZME is putting out here about journalistic content being far more linked to the clicks and the advertising revenue that that generates.
“We all understand that this is a commercial organisation, but it is also a news media organisation. It is part of our fourth estate.”
Wood said there had to be a balance between clickbait journalism and important, informative coverage.
He said this was an unfolding situation.
“Nearly every single major media organisation in New Zealand has gone through successive rounds of large scale cut backs over the last year.
Wood called on the government and Minister of Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith to advance the Fair Digital Media Bargaining Bill as promised.
“That is the one thing that he and the government have suggested would actually help because organisations like NZME and others do see their content every single day taken and used on social media platforms, profited on by social media platforms and there’s no revenue going back to the people who are actually creating that content.”
He said it was a very important problem, for all New Zealanders.
“In any democratic society, we rely on being informed. We rely on hearing about what is happening beyond our own immediate little bubble, and we rely on people in power being held to account.
“And that is what news media does. We all lose out when that doesn’t happen.
“If you want to see the ultimate example of that breaking down look to the United States where there’s almost no common place that people go to seek an understanding of the world around them and so people just retreat to the extremes and just listen to people like them.
“If you don’t have a broad-based, well-resourced news media that produces that news, provides analysis, holds the powerful to account, informs all of us and helps to develop common understandings, your democracy begins to break down.”
He said he did not want that to happen in New Zealand.
“Even if you just like your sports. We’re seeing sports journalists going as a result of this change and they’re really important. They tell us something about the life of this country and the things that we care about and enjoy.
“Fundamentally if we’re not resourced to be able to tell the stories of this country we are all worse off.”
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