The New Zealand Herald
 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | APN News & Media |
| Editor | Tim Murphy |
| Founded | 1863 |
| Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Circulation | 187,129 585,000 readership (June 2008)[1] |
| ISSN | 1170-0777 |
| Website | nzherald.co.nz |
The New Zealand Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand. It is owned by APN News & Media. Circulation of the Herald peaked at over 200,000 copies in 2006, but has since gradually declined to 187,129 as at June 2008.[2] Despite the name, its main circulation area is the Auckland region. It is also delivered to much of the north of the North Island including Northland, Waikato and King Country.[3]
History
The Herald was founded in 1863 by William Chisholm Wilson and published its first edition on 13 November of that year. In 1876, The New Zealand Herald was merged with the newspaper The Southern Cross owned by Alfred Horton. The Southern Cross was first published in 1843.
The Wilson and Horton families were both represented in the company until 1996 when Sir Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media Group of Dublin purchased the Horton family's interest in the company. The Herald is now owned by APN (Australian Provincial Newspapers) which is, in turn, majority-owned by Independent News & Media.
Gordon Minhinnick was a staff cartoonist from the 1930s until his retirement in the 1980s.
A compact-sized Sunday edition, the Herald on Sunday, was first published on 3 October 2004 under the editorship of Suzanne Chetwin. Now edited by Shayne Currie, it is New Zealand's third-highest circulating paper.
The New Zealand Herald was traditionally seen as a staid, centre-right newspaper, and given the nickname "Granny Herald" into the 1990s. This changed with the acquisition of the paper by Independent News & Media in 1996, and today the Herald is generally editorially centre-left on international geopolitics, diplomacy, and military matters, often printing material from British newspapers such as The Independent and The Observer, while remaining free enterprise oriented on certain economic matters such as trade and foreign investment. Some ascribe the Herald's stance on the Middle East as supportive of Israel, seen most clearly in its 2003 censorship and dismissal of cartoonist Malcolm Evans following his submission of cartoons critical of Israel.[4] On the other hand, Robert Fisk and Gwynne Dyer, commentators critical of Israel, are also regular featured commentators on the paper.
Domestic stance
On domestic matters it is centre-right, usually supporting socially conservative values and self-reliance on social welfare, government fiscal restraint, and reducing the government's role in the New Zealand economy. In the past year it has strongly disapproved of some of the legislation passed by the incumbent Labour led government, notably the Electoral Finance Act.[5]
Operational impact of foreign ownership
In March 2007 APN NZ announced it was considering a plan to outsource the bulk of the Herald's copy editing to an Australian-owned company, Pagemasters. APN confirmed the outsourcing decision to affected staff on 19 April 2007.
Website
The online news service, nzherald.co.nz(originally called Herald Online) was established in 1998 and attracts over 2.1 million users per month[6]. It was redesigned in late 2006.
The site was named best news website at the 2007 Qantas Media Awards, won the "best re-designed website" category at the 2007 New Zealand NetGuide Awards and was one of seven newspaper sites named an Official Honoree in the 2007 Webby Awards (of the more than 8,000 entries submitted for the Webby Awards, fewer than 15% were distinguished as an Official Honoree).[7]
Regular columnists
- Colin James
- Brian Rudman
- Matt McCarten, Herald on Sunday
- Deborah Coddington, Herald on Sunday
Notes
- ^ "Nielsen Media Research National Readership Survey Results (Q3 2007 - Q2 2008), Average Issue Readership All People 10+". 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-20.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ ABC statistics
- ^ "Herald circulation". Retrieved 2007-11-05.
- ^ Furore over sacking of Kiwi cartoonist
- ^ "http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10475416"
- ^ "Nielsen//NetRatings, NZ Market Intelligence, February & March, 2008".
- ^ Herald website judged best news site - New Zealand Herald, Saturday 19 May 2007
External links
- The New Zealand Herald (official website)
- Sold on APN (for advertisers)