Herald names managing director

Ken Steinke, a former newspaper editor who manages a group of regional newspapers in Australia, is to become the managing director of the New Zealand Herald.

The appointment is part of a management reshuffle after the merger of Herald publisher Wilson & Horton with its Australian sister company, APN Newspapers, late last year.

Mr Steinke's arrival in Auckland early next month will allow Wilson & Horton chief executive John Sanders to play a bigger role in building the new transtasman publishing business.

At the same time Martin Simons, now head of W & H community and regional newspapers in New Zealand, will move to Brisbane to become chief executive of community and regional newspapers in both countries.

In effect, that will involve combining his present job with Mr Steinke's former role as chief executive of APN Newspapers, giving him responsibility for 22 regional daily newspapers and more than 90 community titles.

Mr Sanders, himself a former chief executive of APN, said Mr Steinke, aged 46, would bring to the job an extensive knowledge gained from 25 years in newspapers, including six as editor and 11 as general manager, regional manager and chief executive.