The 102-year-old Wairoa Star is shutting down.
One of New Zealand’s oldest community newspapers is closing, the latest in a string of titles that have fallen victim to tough economic conditions.
The Wairoa Star newspaper, a twice-weekly publication, has been published for the past 102 years - its shareholders are NZ Herald publisher NZME (40.4 per cent), the Gisborne Herald (22.5 per cent) and a string of individuals.
The business employs about 11 staff in the northern Hawke’s Bay town, including journalists, salespeople and workers at a front-end retail business.
The last edition will roll off the presses on Thursday.
Wairoa Star chairman Matt Wilson said the closure was “extremely sad” for the team, the newspaper’s board, readers, subscribers, advertisers and the local community.
“It’s been a challenging time with inflationary pressures and high-interest rates contributing to a tough economic environment,” Wilson said.
“These impacts were felt deeply by The Wairoa Star and despite best efforts to control costs wherever possible, business revenue continued to decline over the last 12 months.
“We therefore had to make the very difficult decision to close The Wairoa Star, having exhausted all options available to us in our attempts to retain it. The final edition will be this Thursday... with the retail store closing in the coming weeks.”
The newspaper publishes about 1200 copies each Tuesday and Thursday, with a retail cover price of $1.50.
The Star’s shutdown follows the recent closure of two North Island community newspapers owned by Stuff, the Hauraki Herald and the Kāpiti Observer.
The Kāpiti Observer published its last edition on April 4. In an editorial in its final edition, the Observer said readers could still catch up on news through the Stuff or The Post websites.
In a recent editorial in the independently owned, neighbouring Ōtaki Today newspaper, editor Ian Carson said the closure of the Observer was sad.
“I‘ve been asked if the recent demise of the Kāpiti Observer newspaper is good news for Ōtaki Today,” wrote Carson.
“It’s not. While there might be some benefits in a lessening of competition for advertising and the ‘scoop’ on news stories, we at Ōtaki Today don’t like to see newspapers disappearing. That’s because newspapers still have a valuable role in giving people local news and ensuring accountability for those in power who might otherwise believe they can do what they like without a spotlight falling on their activities.”
He said the Observer had ended up being a shadow of its former self.
“Once a robust teller of local news, it fell into a sad malaise, poorly resourced and almost bereft of anything that might interest its readers.
“It had little content that was any different from its stable of other regional papers, such as the Kapi-Mana News, Hutt News and Upper Hutt Leader. In one issue recently, its one ‘local’ story on the front page referred to the effect of Wellington region water restrictions as an autumn drought continued. The problem was that in Kāpiti there were no water restrictions, thanks to the foresight of the council in introducing water meters several years ago.”
Valley Profile editor Teresa Ramsey expressed a similar sentiment recently in her own independently owned publication when Stuff closed the rival Hauraki Herald.
“It was sad to see the closure of the Hauraki Herald early last month after 45 years of serving our region,” Ramsey wrote in an opinion piece in April.
“Three out of five of our Valley Profile staff worked at the publication for many years, but unfortunately felt we had to leave because of Stuff’s decision to restructure, which ultimately resulted in the Hauraki Herald operating with no office and no staff stationed in this region.
“Over the past few years, the Hauraki Herald has been run from Stuff’s Hamilton office, with syndicated content not relevant to our area, and only one or two and sometimes no local stories at all, often written without the benefit of local knowledge.”
Stuff masthead publishing managing director Joanna Norris said today the company had been reviewing its community newspaper footprint since January.
“Over 160 years of publishing in Aotearoa, our network of mastheads had grown organically through acquisition, community needs and local business support. The portfolio was often overlapping and in some cases needed updating, " she said.
The review had now “created a more cohesive community newspaper stable with journalists on the ground in each region”.
“This has been through the refresh of titles across the country, the merging of others and the closure of the Hauraki Herald and Kāpiti Observer. As you note, both of those areas are already served by other community newspapers.”
Stuff would “continuously review” its portfolio, she said, to ensure it met the needs of audiences and advertisers.
It’s been a tumultuous few months in the New Zealand media industry, with the confirmed closure of Newshub, cutbacks at TVNZ and the loss of magazine titles such as NZ Life & Leisure.
The Howick and Pakuranga Times newspaper has been saved - at least in digital format initially - after a last-ditch rescue by east Auckland businesswoman Bo Burns.
The Wairoa Star was first published on September 23, 1921, from a Delhi St premises.
It is now in Marine Parade and is also a commercial printing firm with a retail commercial stationery and gift store and a dedicated design and copy centre and photo kiosk business.
According to the Hawke’s Bay Today newspaper, shareholders were told in March that the paper suffered a $74,000 loss in 2023. It reported that when the business closes, it will pay creditors, employee entitlements, and refund subscribers. Assets, including the Marine Parade building, will be sold, with net proceeds distributed to shareholders.
“On behalf of The Wairoa Star board, I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to The Wairoa Star team for their significant contribution, acknowledging their huge efforts in keeping the business operating in what has been a very challenging economic environment,” said Wilson.
“The Wairoa Star has proudly served its local community for more than 100 years and its closure is extremely sad for the team, our board, our readers, subscribers, advertisers, and the local community. We thank you all for your support of The Wairoa Star.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
Who's in line for influential TVNZ role?; $1 sales: Five NZME community newspapers saved.