Editorial: Merry Christmas from Hawke's Bay Today

Nicole McCarthy, Hawke's Bay Today classified sales manager, sorts through items given to the annual Christmas Cheer appeal.

It's that time of year when, within the hubbub of the Christmas rush, we make sure to pause and reflect, and say thanks to our readers.

Hawke's Bay Today continues to be one of New Zealand's most successful regional daily newspapers, and without you, we wouldn't be here - it's that simple.

This year, we have overtaken the Waikato Times as New Zealand's biggest regional daily.

It's a position we don't take lightly or for granted, and we are acutely aware that being the biggest doesn't mean we are the best.

In saying that, we are consistently in the top three of more than 20 regional newspapers in New Zealand when it comes to circulation performance and readership.

We've also had a big year on the change front, and the path to change is sometimes bumpy, so thank you for your patience.

But the changes we have made are allowing us to continue providing daily news in a region that has a strong sense of ownership and engagement with its local paper.

Internationally, the media industry is changing incredibly quickly, and to survive, you have to adapt. New Zealand is no different.

In 2019, NZME - the parent company of Hawke's Bay Today and our radio brands like The Hits - is going to break new ground and introduce content on our websites that readers will have to pay for to access.

What won't change is our daily endeavour to report news that Hawke's Bay readers are interested in, and affected by.

It's been an interesting year on the economic front, and Hawke's Bay five-star economy has had plenty of good press, and so it should.

As a region, we are doing well but it doesn't mean we don't have our share of social issues.

If you are lucky enough to spend Christmas Day with family and friends tomorrow, spare a thought for those people who are less fortunate.

We were delighted this year, to help out with 500 Christmas packages for families in Napier along with 500 for Hastings.

However, the Christmas Cheer appeal would not have been successful without the $9000 cash and presents donated by Hawke's Bay Today readers, thank you so much.

Apart from Christmas Day, we'll continue to publish over the next few weeks. Like everyone, we go into holiday mode for a wee while.

Keep an eye out for some extra puzzles in the next few weeks.

These will be in place of our usual opinion pages, although there will still be local columns and letters to the editor.

And finally, Merry Christmas, we sincerely hope that the memories created over the holiday period are happy ones.