APN to publish special Christchurch earthquake edition

APN News and Media is showing its commitment to serving the people of Canterbury by producing a special daily edition of the Christchurch Star, in conjunction with The New Zealand Herald and nzherald.co.nz, to cover the early days of the earthquake disaster.

In the tragic events of February 22, the Star's Tuam Street headquarters was among the hundreds of buildings in the city that suffered severe damage.

Determined to get the news out, a national APN news team mobilised overnight in Christchurch and Auckland to publish an emergency edition of the broadsheet Star, filled with information, images and graphics, drawing on the resources of the nationwide media group.

Such was the response that APN will now continue to produce a special Star edition, in association with New Zealand Herald print and online staff, as the city comes to grips with this crisis.

The daily tabloid publication (Monday to Saturday) will feature news from our reporting teams on the ground, emergency guides and public service announcements, weather information, reader experiences, messages of support and photographs of the aftermath.

Also included will be a summary of national, world, business and sport news, courtesy of The New Zealand Herald.

It will have a print run of 25,000 and be distributed via retail outlets and to welfare centres throughout the city.

The daily Star will remain free-of-charge this week. We will continue to review our publishing plans in the coming days.

- Martin Simons, Chief Executive, APN New Zealand