NZME managing editor Shayne Currie moves into new role

NZME managing editor Shayne Currie is moving into a new role. Photo / NZME

NZME managing editor Shayne Currie is moving into a new role after seven years at the helm of one of the country’s biggest newsrooms.

Currie has been NZME’s managing editor for the past seven years, guiding the news coverage through tumultuous periods of New Zealand history, including the Christchurch mosque attacks and Covid-19 pandemic, as well as helping reshape the company commercially.

NZME owns the New Zealand Herald, Newstalk ZB, Bay of Plenty Times, Hawke’s Bay Today, Rotorua Daily Post, Northern Advocate and Whanganui Chronicle, and a number of other community titles.

Currie will now step into a newly created senior role as NZME Editor at Large - a position allowing him to do frontline reporting while providing strategic advice to the company’s radio stations, newspapers, and websites.

Currie’s 19 years at NZME have included stints as NZ Herald Editor, Herald on Sunday Editor and most recently, NZME managing editor - a role he has held for the past seven years.

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs praised Currie’s tenure as managing editor.

He said Currie’s vast journalism experience and leadership helped NZME better integrate its radio, print and digital news outlets while also growing its audience.

That included the Herald launching its highly successful Premium digital subscription service, which now boasts more than 113,000 paid customers, under Currie’s leadership.

”[Shayne] has led a high-performing, award-winning team, which has seen NZ Herald reach record audience levels, and nzherald.co.nz being named Website of the Year and App of the Year for three consecutive years at the prestigious Voyager Media Awards,” Boggs said.

”Shayne has contributed immensely to our business, including growing talent within our newsroom, and I am really pleased to see him moving into this new role where he will continue to provide valuable input into NZME’s overall strategy – growing the diversity of our content and audiences well into the future.”

Currie said the past seven years as managing editor have been the most rewarding of his career.

“I love this business, our newsrooms, our people, and our audience,” he said.

“Helping create and lead a digital-first integrated newsroom, and being involved in the coverage of some of the biggest news events in New Zealand history has been a privilege.”

He especially admired NZME’s journalists for covering these events with “compassion, verve and expertise”.

However, Currie said that over the past summer he gave his future “a lot of thought”.

“The past four years have been full-on, and I’ve given it my all. It’s time for a new challenge and a refresh.“

Currie said he leaves the managing editor role on a high, while also knowing many challenges lie ahead.

“It continues to be an important time for storytelling and journalism. I’m looking forward to contributing to our ongoing focus of engaging existing and new audiences and subscribers with quality, trusted journalism, as well as helping the business in a broader commercial sense,” he said.

Currie starts in his new role on Monday, March 20.

Murray Kirkness, current NZME Head of News and NZ Herald Editor, will step in as acting NZME managing editor in Currie’s place from Monday.