Media Insider: NZ Herald, Newstalk ZB staff called to meeting; fears of job losses

NZME owns the NZ Herald, Herald on Sunday, nzherald.co.nz website, Business Desk, a range of regional newspapers, Newstalk ZB and entertainment radio stations.

NZ Herald, BusinessDesk and Newstalk ZB journalists and editorial staff fear there may be job losses after being called to a meeting tomorrow morning.

In an email just after 3pm today, NZME editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness invited staff to a meeting at 9.30am on Wednesday “to provide details of some proposed newsroom changes”.

The meeting would be held in Auckland and via Zoom. Staff would then be called to follow-up meetings “to provide you with further details of the proposal and the impact this may have on your team and/or your role”.

Approached for comment, an NZME spokeswoman said: “There is a meeting with all editorial staff tomorrow. Our priority is speaking to our people. We don’t have any comment to make.”

NZME employs about 300 editorial staff.

Hundreds of jobs have been lost across the New Zealand media sector during the past 12 months, including cutbacks at Warner Bros Discovery, TVNZ, NZME, Stuff, MediaWorks and The Spinoff.

The axing of Newshub and cutbacks in other divisions of Warner Bros Discovery saw the loss of almost 300 jobs.

TVNZ staffing has fallen from about 735 in 2023 to fewer than 600 at the start of 2025. This includes job losses with the axing of high-profile shows such as Sunday and Fair Go.

Last month, NZME confirmed the closure of 14 community newspaper titles, with the loss of almost 30 roles.

Five of the titles will live on as independent publications after they were bought by local staff.

For the first half of 2024, advertising revenue for NZME’s publishing division was $50.1 million, compared with $53.1m for the same six months in 2023. Reader revenue was up from $39.8m to $40.5m in the same period.

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.