NZ Herald Premium subscription special offer: Get the best journalism from here and abroad for 99 cents a week

Our top Premium stories this year: Get a subscription to access the very best journalism.

It’s been seven years since the NZ Herald took the ambitious step of asking readers to pay for access to our best journalism by buying a Herald Premium digital subscription.

Every day, we bring you expert reporting and commentary on national, business, sport and political issues, along with engaging and informative entertainment and lifestyle features, and stories from leading global publishers, including the New York Times.

To mark Premium’s seventh birthday, we’re offering new members a special deal - 99c a week for six months or an annual subscription is available for $79 for the first year, then $219 the following years. App prices vary.

Five-, six- or seven-day subscribers to the Herald‘s print editions, or our regional newspapers, are entitled to full digital access; go to nzherald.co.nz/activate to activate your Premium subscription.

New Zealand Herald Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie and NZ Herald journalist Katie Oliver. Photo / Michael Craig

A Premium subscription helps Kiwis make sense of the fast-paced, ever-changing news cycle, from analysis of current events to in-depth investigations and absorbing features, to opinion pieces you won’t find anywhere else – on any device.

The best journalism from NZ and around the world

Our digital subscriptions help the New Zealand Herald newsroom bring you expert reporting and commentary. Photo / NZ Herald

Our award-winning newsroom continues to produce some of the biggest and most important stories from around Aotearoa. Seven years since we started our Premium subscription model, access to journalism that you can trust has never been more crucial.

Here’s just a handful of the hundreds of Premium stories we’ve published so far in 2026:

• Then-Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins receiving advice about the potential risks of a second Covid-19 vaccine dose for teenagers at a time when tens of thousands of them had yet to get a follow-up jab.
• Inside how and why Scott Roberton’s dream role unravelled when he lost the top All Blacks coaching job.

Former All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. Photo / Photosport

• The best and worst Government departments to work for, according to public servants.
• The NZ schools and students that performed the best in the increasingly popular Cambridge International exams.
• An exploration of the new Gilded Age as we look at the lives of the ultra-rich, who they are and what effect their unfathomable wealth and materialistic excess have on society, including New Zealand.
• The healthiest NZ butters and spreads - and the ones you shouldn’t be eating every day.
• An investigation into the ‘toxic’ world of water polo and the ill-fated New Zealand women’s tour that ended in allegations of bullying, a claim of physical violence and young athletes in tears.

Morgan McDowall and teammates during the White Caps' water polo match against China at the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore in 2025. Photo / Getty Images

• A look at New Zealand’s highest-paid CEOs and the $17 million payday smashing records.
• Unravelling the story of a global DJ, her wealthy Kiwi ‘Manuka Doctor’ boyfriend, and his secret.

Be part of the conversation

A Premium subscription also lets you have your say by commenting on selected articles and participating in live Q&As with experts on the hottest topics of the day.

We also help you get closer to the news through tools like Follow an Author - you will receive an email notification when your favourite journalists publish articles on the issues that matter to you.

Premium subscribers also get access to exclusive newsletters, including our Premium News Briefing, which tells you everything you need to know for the day by the time you’ve made your first coffee, and our weekly Opinion newsletter, which rounds up the mood among our columnists and commenters.