What happens to NZME's community newspapers in Waikato? Photo / Shaun Jeffers
Last week, several NZME community newspapers have published their final edition.
Or have they?
It may not be the end, at least for some titles, as Taupō & Tūrangi Herald editor Dan Hutchinson announced he had bought the town’s last remaining community newspaper from publisher NZME.
“I appreciate the opportunity NZME has provided to continue a news service for the wider Taupō District,” Hutchinson said.
“It’s a good news story and hopefully paves the way for a few of the other papers to be picked up too.
“The Taupō & Tūrangi Herald has performed relatively well, despite the economic headwinds this year and we hope the community will continue to support us as we transition to new ownership.
“This is a very vibrant and rapidly developing district, where people just get on and do things and that is exactly what we will do. We are essentially just another small business providing an important link for the local community.”
The Taupō & Tūrangi Herald has a history dating back 58 years, having been born out of a merger of the Turangi Chronicle and the Taupo Weekender.
The Turangi Chronicle was founded in 1966 and ran until 1980, when it was replaced by the Turangi and Ruapehu Chronicle. The latter ran for eight years, before it reverted back to the Turangi Chronicle in 1989. That paper was last published in 2012.
The Taupo Weekender was first published on November 4, 1983 and combined with the Turangi Chronicle in 2014 to form the Taupō & Tūrangi Weekender. The publication became the Taupō & Tūrangi Herald in 2022.
Meanwhile, NZME announced on December 20 that the Hauraki-Coromandel Post has been bought by former editor Jim Birchall.
“I felt the people of Hauraki Coromandel needed a mouthpiece,” Birchall said.
”Whilst printed copy is in decline in the bigger cities, a completely different media dynamic exists in smaller regions where many people still rely on papers like the HC Post to share their stories and keep them informed on what’s happening locally.
”I can’t wait to get stuck into producing fresh content and bringing a quality product to local readers and advertisers.”
Birchall said the paper would continue to be known as the HC Post, but be based in Thames, as opposed to Whangamatā as previously.
In addition to the print edition which he hoped to launch before Waitangi weekend, there would be an “enhanced” website with daily updates, including breaking news and links to a podcast radio network.
The Hauraki-Coromandel Post may look like a young, 4-year-old spring chicken, having been formed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
But upon having a closer look, the paper reveals a legacy of 45 years, having been born out of a merger of the Coastal News and Waihi Leader.
The Coastal News goes back to 1979, when it was founded by Coromandel local John Hoskins as the Whangamata Flash.
The Waihi Leader was founded in 1981 by Robert “Rob” Bowater and his wife Annette, who ran it until 2003 when they retired and sold it to APN, now NZME.
The first edition of the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, an election special, was published on October 8, 2020, with a circulation of 15,646. Last week’s edition had a circulation of 19,100.
Meanwhile, the future of the Te Awamutu Courier is still undecided as the paper marked their final edition last week – at least for now.
The Waikato Herald understands there have been expressions of interest from members of the community to take over the title.
NZME chief executive Michael Boggs said: “We’ve had interest from several potential buyers for other publications in our community network and we’ll continue those conversations.”
The Te Awamutu Courier is one of New Zealand’s oldest community newspapers, having begun life as the Waipa Post in 1911, founded by Arthur George (A.G.) Warburton, who worked for the New Zealand Herald until 1906 and operated a commercial printing press after he arrived in Te Awamutu.
The publication was renamed the Te Awamutu Courier 25 years later and for some time it was published three times weekly.
During its busiest era, from the 1980s until the 1990s, the Courier employed 35 people and had three “arms”: the newsroom, printing hall and commercial printing.
The printing hall housed a Goss press producing newspapers from around New Zealand and some from overseas until the end of 1998, when it was closed.
The commercial printing arm printed a wide range of books, magazines, invitations, flyers etc and ran until the end of April 2002.
The Te Awamutu Courier was then a bi-weekly community newspaper, printed on-site until the end of 1998, after it was sold to Wilson and Horton, which later became NZME.
Since last year, the Taupō & Tūrangi Herald, Te Awamutu Courier and Hauraki-Coromandel Post teams have regularly contributed to the Waikato Herald and boosted its wider regional coverage.
The Waikato Herald will continue to provide local coverage into the new year and beyond, however, the closure – or sale – of the remaining Waikato community titles marks the end of an era.
The Waikato Herald team thanks Dan Hutchinson, Dean Taylor, Jesse Wood and Al Williams, as well as former team members Milly Fullick and Jim Birchall, for their hard work.
– Additional reporting by Shayne Currie and Dean Taylor
This story has been updated to include the news that the Hauraki-Coromandel Post will continue after being bought by former editor Jim Birchall.
Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist and assistant news director at the Waikato Herald. She joined NZME in 2021 and is based in Hamilton.