As the New Zealand Herald turns 160, senior editors past and present reflect on the power of thenewspaper and their own experiences working at the title. Today, editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness explains how our storytelling and technology has evolved.
Video and vertical reels. TikTok and Instagram posts. Blogs. Podcasts. Live embeds, animation and interactive data.
All this – and more – is common language in the Herald newsroom of 2023.
The founders of the Herald cannot have imagined what the daily newspaper – now a multi-platform, multi-discipline, news organisation - would become.
Special coverage: The Herald turns 160 - a visual journey through our past
The Herald first hit the streets of Auckland on November 13, 1863. It’s hard to comprehend the changes, events and news that have been recorded in its pages and on its website since. We will feature some of them during the days ahead.
On a birthday like this it’s easy to look back. We do that with pride and gratitude – and with recognition of rights and wrongs of the past. But the Herald and its people also choose to look forward as we build on the foundations of those who came before us.
It’s hard to explain without being accused of overindulgence or fantasy, but the Herald (and its owner NZME) is a special place. It’s filled with big ideas, enthusiasm, an attitude of being willing to try new initiatives and exploring different ways of doing things.
I’m a relative newcomer to the Herald by many measures. I started here in 2015 after 15 years with Allied Press (owner of the Otago Daily Times). I’d had a working relationship with the Herald and its editors – Tim Murphy and Shayne Currie – during that time and had always admired the Herald and its journalistic power.
On arrival, I found it to be everything I expected, and yet different too.
The Herald, with its sister newsrooms and mastheads and radio stations and offices throughout the country, is a large metropolitan operation. There aren’t many of them left in New Zealand or Australia, to be honest. Big personalities, driven individuals, specialist reporters. Plenty of travel with journalists covering events and happenings domestically and internationally.
The list of talented journalists was and is long. It’s not always my favourite yardstick – I think many newsroom heroes go largely unrecognised except by their workmate peers – but a quick look at results from media awards demonstrates the Herald’s excellence. An organisation with such a history can spark feelings of insecurity and nervousness for a newcomer.
I knew the journalistic output would be first-class.
But having experienced life in big newsrooms overseas, I also expected bickering and internecine ‘politics’. To my relief and even surprise, I experienced none of that. This was a newsroom that truly believed in the power of a committed team: disciplined, determined and proud as individuals, but also fully understanding the truly great work is a result of the input and expertise of many. And it was friendly, with people willing to share information, ideas and encouragement. The newsroom, still, is often filled with laughter as well as quiet confidence of knowing its capabilities and strength.
Of course, when news breaks there is nothing quite like the electric atmosphere of newsrooms – it’s a common claim among journalists of all backgrounds and experience. But the Herald really is something else during those moments - and audiences flock to us during such times.
We have covered many events, both tragedy and triumph, during my short time here. In this era, of course, we and our colleagues at Newstalk ZB and regional newsrooms report many of them live at nzherald.co.nz. It’s an adrenaline-filled time. I don’t intend to list all those events, but please indulge me about two of them.
The first was the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. It happened just after midnight after a long Sunday shift. When it was realised what had happened, a handful of us filed back in to cover the news live. I next looked up about 4am and realised the newsroom was full – yet hardly anyone had been telephoned to come in. People just knew what was needed, that New Zealanders were desperate for information.
The other was this organisation’s Covid response. Despite often difficult circumstances and with career-high (at least to date) audiences turning to us for trusted information, our people delivered from bedrooms, kitchen tables, garages and spare rooms. Day after day after day. By the end of that period, many journalists – and others at NZME - were also dealing with emotional readers, listeners and viewers. There was daily abuse by phone and text and email. We considered protections needed for our people. But they kept producing news and information for the audiences they serve.
Looking back now, it’s hard to describe the effort and resilience. The leadership and care of editors like Currie and Miriyana Alexander and so many others – as well as that of the wider company’s executive and wider leadership team – was simply extraordinary to be part of.
The really special thing here is it’s not just the newsroom that delivers. From the journalism floors to our commercial and product teams, to our digital and data specialists and lawyers to call centre operators and our expert printing and distribution teams, right across the company there is a comfort in knowing the country’s best operators are pulling together for a common purpose.
And that is, of course, the recognition that we are here to produce and deliver trusted, quality journalism, in all manner of storytelling formats and styles.
As our newsroom mission says, “We are here to inform, explain and entertain - reporting without fear or favour, acting with dignity and respect. Always at the centre of debate, agents of positive change, and unswerving in our pursuit of truth for all of Aotearoa.”
Worthy words. Easy to say, harder to live up to. But those ideals are what drive us as we live through an age of technology breakthroughs and constant change.
All of us feel a great responsibility. After all, so many, many New Zealanders rely on us. More than 2.2 million Kiwis read the Herald and its sister publications online or in print each week, and nzherald.co.nz alone reaches more than 1.8 million readers a month. We have more than 200,000 subscribers turning to us – and our colleagues at Viva Premium, BusinessDesk, ZB Plus and The Listener online - for in-depth, well-written and beautifully created journalism. We are grateful to all our readers, subscribers, advertisers and commercial supporters who turn first to the Herald, often on multiple visits each day.
But more than that, we recognise we must continue to build on the Herald’s success. And we will. We’ll continue to adapt in an age of multiple platforms and artificial intelligence – to not just survive but thrive. The opportunities are almost endless – it’s a hugely exciting time. And we will do it all by being firmly anchored in the bedrock of what we do best: quality, trusted journalism.
Murray Kirkness is NZME’s editor-in-chief.
Thirteen Mongrel Mob members attacked a rival gang at a Rotorua roundabout.