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Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on Aug 30, 2011 12:40:44 GMT 12
‘Fierce’ NZPA news agency showdown loomsBy SOPHIE TARR - Pacific Media Centre | Saturday, August 27, 2011 The closure of NZPA ... end of a 132-year era.
— Photo: NZPA.SYDNEY — Three new services are clamouring to fill the gap that will be created when historic wire service the New Zealand Press Association closes at the end of the month.
Publishers Fairfax Media and APN News & Media, plus Australian Associated Press (AAP), are all making their move.
Editors predict fierce competition for readers, journalists and scoops.
“We’re looking forward to the battle,” APN publishing chief Martin Simons said.
His company will launch APNZ Newswire, a joint venture with independents the Otago Daily Times and Allied Press, Greymouth Star, Ashburton Guardian, Westport News and Gisborne Herald.
Simons said it would be “a very different organisation from the NZPA”, promising copy for a younger audience.
‘More contemporary’
“The aim is to have a service that is more contemporary and less institutional,” he said.
“We do a lot of product testing and research to understand what readers want to read, so we do think there is a demand.”
The 17-journalist service, led by editor Chris Reed, will have offices in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland.
It will feed newspapers and websites across APN and independents.
APN acting head of content Rick Neville, who will be Reed’s boss, said: “All papers have a responsibility to file stories to the news service.”
This is similar to the traditional NZPA model, before copy-sharing ceased in 2006.
The agency is closing because Fairfax pulled its funding. Now the Australian-owned publisher has established Fairfax New Zealand News, based on company-wide bureaux for politics, sport, business and Auckland news.
Silo-based approaches
This replaces a system in which each masthead had a number of silo-based approaches, including individual political editors.
Some 12 staff have been hired. Former NZPA editor Kevin Norquay and news editor Greg Tourelle will lead the project.
NZ executive editor Paul Thompson said: “We’re interested in carving out distinctive stories and moving away from NZPA-style newswire stories.”
FNZN would be “truly our new river of gold — a rich, robust, diverse flow of relevant and independent journalism to our readers”, he wrote in a staff email.
Fears that NZPA’s closure would mean important stories were not covered were unfounded, he said.
Rather, readers would benefit as publishers competed for staff and stories.
“It’s hard to see, across all the publishers, that we won’t cover that same breadth of content in a new way,” he said.
Pivotal role
AAP plays a pivotal role for both publishers, and will launch its own service, New Zealand Newswire (NZN), in early September.
Fairfax will take AAP’s Australian service and APN has opted for its international wire, which also includes Australian news and sport. But neither company is signing up for NZN.
APN’s Simons said the AAP would be “challenged” to find a gap in the market “given the competitive nature of the two major groups”.
AAP editor-in-chief Tony Gillies predicted “strong demand” from media organisations other than the two publishers.
Gillies’ service has a 10-strong team plus stringers. NZN journalists would be multimedia capable, he said.
“Our offering is tailored for all platforms. Our content will be any-format ready,” he said.
Former NZPA editor Nick Brown will oversee NZN, which is mainly staffed from NZPA’s ranks.
Many of the agency’s 40-plus journalists have been snapped up for one of the new services.
Fairfax’s Thompson said: “Good reporters are like hens’ teeth so we’re all looking after our own.”
‘Sad day’
The head of the New Zealand Newspaper Publishers’ Association, which has operated NZPA, said the closure would be a “sad day”.
“We won’t be in the news business anymore,” chief executive Tim Pankhurst said. “After 132 years, it will be quite a legacy.”
“We won’t end on a note of recriminations and bitterness, and we don’t want that.”
“We want to look back on NZPA’s achievements.”
“The last word of the last message we send out will be ‘ends’.”www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/nz-fierce-nzpa-news-agency-showdown-looms-7590
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Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on Aug 31, 2011 23:30:47 GMT 12
New Zealand Press Association to closeNew Zealand's 132-year-old national news agency has proved
unable to adapt to changing technology and media ownershipGuardian.co.nz with Associated Press | 1:23PM BST - Monday, 29 August 2011 The New Zealand Press Association's main news room in Wellington is
to publish its last bulletins on Wednesday. — Photo: Nick Perry/AP.NEW ZEALAND's national news agency is to close this week, marking the end of a 132-year-old institution that has helped shape the identity of the country.
The New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) is a victim of changing technology and media ownership.
Two Australian media empires have bought up most of New Zealand's newspapers, and the papers in each chain share stories with each other, reducing their need for an external news provider.
News agencies typically sell their services to newspapers, broadcasters and online providers rather directly to readers. NZPA has tried to adapt in recent years by seeking new broadcast and online customers outside its traditional base of the newspaper chains, which are also the agency's main owners under a co-operative model.
In the end, however, the agency was simply squeezed out.
"It's a tough thing when any news agency disappears," said Bill Mitchell, of the Poynter Institute for Journalism in St Petersburg, Florida. "It means there's one less voice in providing a range of coverage."
In its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, NZPA employed dozens of journalists, including correspondents in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Washington. New Zealand newspapers also filed stories of national interest to the agency, which would then distribute them.
"It was a situation that worked well for 100 years," said Kevin Norquay, the editor of the agency, whose staff has dwindled to 42.
The model began to break down, Norquay said, when newspapers consolidated and the internet came to the fore. With newspaper chains able to make stories instantly available to a wide audience online, the agency's role became less clear. In 2005, most newspapers stopped filing stories to the agency.
The final blow came in April when Fairfax Media, an Australian-based group that owns more than 70 newspapers in New Zealand, decided to end its business relationship with NZPA and go it alone.
Author and historian Ron Palenski, who worked for the agency for more than a decade until 1984, said its stories helped establish New Zealand's identity by bringing common concerns to people across the sparsely populated country of 4 million people.
"For it to be taken away by foreign ownership of two newspaper companies is very sad," he said.
Some see the move as yet another example of the increasing control that Australian companies exert over New Zealand business. Australian-based companies now dominate New Zealand's media and banking sectors and are making inroads into retail.
The two countries enjoy close economic ties, which make it relatively easy for corporations to set up shop.
Paul Thompson, the executive editor of Fairfax, said little would be lost. "NZPA was a key part of the industry for decades and a fantastic servant," Thompson said. "But the situation changed."
In recent years, the agency did not do much original reporting, he said. He added that Fairfax's team of 400 reporters would more than fill the gap.
Fairfax and the rival APN, which publishes the New Zealand Herald, are each adding staff to offset the agency's demise. APN started its own news service last week with 17 employees. It will serve its newspapers as well as a handful of independent ones.
"We're genuinely excited by this new project in journalism," said Chris Reed, editor of the new service.
Meanwhile, a third big player is expanding in the market. The Australian news agency AAP is increasing its New Zealand reporting staff from one to nine to serve the Australian market. The US-based Associated Press has business relationships with Fairfax, APN and AAP.
"We were buying the service from NZPA and suddenly found ourselves without New Zealand news," said Bruce Davidson, the chief executive of AAP.
He said the new landscape would not mean that New Zealand would be under-reported, but rather the opposite.
"Sadly, from my perspective, we are now going to have a situation where we have three agencies and quite a large element of duplication," he said. "It's a bit silly in the long run."www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/29/new-zealand-press-association-close
New Zealand Press Association closes after 131 yearsBBC News | 3:05PM GMT - Tuesday, 30 August 2011 Forty staff will lose their jobs with the closure
of the New Zealand Press Association.THE New Zealand Press Association is closing, ending 131 years of supplying news to the country's print media.
The company struggled in recent years as media ownership and distribution in New Zealand changed.
Forty journalists will lose their jobs with the closure of offices in Wellington, Auckland and Sydney.
Deputy Editor Greg Tourelle said it was a sad day, but New Zealand media remained a competitive industry.
NZPA was set up in 1879 and was New Zealand's only independent news agency.
It was owned by New Zealand's daily newspaper publishers and supplied the 26 daily newspapers with a 24-hour national and international news service and news images.
All the newspapers paid a subscription, based on their circulation, to share news, and it meant that even a small regional paper with few staff could carry news of national interest if it happened at the other end of the country.
But NZPA's future became uncertain when Australian media company Fairfax decided not to continue subscriptions.
Australian media companies Fairfax and APN now own all but five of New Zealand's daily newspapers.
Fairfax owns the capital's Dominion Post, The Press in Christchurch and The Sunday Star-Times among other titles, while APN owns the country's largest daily, the New Zealand Herald, and a handful of regional daily publications.
Both are increasing their staffing to provide national news for their own publications, which had previously relied on NZPA. APN will also join with the five independent papers to provide an internal newswire.
Greg Tourelle, who worked for NZPA for 15 years, told the BBC: "NZPA was owned by rival Australian companies - which has sometimes been difficult for us, but the main owners are setting up their own agencies so we're going to have a very competitive landscape."
‘Sad atmosphere’
AAP, the Australian news agency, is also increasing its staffing from one to nine in New Zealand to continue to provide New Zealand news for the Australian market.
Mr Tourelle said about eight staff members had yet to find new jobs. Like many of his ex-colleagues, he has found employment with the companies who played a role in the demise of NZPA, becoming content editor for Fairfax.
"When the announcement was made three months ago, it was greeted with a mixture of shock and sadness. We had been under a cloud for a long time, and we usually bounced back, but this time we haven't," he said.
"There will still be sadness when the last story is transmitted at 6pm NZ time (0700BST) on Wednesday, but we intend to farewell the agency with traditional journalistic gusto, as you'd expect for a news organisation that has given 131 years' service."
In its heyday, NZPA had offices in London, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Christchurch. It sent staff on major sporting tours with national teams, had a permanent team of journalists at parliament and a dedicated business desk, as well as supplying information as diverse as stock exchange data and horse racing results.
"It's sad that the country is losing it's only independent print agency," Mr Tourelle said.
Executive editor of Fairfax Paul Thompson told AP: "NZPA was a key part of the industry for decades and a fantastic servant. But the situation changed."www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14707015
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Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on Aug 31, 2011 23:31:11 GMT 12
Years of change culminate in NZPA closureBy CLIVE LIND - Business Day/Stuff.co.nz | 5:00AM - Wednesday, 31 August 2011THE TASK was important. The copy-bearing cadet was expected to run the block from The Southland Times to the Invercargill Post Office and deliver the messages to telegraph operators.
Two or three times a night I made the dash. The best news from The Southland Times was sent to the New Zealand Press Association as if the nation depended on it.
There was a sense of achievement in seeing the story come back on chattering teleprinters with the suffix "Assn Valli", after the man responsible for ensuring it was sent.
The co-operative of newspaper proprietors, each with their own provincial patches and little inclination for competition beyond their borders, usually based in towns or cities with separately owned evening and morning newspapers, had an enviable and valuable national and international news-sharing system until the end of the 1960s.
The 1970s and the mergers, takeovers and acquisitions that never stopped from that time changed much, and there were always debates about whether changes were for better or worse.
Newspaper groups formed and grew until they morphed into the two major companies known today as Fairfax Media and APN, both Australian-owned, a development paralleled if not surpassed by numerous other businesses and industries. Even that Invercargill Post Office closed years ago and the building became a hotel.
New owners meant new attitudes. Tensions over sharing stories — or most often not sharing "exclusives" — abounded among newspaper editors who no longer believed their circulations should be confined to their own patches.
When he arrived in 2003, Fairfax's first New Zealand chief executive, Brian Evans, could not believe his newspapers shared stories with competitors through NZPA. That soon stopped. NZPA reporters worked on their own stories, and the groups kept their stories for their own newspapers.
It was another step in a process whereby PA was slowly deprived of the oxygen it needed to thrive. Well before that, APN had wanted savings from NZPA that led to PA's London office being axed.
There were other profound changes. Morning and evening newspaper cycles started to lose relevance. Deadlines among newspapers were no longer largely the same. Production processes and needs dominated much editorial thinking, a topic not high on readers' radars.
More important, a duopoly will last only until one of the major parties decides it wants to spend its money on its own businesses.
This week, with much sadness, NZPA itself closed. So what now? APN through the New Zealand Herald, its regional newspapers and others including the Otago Daily Times have formed their own news service.
Fairfax, with its well-placed spread of newspapers throughout the country, a national footprint, has built Fairfax News. Every reporter in every national (two), metropolitan (three), regional (six) and community (about 60) newspapers as well as the Stuff website, its masthead satellites and Fairfax's Auckland, Sports, Political and Business bureaus now works for Fairfax News.
There should be more healthy competition, probably more than this country has seen for some time. More — not less — international news will be available.
Nationally, the keenest competition will be where it's already most noticeable — the Stuff and New Zealand Herald websites.
But the nature of the web and digital technology and what they allow journalists to achieve means all Fairfax newspapers will be galvanising their digital presence. They have to. Newspaper companies saw off the advent of radio and television in all its forms, but the internet and the technologies and means of communication it allows have been far more formidable — though exciting.
There will no longer be sleepy Saturdays when some newspapers didn't even roster on any news reporters. There will have to be round-the-clock coverage.
It's been forced on our business, just as rationalisation of production processes became inevitable when the cost of buying a new press skyrocketed and there seemed little sense in having perhaps 10 sub-editors edit the same story when a new editorial production system allowed the story to be edited once and placed in all newspapers.
Journalists are no longer the only people seeking news.
First came bloggers. Today, more and more, breaking news comes from people tweeting what the police are doing at their neighbour's, or a Pakistani can wonder to the world why US helicopters are landing in some nearby residential compound.
Our business and ways of engaging with readers have changed for ever.
Daily newspapers will have a powerful role to play into the future. They bring not just news but context, analysis and value. In the mass of information flooding over us today, those aspects become even more important.
And despite the doomsayers, the online money is coming to those with initiative, albeit slowly. Though "rivers of gold" no longer run, newspaper advertising revenue still outruns television and radio figures.
But what the massive online figures say above all is that many readers, and particularly non-newspaper-readers, have moved to other sources for news and information.
What can't change are standards. Fairfax has established a charter of independence for its publications and journalists. It dovetails alongside the long-established Code of Ethics. It is on our website. In short, it's what we stand for.
Training and development of journalists will also be revamped over the next year.
But the biggest change is in our minds. A former newspaper journalist now working for Stuff told me recently a lifetime of deadlines was over. The news now ran as it happened. There were no deadlines.
That's always been the way with news. It happens any time. We now have the means to report it as it happens through myriad methods and devices that readers have already gone to.
So much has changed, so little has changed. What matters most to journalist and reader alike is always the story, whether delivered by a youth running to the Post Office or an urgent beep on a mobile phone.• Clive Lind, Fairfax's editorial development manager, started as a cadet journalist and became editor of The Southland Times, The Evening Post and the Manawatu Standard.www.stuff.co.nz/business/5537110/Years-of-change-culminate-in-NZPA-closure
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Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on Aug 31, 2011 23:31:38 GMT 12
Last day for NZPARadio New Zealand News | 12:14PM - Wednesday, 31 August 2011AFTER 131 YEARS of supplying stories to newspapers, the New Zealand Press Association will close at 4pm on Wednesday.
The only national news agency has been winding up its operations over the past few months, after a decision in April that it was no longer viable.
The company had struggled in recent years as media ownership and distribution in New Zealand changed.
Forty two journalists will lose their jobs with the closure of offices in Wellington, Auckland and Sydney.
Editor Kevin Norquay says some staff will work for Fairfax, some for APN and the remainder for the AAP news agency.
He says NZPA staff are adept at filing rapid stories quickly and accurately — a trait which will be hugely valuable in the digital age, but he says that is also what is largely responsible for NZPA's demise.
Mr Norquay says NZPA will be remembered for its outstanding writers and newshounds who worked on big news stories such as the Wahine and Erebus disasters.
NZPA was set up in 1879 and was New Zealand's only independent newspaper agency.
It was owned by daily newspaper publishers and supplied the 26 daily newspapers with a 24-hour national and international news service and news images.
All the papers paid a subscription, based on their circulation, to share news.
The Australian Fairfax and APN media companies now own all but five of New Zealand's daily newspapers. They operate their own systems.www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/83943/last-day-for-nzpa______________________________________ More related news stories....• Farewell NZPA, hello three new services (The New Zealand Herald)• Farewell NZPA — welcome to the APNZ news agency (Editorial from The Gisborne Herald)• NZ news agency to close after 131 years (The Sydney Morning Herald)• New Zealand News Service to Shut its Doors (Voice of America)
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