This is why we're creating a national correspondents team

Friday, 4 August 2017

High-quality journalism published by Stuff recently includes Martin van Beynen's Black Hands series.

You know that montage in any ensemble action movie when the agent assembles the crack team, handpicking them for their specialist skills, lethal charm, or badass haircut?

This is like that, but for journalism.

We're getting a first-class squad of heavy-hitters together to tackle a special mission.

This talented team - Stuff's national correspondents - will help set the national agenda, covering the stories that matter to New Zealanders.

They'll cover subject rounds with a national scope - particularly health, the environment, social issues, and matters of modern living, such as personal finance and the workplace.

Newsrooms can run at a fast and furious pace. Our new crack team will enjoy the luxury of time.

The media industry faces its challenges, but the craft of journalism is in rude health in New Zealand. This new team of skilled writers, interviewers and investigators will be expected to push the boundaries of extraordinary journalism, with world-class aspirations.

They'll be in good company, joining Fairfax. In case you haven't noticed, a boisterous parade of high-quality journalism has marched across Stuff's homepage recently.

There's Martin van Beynen's podcast on the Bain family murder, Black Hands, which as I type has been downloaded nearly 1.4 million times and is number 1 on the New Zealand and Australian podcast charts and number 2 in the UK.

There's Through the Maze, Laura Walters and Katie Kenny's thoughtful, insightful six-month examination of our mental health system.

There's The Americans, Tony Wall and Adam Dudding's two-part look at the effect two Silicon Valley idealists who migrated to Upper Hutt are having on government immigration policy.

We like to push the envelope. That's reflected in the nominations for the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association Awards, announced this week. Stuff claims three of the six finalists in the Digital Publishing Innovation category - including the Stuff Circuit investigative team's Private Business, Public Failure series. (And keep an eye out for an important new project from Stuff Circuit, coming soon.)

That's enough boasting - my point is that creating this national correspondents team is the next step in our commitment to quality journalism.

Fairfax Media group executive editor Sinead Boucher said she expected the team's open remit and the scope to reach Stuff's unmatched audience of more than 2 million users per month would make the roles highly sought after.

'We are looking for exceptionally talented journalists who relish the idea of breaking significant stories as well as challenging conventional storytelling formats.'

The team will report to Fairfax group digital editor Mark Stevens. He told NewsMediaWorks our national correspondents will enjoy the most valuable commodity in a newsroom: time. 'Creating this team is the commitment that this group of journalists be given the time, focus and the support to perform what we hope and aim to be agenda-setting journalism.'

Check out the job ad for more details. As it says, we'd prefer candidates in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch, but we're committed to handpicking the best talent, regardless of location.

Badass haircut not mandatory.