E tūtohu ana a NZME kia kati i ngā niupepa hapori e 14, e 30 ngā tūranga mahi kia poroa

Thursday, 14 November 2024

Kua whakamāoritia tēnei pūrongo e tētahi hinengaro rorohiko, ā, kua hihiratia e te kaiwhakamāori a Puna, a Joel Maxwell, nāna te pūrongo i whakapai hoki i mua i te whakaputa hei pūrongo reorua. Nā Straker me Microsoft te hinengaro rorohiko i whakawhanake.

This story, originally in English only, was translated into reo Māori by an AI tool then checked and edited by Stuff kaiwhakamāori Joel Maxwell before publication as a bilingual news story. The AI tool was developed by Straker and Microsoft.

E tūtohu ana a NZME kia kati i ngā niupepa hapori e 14, ā, tata ki te 30 ngā kaimahi kia poroa mēnā ka haere whakamua te kaupapa.

NZME is proposing to close 14 community papers, with about 30 jobs set to be cut if the proposal goes ahead.

Ko ngā niupepa hapori katoa he taitara o Te Ika a Māui, ā, e tūmanakohia ana kia katia i mua i te Kirihimete i tēnei tau. Mā tēnei e waiho ētahi rohe me te kore pūtake rongokōrero paetata.

All of the community papers are North Island titles, and they are expected to be closed before Christmas this year. This would leave some regions without a source of local news.

Read this story in English here.

Ko ngā niupepa e mōrearea ana ki te katinga ko Te Awamutu Courier, tae atu ki te Hauraki-Coromandel Post, Katikati Advertiser, Te Puke Times, Taupō & Tūrangi Herald, Napier Courier, Hastings Leader, Hawke’s Bay’s CHB Mail, Stratford Press, Tararua’s Bush Telegraph, Whanganui Midweek, Manawatū Guardian, Horowhenua Chronicle me Kāpiti News.

The papers facing closure include the century-old Te Awamutu Courier, as well as the Hauraki-Coromandel Post, Katikati Advertiser, Te Puke Times, Taupō & Tūrangi Herald, Napier Courier, Hastings Leader, Hawke’s Bay’s CHB Mail, Stratford Press, Tararua’s Bush Telegraph, Whanganui Midweek, Manawatū Guardian, Horowhenua Chronicle and Kāpiti News.

I kī a NZME i roto i tētahi tauākī i te Tāite kua whakatakotoria e rātou he tūtohu ki ngā kaimahi kia kati i ngā pepa i runga anō i te kore monihua.

NZME said in an announcement on Thursday that it had presented a proposal to staff to close the papers on the basis they were no longer profitable.

I kī atu a Michael Boggs, te tumuaki o NZME, ki ngā kaimahi i roto i tētahi īmēra ko te pānui he “karere taumaha mō tā mātou tīma me ngā hapori paetata”.

Michael Boggs, NZME’s chief executive, told staff in an email the announcement was “tough news for our team and local communities”.

“Ehara tēnei i te momo rongo e hiahia ana ahau ki te tiritiri ki te katoa i tēnei rā,” te kī a Boggs.

“This is not the kind of news I want to share with everyone today,” Boggs said.

“E tino whakamana ana mātou i a mātou tīma tino pai puta noa i ā mātou tānga hapori – he mahi hira tā ia o rātou i roto i ō rātou hapori, ahakoa kei te tuku rongo paetata ki ngā kaimātakitaki, ki te tautoko rānei i ngā kaipānui paetata, ā, ko tā mātou arotahi ko te tautoko i a rātou.”

“We highly value our awesome teams across our community publications – each of them plays an important role in their communities, whether it’s in providing local news to audiences or supporting local advertisers, and our focus is on supporting them.”

I whakapaea e Boggs te hekenga o te monihua me te nui haere o ngā utu mō te tūtohu, nā aua āhuatanga i patu i tā NZME kōtuitui tānga hapori.

Boggs blamed the proposal on a decline in advertising revenue and increasing costs, causing NZME’s community publication network to suffer.

“I runga i tēnei, kua kite mātou i te pikinga utu 45-55% i te tuaritanga o ā mātou hua tā e āia ana e ngā take i waho o tō mātau mana,” tana kī.

“On top of this, we have seen a 45-55% cost increase in distribution of our print products driven by factors out of our control,” he said.

'E mōhio ana tātou, kāore he pūtake kaiohauru ō a mātou tānga hapori. E tukuna ana ngā niupepa he utu kore, ā, ka utua katoa mā te whakatairanga tā paetata, e mimiti ana i te katoa. Me te kore whai ara matahiko tautoko ō o mātou niupepa hapori, e matea ana te whakataunga uaua ki te tūtohu kia kati i te nuinga o te kōtuitui a ō mātou niupepa hapori.'

“As we know, our community publications do not have a subscriber base. They are provided free of charge and funded purely through local print advertising, which is in decline overall. With our communities having no sustainable digital pathway we have had to make the tough decision to propose to close most of our communities’ network.”

E rua anake o ngā taitara utu kore o te kamupene ka noho tonu mēnā ka haere whakamua te kaupapa: Ko te Waikato Herald, e kōkuhutia ana i roto i te NZ Herald, me te Weekend Sun.

Only two of the company’s free titles will remain if the proposal goes ahead: The Waikato Herald, which is inserted within the NZ Herald, and Weekend Sun.

Ko te tūtohu a NZME te moto hou ki te umanga arapāho, me te whakawetotanga o Newshub i te tōmua o tēnei tau me tā TVNZ e mahi ana i ngā wā maha o ngā tapahi.

NZME’s proposal is the latest blow to the media industry, with Newshub shutting down earlier this year and TVNZ carrying out multiple rounds of cuts.

This is a Public Interest Journalism-funded translation through NZ On Air