The Daily Blog Open Mic – 29th October 2024

If we want the good things about NZAO to continue, the people that come on to TDB are probably the people to respond to NZ Geographic call for support. Please redirect some of your spending to the mag, give subscriptions to family for Chrissie. They probably have enough clothes etc. And booze is always available. In a Heyer book the connosieurs may order a pipe of some fine port etc. But those here appreciative of the very good wines can get them readily.
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/we-need-your-help/</b
It seems like every day brings bad news. Our planet is on fire, or flooding, or infected, or in recession. It’s tiring. As if to add to the existential stress, the media sector is now forecasting its own death. But this is also a time when we can take proactive steps to decide what’s important, and what we want for our future.

Over the next few weeks I will be taking the unusual step of opening our finances and forward plans so that readers can be involved in the future shape of New Zealand Geographic and the role our journalism plays in the public conversation. I hope this paints a picture of where we’re at, where we’re going, and how you can help.

Before I start, however—thank you. Thank you for reading NZGeo, and for caring enough to read this email…

In 2008 I became editor. And then, in 2011, the owner. (No link with National Geographic, which is owned by Disney. We’re a Kiwi family with two kids and a wandering golden retriever trying to fix up an old house in Birkenhead.) It took another eight years to make ends meet, but it’s always felt worthwhile—at their best, stories like these can usher in new ways of seeing the world, and behaving…

Recently, however, my mates tend to wince as they ask me, like they’re enquiring about the health of a grandmother. Subscriptions have returned to pre-COVID levels and retail sales are soft. Advertising is holding up, but it’s harder than ever.

Print costs have increased 50 per cent in the past five years. Postal costs have tripled in the past 10. Though the magazine is our most popular product, the economics of print are getting challenging.

Most surprising, however, is that digital media is now even harder. Our website receives about a million visitors a year, and the Ministry of Education subscribes on behalf of every student in every school. But traffic coming from social media sites like Facebook and Instagram has plummeted, and changes to Google’s algorithm stymie readers coming from search. For the first time, I’m looking at the future with genuine concern…

Here’s something that might surprise you. With 387,000 readers (Nielsen-audited readership) New Zealand Geographic is the fourth-most-read magazine on the newsstand. Unlike other magazines that skew old, white and urban, our readership aligns with national averages for ethnicity, location, gender and age—except we have more teenagers; and more Māori and Pasifika read NZGeo than any other magazine, by miles…

As well as media production, we run workshops and events like Photographer of the Year, produce virtual reality content for schools and universities and have developed new photogrammetric tools to power scientific research in New Zealand and the South Pacific. A handful of contractors work tirelessly for us, and we rely on a galaxy of world-class writers, photographers and scientists who help us tell the story of New Zealand every day.

By 2019, we were frustrated at the lack of action on major environmental and social problems where the evidence was plain, the solutions were obvious and the risk of inaction was high. We decided that we would no longer equivocate and would take a more committed stance that goes beyond simply stating the facts. Sometimes, this includes formal submissions to government—an unusual position for an independent media outlet to take.

Importantly, this doesn’t mean that we abandon objectivity. In fact, NZGeo’s attention to evidence-based reporting has become more acute, and we have become more solutions-focused. We remain fiercely apolitical, but we can’t abandon the central premise that a functioning society and a strong economy both depend on a healthy environment.

When the government dropped the EV subsidy this year, we had a sudden run of advertising for utes and large SUVs, which we found difficult to square with our journalism. We decided we would no longer accept ads that compromise our climate commitments, a lofty policy which cost us $11,500 on day one. I won’t lie, it hurt a lot at the time.

*

Our readers and subscribers are stakeholders in our future, but we need to start treating you like that. That includes giving you an insight into our income, costs and financial position—something media companies never do—which I will reveal in more detail next week.

The gist is that we have been profitable for the past five years, but media is changing rapidly and some income sources have disappeared. Flybuys is winding up at Christmas (the source of 15 per cent of our subscriptions) and retail sales are slowing.

From an equity position we have money in the bank and no debt. The books say we’re doing okay, but what keeps me up at night is that we’re short on the one income line that will secure our future: Subscriptions. Print, digital, print-and-digital, it doesn’t matter. All deliver certainty and support investment in the stuff that subscribers want more of—cracking stories that mean something in the corner of the world we live in.

Today we have around 8000 subscriptions—mostly print, but also digital. A quick back-of-envelope suggests we need 10,000 subscribers just to keep doing what we’re already doing. It’s a good goal. And with your support, we can get there before the end of the year.

This is a good case for the sort of support that committed NZs need to give to whatever gems and work we turn out. https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/we-need-your-help/
Song – Loyal Dave Dobbyn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwf2CWCq5tc

3 COMMENTS

Greywarbler October 29, 2024 At 11:09 am

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/532187/first-ever-female-police-commissioner-appointed-on-an-interim-basis
When the going gets tough then the tough get going; and It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. So give the female force a chance to shine. That the power holders thinking?
Jenny October 29, 2024 At 3:00 pm

Zero road deaths this Labour Weekend. The first time this has ever happened since records of Labour Weekend road deaths were first recorded.

How was this record achieved?

If we can find out how it was achieved, maybe we can repeat it
Greywarbler October 29, 2024 At 6:20 pm

If we want the good things about NZAO to continue, the people that come on to TDB are probably the people to respond to NZ Geographic call for support. Please redirect some of your spending to the mag, give subscriptions to family for Chrissie. They probably have enough clothes etc. And booze is always available. In a Heyer book the connosieurs may order a pipe of some fine port etc. But those here appreciative of the very good wines can get them readily.
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/we-need-your-help/</b
It seems like every day brings bad news. Our planet is on fire, or flooding, or infected, or in recession. It’s tiring. As if to add to the existential stress, the media sector is now forecasting its own death. But this is also a time when we can take proactive steps to decide what’s important, and what we want for our future.

Over the next few weeks I will be taking the unusual step of opening our finances and forward plans so that readers can be involved in the future shape of New Zealand Geographic and the role our journalism plays in the public conversation. I hope this paints a picture of where we’re at, where we’re going, and how you can help.

Before I start, however—thank you. Thank you for reading NZGeo, and for caring enough to read this email…

In 2008 I became editor. And then, in 2011, the owner. (No link with National Geographic, which is owned by Disney. We’re a Kiwi family with two kids and a wandering golden retriever trying to fix up an old house in Birkenhead.) It took another eight years to make ends meet, but it’s always felt worthwhile—at their best, stories like these can usher in new ways of seeing the world, and behaving…

Recently, however, my mates tend to wince as they ask me, like they’re enquiring about the health of a grandmother. Subscriptions have returned to pre-COVID levels and retail sales are soft. Advertising is holding up, but it’s harder than ever.

Print costs have increased 50 per cent in the past five years. Postal costs have tripled in the past 10. Though the magazine is our most popular product, the economics of print are getting challenging.

Most surprising, however, is that digital media is now even harder. Our website receives about a million visitors a year, and the Ministry of Education subscribes on behalf of every student in every school. But traffic coming from social media sites like Facebook and Instagram has plummeted, and changes to Google’s algorithm stymie readers coming from search. For the first time, I’m looking at the future with genuine concern…

Here’s something that might surprise you. With 387,000 readers (Nielsen-audited readership) New Zealand Geographic is the fourth-most-read magazine on the newsstand. Unlike other magazines that skew old, white and urban, our readership aligns with national averages for ethnicity, location, gender and age—except we have more teenagers; and more Māori and Pasifika read NZGeo than any other magazine, by miles…

As well as media production, we run workshops and events like Photographer of the Year, produce virtual reality content for schools and universities and have developed new photogrammetric tools to power scientific research in New Zealand and the South Pacific. A handful of contractors work tirelessly for us, and we rely on a galaxy of world-class writers, photographers and scientists who help us tell the story of New Zealand every day.

By 2019, we were frustrated at the lack of action on major environmental and social problems where the evidence was plain, the solutions were obvious and the risk of inaction was high. We decided that we would no longer equivocate and would take a more committed stance that goes beyond simply stating the facts. Sometimes, this includes formal submissions to government—an unusual position for an independent media outlet to take.

Importantly, this doesn’t mean that we abandon objectivity. In fact, NZGeo’s attention to evidence-based reporting has become more acute, and we have become more solutions-focused. We remain fiercely apolitical, but we can’t abandon the central premise that a functioning society and a strong economy both depend on a healthy environment.

When the government dropped the EV subsidy this year, we had a sudden run of advertising for utes and large SUVs, which we found difficult to square with our journalism. We decided we would no longer accept ads that compromise our climate commitments, a lofty policy which cost us $11,500 on day one. I won’t lie, it hurt a lot at the time.

*

Our readers and subscribers are stakeholders in our future, but we need to start treating you like that. That includes giving you an insight into our income, costs and financial position—something media companies never do—which I will reveal in more detail next week.

The gist is that we have been profitable for the past five years, but media is changing rapidly and some income sources have disappeared. Flybuys is winding up at Christmas (the source of 15 per cent of our subscriptions) and retail sales are slowing.

From an equity position we have money in the bank and no debt. The books say we’re doing okay, but what keeps me up at night is that we’re short on the one income line that will secure our future: Subscriptions. Print, digital, print-and-digital, it doesn’t matter. All deliver certainty and support investment in the stuff that subscribers want more of—cracking stories that mean something in the corner of the world we live in.

Today we have around 8000 subscriptions—mostly print, but also digital. A quick back-of-envelope suggests we need 10,000 subscribers just to keep doing what we’re already doing. It’s a good goal. And with your support, we can get there before the end of the year.

This is a good case for the sort of support that committed NZs need to give to whatever gems and work we turn out. https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/we-need-your-help/
Song – Loyal Dave Dobbyn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwf2CWCq5tc

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