MEDIAWATCH: Media Industry Predictions 2025

Media Insider: Almost 40 jobs set to be cut from NZ Herald newsroom as NZME proposes major shake-up

Almost 40 roles are set to be cut from the NZ Herald, BusinessDesk and Newstalk ZB news operation in a proposal outlined to staff today – the latest in a series of media industry job losses.

The proposed job cuts – a net loss of about 14 reporting and other content generation roles and 24 roles in editorial production – are part of a major reorganisation of the Herald newsroom, the biggest in a decade.

Herald owner NZME – which employs about 300 editorial staff – says it needs to improve the profitability of its publishing division, while also reorganising its newsroom to ensure it reflects continually changing audience demands.

The proposals include more investment in video news, and a stronger focus on ensuring the newsroom is focused on journalism and other content that resonates with audiences, including subscribers, NZME editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness told staff this morning.

They are only interested in video production now because that’s where the biggest advertising dollar, in pre-roll adverts and in-show adverts.

Fuck the content.

Word on the street is that the cuts at NZME are actually far worse than being made public right now, this is the first wave of cuts to be followed by steeper cuts during the year if the advertising revenue doesn’t pick up, NZME already slaughtered 14 newspapers, they’ll have no issues slicing more off as the sinking ship of legacy media continues to sink in the new ocean of social media hate algorithms.

I predicted Today FM would close, I predicted TV3 News would die, I hosted the most watched Treaty debate last year and I won Gold for best current affairs podcast, so what the fuck do I know, but we will see more media companies go to the wall this year as they attempt to create paywalls around their content, which ultimately undermines their influence.

You will see a sale at Stuff this year, you will see TV3 go under this year and Rupert Murdoch’s Australia media empire will buy it and usher in a very right wing political dimension to the station.

Another 100 job losses on top off the 40 planned at NZME plus a change of leadership at Māori TV after grossly incompetence management.

The only bright spark will be Waatea Digital who have managed to jump to digital media far better than most companies have managed.

 

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