Another New Zealand media company has been forced to propose redundancies following on from action taken last year by Television New Zealand and Warner Brothers Newshub.
NZME which operates The New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB announced at a staff meeting at 9.30am on Wednesday morning they were proposing to cut 38 roles, 14 of them in the news departments, with some new positions created.
The meeting was held in Auckland and via Zoom, and involves staff from the NZ Herald, Business Desk and Newstalk ZB.
In what The NZ Herald reported as the biggest reorganisation of it’s newsroom in a decade would see the loss of 14 reporting and other content generation roles, and 24 roles in editorial production.
NZME said it needed to improve the profitability of its publishing division, while reorganising its newsroom to ensure it reflects continually changing audience demands.
Editor-in-chief Murray Kirkness told staff at the meeting the plans would see 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.
It would also see fewer stories, by dropping any that don’t get audience interest.
The company has said it will consider voluntary redundancies
