Publisher of Listener, Woman’s Day closes in NZ Amid COVID-19 Rules, Clod in Govt Blamed
Bauer Media Group has announced its intention to close its publishing business in New Zealand due to the severe economic impact of COVID-19.
The closure brings to an end many decades of publishing in New Zealand and affects all staff.
Bauer Media NZ publishes entertainment, lifestyle and current affairs titles including the NZ Listener, Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, North and South and Next, along with a digital network.
Business is not viable
All New Zealand Bauer staff have been advised on Thursday morning that the business is no longer viable and that it intends to close. Staff said it had come as a complete shock and many were unprepared to offer comment. EY has been appointed to work alongside Bauer New Zealand to facilitate an orderly wind-down of the business.
Chief executive Brendon Hill said: “This is a devastating blow for our committed and talented team who have worked tirelessly to inform and entertain New Zealanders, through some of the country’s bestloved and most-read magazines. “Magazine publishing in New Zealand is currently suspended as part of the New Zealand Government’s decision to move to the COVID-19 level four restrictions.
“We understand the New Zealand Government’s decision to move to COVID-19 level four, but it has put our business in an untenable position. Publishing in New Zealand is very dependent on advertising revenue and it is highly unlikely that demand will ever return to pre-crisis levels.
“In response to the situation, Bauer carried out an urgent review of its New Zealand operations and considered all options to keep part or all the business open, including engaging with the New Zealand
Government.
“An active search is underway to find buyers for our New Zealand assets, including our many iconic titles, however, so far an alternative owner has not been found.”
Staff would get full redundancy pay and leave entitlements.
“I would like to recognise the impact that this decision will have on our suppliers, customers and the wider publishing industry. This is a very difficult time for the entire media industry,” Hill said.
Tragic closure
The decision to close the business is effective as of April 2.
Former Metro editor Bill Ralston said the decision was tragic.
The killer blow had been the “dumb” Government ban on magazine sales, he said.
“It was bad enough they were fighting a recession in terms of advertising revenue... for the Government to ban all weekly and monthly publications was the dumbest decision it ever made.”
He said it made little sense because the magazine staff were working from home and the publications were printed in the same facilities that produced daily newspapers, which were allowed to continue.
“There’s unlikely to be additional risk.”
Ralston said it was also a morale blow to New Zealanders who were stuck at home, and wanted magazines to read.
“Eighty years of the Listener gone because some clod in Government decided to ban the publication.” It would probably start of wave of closures of other magazines and community newspapers, he said. “They were struggling to survive already - how many will reopen after the Government ban? Very few, if any.”
Media businesses not priority
Finance Minister Grant Robertson
appeared to indicate at a press conference on Wednesday that media businesses were not an immediate priority for help.
The Treasury had established a unit to look at support for large and “network critical” businesses and was getting expert advice from consultants on the forms that might take, he said.
“That could range from anything from loans to potential equity purchases and so on,” he said.
Businesses in the aviation sector and tourism could be high in mind for support, he indicated. Help has already been provided to Air New
Zealand in the form of a NZ$900 million (FJ$1,217.61m) loan facility. “The media is an area that sits within a broader set of recovery packages that we are going to be working on over the medium term,” he said, implying special assistance for the industry would not be on offer in the short term.
“Clearly this is a hugely challenging period for the media sector which was already under pressure before we got into this situation so we will work our way through what that might look like.
“But that unit that has been established inside the Treasury is designed to look at network-critical businesses and what we may need to do in the event they get under stress,” he said.
A former Bauer employee who did not want to be named said she was not surprised.
“It was always coming - advertising has been grinding to a virtual halt for the past couple of years. “There are some amazing journalists working at Bauer, but it struggled to move with the times, and find its niche in the online world. “I’m incredibly sad for them, and it shows very clearly how important it is for every business to remain forward-focused.”