Good news for news
The Waikato Times will be a crucial part of what has been described as “a new era of innovation and freshness”, when Stuff takes over the news on Three.
Stuff and Warner Bros Discovery confirmed yesterday morning a deal that will see Stuff produce a 6pm bulletin for the television network.
The new Stuff-made 6pm news will begin on Saturday, July 6, the day after the final Newshub bulletin airs on Friday, July 5.
It will broadcast for an hour Monday to Friday, with a 30-minute programme on the weekend.
And the team of journalists at the Waikato
Times are going to play a crucial part in putting together the new service’s bulletins, with headline-worthy tales from the region likely to be included in broadcasts.
Waikato Times editor Jonathan MacKenzie said the news was an exciting development for readers of Waikato Times print and masthead products.
“So much has happened in the past year,” MacKenzie said
“We launched waikatotimes.co.nz last April and it’s going great guns and now we have an opportunity to serve our audiences Waikato stories on television nightly news.”
“That’s very motivating for our journalists and I have no doubt that viewers are going to love the new TV product.”
The Three announcement came on a day when the Waikato Times was announced as one of three finalists in the regional newspaper of the year category at this year’s
Voyager Media Awards.
Your paper will be up against the Nelson
Mail - also part of the Stuff group – and Hawke’s Bay Today in the awards, the winner of which will be announced at a ceremony in Auckland on Friday, May 24.
A week before the Stuff news bulletin announcement, WBD stated Newshub would be shuttered in its entirety, due to declining advertising revenue.
Sinead Boucher, the owner and publisher of the Stuff group – which includes the
Waikato Times – described the deal to provide news as “the next step in our acceleration into our digital future”.
Viewers could expect a new name and “a new feel” when Stuff takes over the news on Three, Boucher said.
“I’m really excited about what we’ll be able to create together and what we’re going to be able to deliver to New Zealanders,” Boucher said in an interview after the announcement.
“We have a proven track record of modernising, changing and being at the edge of what you can do with our own organisation, and we’re hungry to bring some of that innovation and freshness to Warner Bros.”
“Since we became an independent standalone business in 2020, we have strategically reorganised our business from the ground up, investing in new platforms, technology and capability, which allows us to seize opportunities like this, setting a new course for our journalism and audiences, for our commercial partners and for our future,” Boucher wrote in a message to Stuff staff yesterday.
“Twenty-five years ago, Stuff was the first Kiwi news media organisation to go digitalfirst, and we continue to lead digital innovation. Like Newshub, we are known for our gutsy, independent, non-partisan journalism. All of these qualities appealed strongly to WBD and will be key to our longer-term partnership as we look for other digital and data-led opportunities together.”
Glen Kyne, WBD’s senior vicepresident and head of networks in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, said the group received several proposals.
“It’s critical for democracy that we have a strong fourth estate to hold the powerful to account and that there are different voices asking different questions.
Newshub Wellington bureau chief Caitlin Cherry posted on Twitter (now known as “X”) that there were “enormous advantages having the country's biggest newsroom” at Stuff produce a 6pm bulletin.
“Stuff has journalists in areas like Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Nelson, Southland and Waikato. It has an excellent political team and the number 1 news website in NZ.
“There are however, some big challenges ahead. Broadcast news requires specific technical and presentation skills.”
“I'm hopeful Stuff will retain some of the incredible expertise at Newshub – editors, camera operators, news producers etc. But many will still lose their jobs.”