‘Hound’ in the dogbox after rural ruckus
A gossip column item has been removed from one of the country’s biggest rural news websites, after a spiteful swipe at a rival publisher.
“The Hound” is a regular column in Rural News’ print publication and website but its piece referring to
Shepherdess magazine in last week’s edition has led to a backlash from many corners of the farming community.
The Hound felt more like a rabid dog as it took aim at Shepherdess and one of the magazine’s commercial supporters, Beef
+Lamb NZ. The anonymous column writer couldn’t understand why Beef+Lamb would dare spend some of its marketing budget “subsidising a basically glorified
Woman’s Day glossy magazine”.
“One would have to seriously question the value to the country’s struggling meat producers subsidising such a niche publication with limited readership and distribution,” The Hound wrote.
“This looks very much like one of those woke diversity spends in an area where some savings could and should be instantly made.”
In a Facebook post last week,
Shepherdess owner and publisher Kristy McGregor said waking up to the column was a “bit of a blow”.
“We don’t think the person who shared their opinion in Rural News, under the guise of The Hound, understands our purpose: uplifting and empowering women — offering a place to tell the stories of brilliant women from across rural Aotearoa New Zealand,” McGregor said.
“It’s really tough out there at the moment, which is reflected in the media landscape, too — and it’s at times like these we need to be supporting each other.”
The post has received more than
1000 reactions and 140 comments in support. According to McGregor,
Shepherdess — a high quality magazine produced every quarter since April 2020 — has an estimated readership of 18,000 and a social media audience of more than 27,000, “which has a quarterly reach of 480,000”.
“Anonymous conservative columnists are so 1980s,” wrote one follower. “They are negative, energy sapping and irrelevant. The
Shepherdess is a glorious and wonderful celebration of rural women’s mahi. I know which I would rather read.”
Another said: “I have had the wrath of The Hound personally and it sucked. The reality until ag businesses pull advertising, Rural News will keep on cowardly attacking.”
The Hound’s column has now been removed from the Rural News website, although the company is refusing to comment. Editor Sudesh Kissun and publisher Brian Hight referred Media Insider to general manager Adam Fricker, who did not return several messages.
McGregor told Media Insider that she had been heartened by “overwhelmingly positive” messages of support after the column. “We knew that we had a wonderful community, but to see the breadth of support, from emails from 80-year-old greatgrandmothers, young women in the rural sector, and many who aren’t rural but who still really see Shepherdess speaking and resonating with them — it’s incredible.
“A week on, Rural News haven’t been in touch with us, however we are aware that Beef + Lamb New Zealand have written a letter to their editor, and readers have shared with us letters they too have written to Rural News expressing their disappointment at The Hound’s misinformed commentary.
“We think calling it out and speaking to our community directly was the right thing to do. We showed that we’ll stand up for ourselves, and for the women that back us, and call out bullying.”
In their letter to Rural News, Beef +Lamb chair Kate Acland described The Hound column as “disappointing”.
She said her organisation advertised with Shepherdess “to highlight positive stories and initiatives in the sheep and beef sector”.
“Farmers have told us they want positive stories out there to celebrate the people and achievements that make our sector world-leading, and this costeffective partnership helps us to achieve this. “Shepherdess has a wide readership of (mainly) women across New Zealand who are involved in, or simply interested in, the agricultural sector. Kristy and her team have done an amazing job of shining a light on inspirational rural women and communities and telling their stories, in both the magazine and the related TV show.
“In addition to Shepherdess ,we advertise in a range of other publications, including Rural News, to ensure we can reach a wide and diverse audience.
“The Hound could also note our total spend with Shepherdess over the last three years is similar to what we have spent with the Rural News Group over the same period.”