Stuff proposes regional newsroom cuts, blaming the cost of putting out a paper

Stuff Group has proposed to "streamline" its regional news operations, and at least a dozen jobs may go, RNZ reported.

The Post, which Stuff owns, said it had been told four reporter roles and four visual journalist roles would go. The Otago Daily Times carried the same figures. Neither report says which towns or newsrooms are affected.

"In several towns and cities across New Zealand, Stuff now produces the only newspaper, and in recent years the costs of paper, print, energy and distribution have risen significantly," the company said, according to RNZ. It said it had to look again at whether its regional papers could keep going as its news model changed. It added that technology now allows faster newsgathering and more efficient production.

The proposal has three parts, RNZ reported: fewer specialist roles, more production templating, and smaller newsrooms in some areas.

Templating means more pages built to a fixed layout and less hand-built design. That lines up with the loss of four visual journalists, the photographers and designers who give a local paper its look. Fewer specialists means fewer reporters who know one area well, such as courts, councils or farming, and more generalists covering everything. In a town where Stuff prints the only paper, nobody else will cover what those reporters stop covering.

Stuff says none of this is settled. "No final decisions have been made as we seek feedback from our people on ways to ensure the sustainability of our regional news operations and continue to build our news model for the future," it said, as quoted by RNZ.

The company also pointed to growth elsewhere. It said that after calls from local councils and advertisers it recently launched 18 hyper-local news websites through Neighbourly News. Those sites carry stories from Stuff teams around the country, contributions from readers and "local information streams". Stuff said it still publishes 13 daily and weekly newspapers and two monthly rural titles. The sites are opening as Stuff proposes cutting regional reporters.

The cuts follow a long retreat. Stuff has closed or sold a number of regional papers in recent years, RNZ noted, and it has only just finalised a restructure of its Stuff Digital team. In July, Stuff Digital proposed cutting eight editorial roles, a figure its union disputed, according to News Wire. News Wire, a site that says its piece was written by AI, did not give the union's own number.

The public broadcaster is shrinking too. RNZ told staff on Friday 14 August that it would cut about 25 to 30 jobs over the coming financial year, roughly a tenth of its workforce, after another cut to its government funding, News Wire reported. The same piece counted close to 300 jobs lost when Newshub closed in 2024.