German magazine giant Bauer Media Group yesterday closed its New Zealand titles due to the coronavirus, sparking criticism from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after the government offered the company financial help.
The move will cost 237 jobs and spell the end of prestigious current affairs titles such as the New Zealand Listener and North & South, as well as best-sellers including Women’s Day.
While Bauer cited the “severe economic impact” of the pandemic as the reason for the closures, Ardern’s comments suggested that the publisher was intent on closing anyway in a media market that was already struggling before the virus.
“In my view this appears to have been a decision that has been made at the same time as COVID-19, but not because of it,” Ardern told reporters.
She said the government had pleaded with Bauer to take advantage of a government wage subsidy to tide the business over during the crisis, which has hit media advertising revenues, but the publisher refused.
“I’m extraordinarily disappointed and frankly gutted to see what has been a part of New Zealand history close its doors fairly abruptly today,” she said.
Another major publisher, NZME, this week closed its Radio Sport station and rumors abound that cuts are imminent among other major media players in the nation.
It is an issue being felt across the region, with Australia’s national newswire AAP due to close later this year, and Rupert Murdoch’s Australian flagship media group News Corp on Wednesday announced it would stop printing about 60 regional newspapers, as the troubled sector received a fresh blow from a COVID-19 advertising downturn.
News Corp said papers in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia would cease printing and move online.
“We have not taken this decision lightly,” News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller was quoted as saying by the group’s Australian newspaper title.
“The coronavirus crisis has created unprecedented economic pressures and we are doing everything we can to preserve as many jobs as possible,” he said.
“The suspension of our community print editions has been forced on us by the rapid decline in advertising revenues following the restrictions placed on real estate auctions and home inspections, the forced closure of event venues and dine-in restaurants in the wake of the coronavirus emergency,” he added.
The move has echoed a global trend.
The largest US newspaper publisher, Gannett Co, on Monday said it was making unspecified furloughs and pay cuts for its staff.
Falling readerships and the rise of Google and Facebook Inc as dominant players in advertising have made news organizations less profitable.
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