The publisher of some of the country's best-known magazines, including The Listener, North & South, and NZ Woman's Weekly, is shutting down and making all its staff redundant. The government has confirmed the company never asked for assistance before closing.
Non-daily print media are not considered an essential service, effectively shutting down magazines like The Listener and North & South and community papers across the country. Photo: RNZ / Bridget Tunnicliffe
Bauer Media announced its decision to close this morning. A company spokesperson said 237 staff will lose their jobs.
"The decision to close the business is effective as of April 2, 2020," said a statement issued from the company's headquarters in Germany.
Bauer was the publisher of the NZ Listener, North & South, NZ Woman's Weekly, Next, and Metro. It also published Air New Zealand's in-flight magazine Kia Ora and the website noted.co.nz.
Photo: screenshot
Staff were informed of the closure during a meeting on the online platform Zoom this morning.
Brendon Hill, the chief executive of Bauer's Australia-New Zealand operations, blamed the Covid-19 lockdown for the move.
Its magazines were barred from print distribution during the lockdown after the government deemed they were not an essential service.
“We understand the New Zealand government’s decision to move to Covid-19 Level 4, but it has put our business in an untenable position,' Hill said in a statement.
But one Bauer writer told RNZ the company was making a "gutless decision" and seizing an opportunity to cut costs.
In a statement, broadcasting minister Kris Faafoi said Bauer had not applied for government assistance such as the wage subsidy scheme or the business finance guarantee scheme.
The company had ruled out other options that would have kept a number of staff employed and some magazine titles available in New Zealand, he said.
Faafoi noted that Bauer had been struggling before the coronavirus pandemic and had made unsuccessful efforts to find a new buyer.
"I... note that Bauer had indicated for some time, as have other media organisations, that they were facing challenges around viability of their operations here in New Zealand before the Covid-19 pandemic."
Faafoi said he was looking at the overall health and sustainability of New Zealand's commercial media companies and would be making announcements on that subject in future.
Bauer's shutdown comes as several other media companies announce job losses and other cost-cutting moves.
MediaWorks chief executive Michael Anderson yesterday asked staff to take a voluntary 15 percent pay cut to help ward off redundancies.
The company owns the television channel Three, about half the country's radio stations, and the Newshub brand.
NZME, which owns The New Zealand Herald and radio stations including Newstalk ZB, has told its staff to expect job losses.
It shut down Radio Sport with immediate effect earlier this week, and is looking at making further cuts.
Sport is likely to be one of the hardest-hit departments. One NZME employee told RNZ the company was proposing to cut four sports editorial writers, along with two Radio Sport journalists and all its regional sport journalists.
A statement from Bauer statement said funding would be provided to enable all staff to be paid their full redundancy and leave entitlements.
