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The Post (New Zealand newspaper)

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The Post
The 2 March 2012 front page of The Dominion Post
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatTabloid (Mon–Fri)
Broadsheet (Saturday)
Owner(s)Stuff Ltd
Founded2002
HeadquartersWellington, New Zealand
Circulation36,652 (2019)[1]
ISSN1175-9488
Websitewww.thepost.co.nz

The Post (formerly The Dominion Post) (Māori: Te Upoko o Te Ika) is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in Wellington, New Zealand. It is owned by media business Stuff Ltd, and formerly by the New Zealand branch of Australian media company Fairfax Media. Weekday issues are now in tabloid format, and its Saturday edition is in broadsheet format.

The Dominion Post was created in July 2002 with the merger of two metropolitan broadsheet newspapers, The Evening Post and The Dominion. It was announced in April 2023 that the paper would be renamed The Post. The change of name has garnered a generally unenthusiastic to negative response.[2] Since July 2023, the editor has been Tracy Watkins.[3]

History

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The Dominion Post, 2002–2023

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The Dominion Post (commonly referred to as The DomPost) was created in July 2002 when Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) amalgamated two Wellington printed and published metropolitan broadsheet newspapers,[4] The Evening Post, an evening paper first published on 8 February 1865, and The Dominion, a morning paper first published on Dominion Day, 26 September 1907.[5]

The Dominion was distributed throughout the lower half of the North Island, as far as Taupo, where it met with Auckland's ambitiously named The New Zealand Herald. The Evening Post was not so widely distributed, but had a much greater circulation than The Dominion.[citation needed] After the titles were merged, The Dominion Post was the only daily newspaper in Wellington City.[5] It was printed in Petone, Lower Hutt.[6]

INL sold The Dominion Post and all other New Zealand newspapers and most magazines in its catalogue to Fairfax Media in 2003.[5] On 1 February 2018, Fairfax New Zealand Limited changed its name to Stuff Limited (named after its Stuff website, which launched in 2000). In December 2018, Fairfax Media merged with Australia's Nine Entertainment, which acquired its stable of New Zealand newspapers.[7]

On 25 May 2020, Nine Entertainment sold its holdings, including The Dominion Post, to Stuff's CEO Sinead Boucher for NZ$1, with the transaction completed on 31 May 2024. This marked the return of the company to New Zealand ownership.[8]

The Post, 2023–present

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On 14 April 2023, it was announced that the paper would change its name by dropping "Dominion" from the title. The editor, Caitlin Cherry, laid out the rationale:[9]

As an independently owned New Zealand company, we are under no-one’s dominion. New Zealand’s status as a dominion ended in 1945 when we joined the United Nations. It’s time for the word to go.

On 27 April 2023, Stuff confirmed that The Dominion Post would adopt its new name The Post on 29 April. Stuff also announced that it would launch a new subscription-based website for The Post that would co-exist with the free Stuff news website.[10]

The change of name was criticised on both the political left and right.[11] Former Dominion Post editor Tim Pankhurst was skeptical, saying it was "short-sighted", given that market research conducted in 2002 indicated that the Dominion Post masthead had better name recognition within Wellington than Coca-Cola's logo. Colin Peacock from RNZ Mediawatch dismissed the name change as "bit of branding" and expected "a bit of blowback" from older readers.[12]

The dropping of "Dominion", a word described by legal expert Grant Morris as "not actually that important",[13] was perceived by some as virtue signaling.[14][15] Morris also pointed out that no Act of Parliament has actually revoked New Zealand's status as a Dominion, which it held from 1907 until the Statute of Westminster was adopted in 1947.[16]

The name change was also thought by some to be hypocritical for suggesting an anti-imperialist stance, given the newspaper's historical bias against Māori, for which Stuff apologised in 2020.[17][18] The name The Post was considered bland and unoriginal by many, with Newstalk ZB describing it as "an act reflective of a complete lack of any creativity".[11]

Editors

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Richard Long had been the editor of The Dominion for ten years and was appointed the inaugural editor for The Dominion Post, but resigned shortly after the newspaper merger.[19] Tim Pankhurst joined The Dominion Post shortly after it was founded to take over from Long. He resigned in February 2009 to head the New Zealand Press Association.[20] Bernadette Courtney, who had previously been assistant editor at The Dominion Post and had gone to become editor of the Manawatu Standard, was appointed to replace Pankhurst.[21] Courtney started in a national role for Stuff in 2018[22] and was replaced by Eric Janssen.[23]

Anna Fifield was appointed editor October 2020.[24][25] She left in December 2022.[26] Caitlin Cherry took over in February 2023,[27] and Tracy Watkins in July 2023.[28]

The following table lists the editors:

Name Portrait Term of office
Richard Long 2002
Tim Pankhurst 2002 2009
Bernadette Courtney 2009 2018
Eric Janssen 2018 2020
Anna Fifield 2020 2022
Caitlin Cherry 2023 2023
Tracy Watkins 2023[3] present

Awards and nominations received

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Year Award Category Result
2017 Voyager Media Awards[29] Best Newspaper-inserted Magazine Winner
Best coverage of a major news event Joint winner
2009 Qantas Media Awards[30] Best Website Breaking News Story Joint winner
Editorial Project with Significant Impact upon the Community Winner
Best Website Design Finalist
Best Daily Newspaper (Over 30,000 circulation) Finalist
Best Website Multi Media/Video Presentation Finalist

Awards and nominations for journalists employed by The Post

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Year Award Category Recipient Result
2018 Voyager Media Awards[31] Opinion Writing – Humour/Satire Dave Armstrong Winner
Cartoonist of the Year Sharon Murdoch Winner
2017 Voyager Media Awards[29] Feature Writer of the Year Nikki Macdonald Winner
Cartoonist of the Year Sharon Murdoch Winner
Opinion Writer of the Year Duncan Garner Winner
2009 Qantas Media Awards[30] Best Blog Greer McDonald Finalist
Adam Brown Finalist
Best Single Website Report Phil Kitchin and Diego Opatowski Winner
Best Senior Reporter Phil Kitchin Winner
Bernadette Courtney Finalist
Best Junior Reporter Matt Calman Finalist
Cartoonist of the Year Tom Scott Winner

References

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  1. ^ Te, Saing (2021), Media Ownership in New Zealand from 2011 to 2020 (PDF), Auckland: Auckland University of Technology, retrieved 23 July 2022
  2. ^ ZB, Newstalk. "Roman Travers: Changing Dominion Post's name makes no sense". ZB. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Stuff announces new editor for The Post". Stuff. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  4. ^ "INL to merge Evening Post with The Dominion". NZ Herald. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Dominion Post (New Zealand) - News Source Description - FPAdvisor". legacy-fpadvisor.financialpost.com. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Stuff". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Stuff's journey from newspaper pioneer to website to 'portfolio' business". Stuff. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  8. ^ "Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher buys company for $1". Radio NZ. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  9. ^ "'Evolving with its community': New name for The Dominion Post". The Dominion Post. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Stuff to put up first paywalls for news". Radio New Zealand. 27 April 2023. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  11. ^ a b ZB, Newstalk. "Roman Travers: Changing Dominion Post's name makes no sense". ZB. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Wellington.Scoop » New name for the Dominion Post". Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Is New Zealand really post-dominion? Legal expert says it's 'not actually that important'". RNZ. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  14. ^ Bradbury, Martyn (15 April 2023). "MEDIAWATCH: Dominion Post undergoes woke rename | The Daily Blog". thedailyblog.co.nz. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  15. ^ "Wellington.Scoop » New name for the Dominion Post". Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Is New Zealand really post-dominion? Legal expert says it's 'not actually that important'". RNZ. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  17. ^ Taylor, Phil (30 November 2020). "New Zealand media giant Stuff apologises for 'racist' past reporting". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Dominion Post editor on racist letter: 'We want to be held accountable'". RNZ. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Dominion Post editor resigns". The New Zealand Herald. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  20. ^ "Dominion Post editor Pankhurst steps down to head NPA". Sharechat. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  21. ^ "New editor for Dominion Post". The Dominion Post. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  22. ^ Harris, Georgina (4 May 2018). "A chance to reimagine the paper: Stuff's Bernadette Courtney on the change to compact and her new role". StopPress. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  23. ^ "Eric Janssen named new editor for The Dominion Post and Stuff in Wellington". The Dominion Post. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  24. ^ "Anna Fifield trades the Washington Post for the Dominion Post". Stuff. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  25. ^ "Eric Janssen: Tory Trougher or Good Bloke?". Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  26. ^ Fifield, Anna (23 December 2022). "Letter from the Dominion Post editor: Farewell, and please support local journalism". Stuff. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  27. ^ "Caitlin Cherry named new editor of The Dominion Post". Stuff. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  28. ^ "Stuff announces new editor for The Post". Stuff. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  29. ^ a b "2017 Winners". Voyager Media Awards. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  30. ^ a b "Stuff.co.nz picks up three Qantas awards". Stuff. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  31. ^ "2018 winners". Voyager Media Awards. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
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