''Newsroom'' is a New Zealand-based online news publication. It focuses on New Zealand politics, current affairs and social issues. The site is currently co-edited by Tim Murphy and Mark Jennings.

History

Launch

The site launched on 13 March 2017 with a promise to cover "the things that matter" and the hope of being a "New Zealand version of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''". ''Newsroom'''s initial funding had come from four "foundation sponsors", which included the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

. The site launched with a group of 16 writers. The site was founded by Tim Murphy, the former editor in chief of the ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', and Mark Jennings, former head of news and current affairs at

Newshub ''Newshub'' (stylised as ''Newshub.'') is a New Zealand news service that airs on the television channels Three and Eden, as well as on digital platforms. It formerly operated across radio stations run by MediaWorks Radio until December 2021 ...

. Its first scoop accused an egg supplier of passing off caged eggs as free-range. Prior to 2017, Newsroom was an unrelated web site established in the 1990s that aggregated breaking news and press releases.

New Zealand general election, 2017

''Newsroom'' broke two significant stories which influenced the

New Zealand general election, 2017 The 2017 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. The previous parliament was elected on 20 September 2014 and was officially dissolved on 22 August 2 ...

. On June 20, 2017, the site revealed the clandestine recording of a staff member working for the MP

Todd Barclay Todd Keith Barclay (born 8 June 1990) is a former New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Clutha-Southland at the 2014 general election. In 2017, Barclay resigned from parliament in disgrace a ...

, in an article titled "Politicians, police, and the payout". The article explored the extent of the police investigation and the involvement of then Prime Minister

Bill English Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...

. ''Newsroom'' described the staff member involved as having been paid "hush money" from the Prime Minister's budget. Several days later, Barclay announced that he would not stand for re-election. In collaboration with the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', ''Newsroom'' raised an issue with the background of Chinese National Party MP Jian Yang. The site reported that the Security Intelligence Service had scrutinized Yang and that in an interview with the ''Financial Times'' in 2011, Yang had confirmed that he attended two military institutions that Newsroom described as "elite Chinese spy schools". The ''Financial Times'' says one of the schools is part of China's military intelligence apparatus, training linguists to intercept foreign communications. Yang was a lecturer at the Foreign Language Institute and his immigration file shows he taught the English language and American studies. Yang claimed he taught his students to simply monitor communications, rather than carry out "the physical act of spying". He conceded he could be seen as having taught spies. The ''

'' later reported that Yang did not disclose his links to the schools in his citizenship applications. Newsroom partnered with the international survey firm SSI to conduct its first election poll.

Today

''Newsroom'' was jointly awarded the 'Website Of The Year' award along with

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...

at the 2018 Voyager Media Awards.

Newsroom Pro

Newsroom Pro is an online subscription news service based in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. It reports on parliament and the Beehive. Its editor is Jonathan Milne.

Legal action

In September 2017, Sir Ray Avery brought claims against Newsroom under the Harmful Digital Communications Act regarding a series of articles that alleged Avery had tried to suppress clinical studies regarding his Acuset IV flow controller. Netsafe chose not to pursue the complaint after Newsroom refused to redact the articles. In 2017,

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020, ...

served legal documents against co-editor

Tim Murphy Timothy Murphy may refer to: Politics * Tim Murphy (American politician) (born 1952), American Republican Party politician from Pennsylvania * Tim Murphy (Canadian politician) (born 1959), Canadian politician * Timothy J. Murphy (1893–1949), I ...

regarding the leaking of information regarding Peters' superannuation payments.

Criticism

In 2022, Newsroom was criticised for its uncritical and sympathetic coverage of extremist and fringe organisations behind the

2022 Wellington protests The 2022 Wellington protest was an anti-vaccine, anti-mandate occupation of the grounds of Parliament House and Molesworth Street in Central Wellington during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It began in February 2022 and lasted just over ...

References

{{reflist New Zealand news websites Internet properties established in 2017 2017 establishments in New Zealand Podcasting companies