The ''Niue Star'' is a monthly (previously weekly)

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, founded on 11 June 1993."World's only Niuean newspaper celebrates 30th anniversary"

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

, 29 June 2023"The country’s only newspaper, Niue Star turns 30 this month"
TV Niue, June 2023"Michael Jackson joins Samoa Observer"
, ''Samoa Observer'', 16 March 2008 It is Niue's only newspaper."Le Programme international pour le développement de la communication de l'UNESCO soutient le journal de Niue"

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, 16 July 2002"L'île de NIUE: présentattion"
, Université de la Nouvelle-Calédonie Its founder, owner, editor, journalist and photographer is and has always been Michael Jackson. The newspaper is distributed in Niue,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and previously

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and had a circulation of 800 in 2005,"Pacific publishing tough in NZ, say publishers"
, Pacific Media Watch, 9 October 2005 which had dropped to 200 by the time of its 30th anniversary in 2023. It is a bilingual newspaper, published both in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and in Niuean. In 2023, about a quarter of its content was written in English and about three quarters in Niuean.

History

The ''Niue Star'' was founded with the assistance of AESOPS, which provided Jackson with equipment including a computer, a digital camera and a printing press. It also provided Jackson with a journalism course. The latter had previously worked as publisher of the now-defunct government newspaper '' Tohi Tala Niue'', but set up the private ''Niue Star'' as his own initiative. The ''Star'' was originally printed in

Alofi Alofi is the capital of the Pacific Ocean island nation of Niue. With a population of 597 in 2017, Alofi has the distinction of being the second smallest national capital city in terms of population (after Ngerulmud, capital of Palau). It consi ...

, until its main office and printing shop were destroyed by

Cyclone Heta Severe Tropical Cyclone Heta was a Category 5 tropical cyclone that caused moderate damage to the islands of Tonga, Niue, and American Samoa during late December 2003 and early January 2004. Heta formed on December 25, 2003; it reached a maximum ...

in 2004. It then moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. According to its editor Michael Jackson in 2008, :''"The ''Niue Star'' is the community newspaper. Now it's mainly information, village happenings, community happenings, family interest stories like hair cuttings and ear piercing. The good thing about it is that all our families in New Zealand and Australia are looking forward for the ''Niue Star'' to read how, you know, what goes on back home and to see these colourful photographs. So that's my market.""Death and crime not major focus for Niue Star newspaper"
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 28 September 2008 Jackson also reports on political news (" the government is, you know, not doing the right thing and the people want to know, then I will insist in reporting it."), and, through the ''Star'', aims to "connect Niueans wherever they are". A large majority of Niueans live outside Niue itself, which, due to continuous emigration, had a population of barely 1000 in 2008. Most Niuean expatriates live in New Zealand, where the ''Niue Star'' is distributed within the Niuean community, giving them access to church news and to photographs and descriptions of family members taking part in village events in Niue. From a peak of about 1,700, circulation by 2023 had dropped to just 200, in Niue and in Auckland, and the formerly weekly newspaper was now published only monthly. The newspaper has a website, niuestar.online, but it has not been updated since 2018.

References

External links

''Niue Star''
{{Authority control Companies of Niue Newspapers established in 1993 Newspapers published in New Zealand Newspapers published in Niue Bilingual newspapers 1993 establishments in Niue