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Stuff Ltd (previously Fairfax New Zealand) is a privately held
news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and ...
company operating in New Zealand. It operates Stuff, the country's largest news website, and owns nine daily newspapers, including New Zealand's second and third-highest circulation daily newspapers, '' The Dominion Post'' and ''
The Press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...
'', and the highest circulation weekly, '' Sunday Star-Times''. Magazines published include ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...
'', New Zealand's top-selling weekly magazine. Stuff also owns social media network Neighbourly. Stuff Ltd has been owned by
Sinead Boucher Sinead Marie Boucher (née O'Hanlon; born 26 June 1970) is a New Zealand journalist and chief executive of Stuff Ltd. On 31 May 2020 she became the owner of Stuff Ltd. Early life and family Born in 1970 to Sean and Mary O'Hanlon, Boucher moved w ...
since 31 May 2020. It was called Fairfax New Zealand Limited until 1 February 2018.


History

The print publications and the Stuff website previously belonged to Independent Newspapers Limited, until they were sold to Australian company
Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...
in 2003. When a 7.8 earthquake struck Kaikōura 14 November 2016, cutting the town off via road access, Stuff (then Fairfax New Zealand) flew free copies of its newspapers to residents. In 2016, Fairfax New Zealand and media company
New Zealand Media and Entertainment New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Netw ...
(NZME) sought clearance from the
Commerce Commission The Commerce Commission ( mi, Te Komihana Tauhokohoko) is a New Zealand government agency with responsibility for enforcing legislation that relates to competition in the country's markets, fair trading and consumer credit contracts, and regul ...
to merge their operations in New Zealand. As part of the merger proposal, Stuff's Australian owner Fairfax Media would have received a 41 per cent stake in the combined business plus $55 million cash. On 2 May 2017, the Commerce Commission declined to approve the merger. Stuff Ltd. and NZME appealed the Commission's decision to the Wellington High Court, which upheld the Commission's decision on 18 December 2017. In June 2018, the companies appealed the Commission's decision at the
New Zealand Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the principal intermediate appellate court of New Zealand. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. In practice, most appeals are resolved at this intermediate appellate level, rather t ...
, which rejected their merger bid on 25 September 2018. In October 2018, Stuff and NZME abandoned their first merger attempt. In December 2018 Fairfax Media merged with Australia's
Nine Entertainment Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brand ...
. In July 2019, Nine Entertainment attempted to sell Stuff but did not receive any adequate bids. In November 2019, NZME confirmed that it had entered into negotiations with Nine Entertainment to purchase Stuff and submitted a proposal to the New Zealand Government regarding a "possible transaction." NZME proposed a "Kiwishare" arrangement that would ringfence Stuff's editorial operations and protect local journalism. On 11 May 2020, NZME offered to purchase Stuff for a symbolic $1 on the basis of saving jobs during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. In response, Stuff's parent company Nine Entertainment terminated further discussion with NZME. In response, NZME filed for an emergency injunction at the Auckland High Court to force Nine Entertainment back into negotiations. On 19 May, the Auckland High Court rejected NZME's bid for an interim injunction against Nine Entertainment. On 25 May, Nine Entertainment agreed to sell Stuff to Stuff's chief executive
Sinead Boucher Sinead Marie Boucher (née O'Hanlon; born 26 June 1970) is a New Zealand journalist and chief executive of Stuff Ltd. On 31 May 2020 she became the owner of Stuff Ltd. Early life and family Born in 1970 to Sean and Mary O'Hanlon, Boucher moved w ...
for NZ$1, with the transaction due to be completed by 31 May. This marks the return of the company into New Zealand ownership. Nine will retain all of the proceeds of the sale of wholesale broadband business Stuff Fibre to telecommunications company Vocus Group, and ownership of Stuff's Wellington printing press.


Management

Allen Williams was chief executive officer of Fairfax New Zealand Limited from April 2009 until April 2013, when he was promoted to managing director of Australian Publishing Media. Andrew Boyle was acting managing director until Simon Tong started as managing director in September 2013. Tong left in March 2017, just days prior to the
Commerce Commission The Commerce Commission ( mi, Te Komihana Tauhokohoko) is a New Zealand government agency with responsibility for enforcing legislation that relates to competition in the country's markets, fair trading and consumer credit contracts, and regul ...
announcing their final decision on the proposed Fairfax New Zealand merger with
New Zealand Media and Entertainment New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Netw ...
(NZME). Tong was succeeded by Boyle as acting managing director until
Sinead Boucher Sinead Marie Boucher (née O'Hanlon; born 26 June 1970) is a New Zealand journalist and chief executive of Stuff Ltd. On 31 May 2020 she became the owner of Stuff Ltd. Early life and family Born in 1970 to Sean and Mary O'Hanlon, Boucher moved w ...
was appointed chief executive officer in August 2017. Boucher had first been employed by Fairfax as a branch office reporter for ''The Press'' in 1993.


Current publications


Major mastheads


Community newspapers


Auckland and Northland


Wellington


Waikato


Other


Magazines


Former publications

Stuff announced in February 2018 that it would close or sell 28 of its smaller community and rural mastheads. The 28 titles are:


Digital properties

In November 2017 Stuff Ltd took full ownership of hyper-local social media network Neighbourly, having first bought a 22.5 percent stake in December 2014. In May 2018 Stuff Ltd took full ownership of internet service provider Stuff Fibre, which won the People's Choice Award, NZ Broadband Provider of the Year, Best Fibre Broadband Provider, and Best Broadband Innovation at the 2019 Broadband Compare Awards. Stuff Ltd also had a 49 percent share in New Zealand-based energy retailer energyclubnz. In 2019, Stuff Ltd launched a video platform, Play Stuff. The website hosts free content sourced from content providers such as BBC, Reuters and the Press Association as well as local content from
NZ On Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...
and Bravo New Zealand. On 20 May 2020, Stuff sold Stuff Fibre to Vocus and sold its share of energyclubnz back to its founder.


Awards

Stuff Ltd has won both national and international awards for its corporate leadership and management.


See also

* List of print media in New Zealand *
Mass media in New Zealand The mass media in New Zealand include television stations, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and websites. Most outlets are foreign-owned; media conglomerates like NZME, Stuff, MediaWorks, Discovery and Sky dominate the media landscape. ...


References

{{Authority control Companies based in Wellington Newspaper companies of New Zealand
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 ...
Nine Entertainment