''North & South'' is a

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 ...

monthly national current affairs

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

, specialising in long-form investigative stories and

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

. In an eight-page article in 2015, for example, "Long Walk to Justice", staff writer Mike White asked if New Zealand’s justice system should establish an independent commission to investigate wrongful convictions. Issues involving justice in New Zealand provide a theme for many of his stories for ''North & South''. The editorial content also includes profiles of New Zealanders, brief stories, essays, opinion, music, film and book reviews, food, and travel.

History and profile

''North & South'' was launched in April 1986 by Metro Publications – Mick Mason and Bruce Palmer, under editor Robyn Langwell.

ACP Magazines Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 2010 ...

then sold to ACP. It is now published by

Bauer Media Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 ra ...

NZ, based in

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 ...

. Bauer Media NZ acquired the title in September 2012. Virginia Larson succeeded Robyn Langwell as editor in 2008 until 2020. The magazine has won more than 300 journalism, photography and design awards, including multiple MPA Magazine of the Year awards, Citi Journalism Awards for Excellence and Wolfson Fellowships to the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, United Kingdom. In early April 2020, the Bauer Media Group closed down several of its New Zealand brands including ''North & South'' in response to the economic downturn caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported ...

. On 17 June 2020, Sydney investment firm

Mercury Capital Mercury Capital is an Australian investment firm that owns a range of healthcare and media companies. Assets *Blue Star Group, acquired January 2013 *International Volunteer HQ, 80% shareholding acquired in November 2017 *Are Media, acquired i ...

purchased ''North and South'' as part of its acquisition of Bauer Media's New Zealand and Australian media assets. On 17 July, Mercury Capital confirmed that it would be selling ''North and South'' to independent publishers Konstantin Richter and Verena Friederike Hasel.

Contribution to press freedom

In 1995, ''North & South'' published an article by Joe Atkinson in which he called ex-Prime Minister

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

lazy. Lange objected to this and other criticisms in the article, and sued Atkinson and the publishers for defamation. The subsequent case ran for five years, and resulted in the media being able to use a defence of

qualified privilege The defence of qualified privilege permits a person in a position of authority or trust to make statements or relay or report statements that would be considered slander and libel if made by anyone else. In New Zealand and Ontario, for instance, ...

when reporting on politicians. This was a ground-breaking extension of press freedom, which was subsequently subsumed in a more general defence of public interest communication.

Controversy

In November 2006,

Deborah Coddington Deborah Coddington is a New Zealand journalist and former ACT New Zealand politician. Pre-political career Coddington, born in Waipukurau, worked from 1973 to 1984 as a magazine journalist, but in 1985 moved to Russell, a town in the Bay of I ...

wrote a cover article, "Asian Angst", questioning immigration and referencing the high profile of "Asian" crime, talking of a "gathering crime tide" and an "Asian menace". Coddington's article attempted to justify this language by pointing to a 53% increase in police arrest figures for "Asians" over the last 10 years. However, she neglected to mention that the corresponding overall "Asian" population had increased by more than 100% in that time and that the arrest rate among that "Asian" population (which was already very low compared to the general population) had halved. A member of the general population was now four times more likely to be arrested than an "Asian". Outraged reaction swiftly followed, and formal complaints to

New Zealand Press Council The New Zealand Media Council (Māori: ''Te kaunihera ao pāpāho o Aotearoa'') is a non-governmental organisation which exists to uphold standards in the New Zealand media industry and promote freedom of speech in New Zealand. Founded in 1972 as ...

came from the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the head of Journalism at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

and a consortium of mostly academics, journalists and ethnic Asian community leaders led by Tze Ming Mok. The following month, the

condemned Coddington's article and ordered North & South to print an apology. The Press Council found the language of the article "misleading" and "emotionally loaded". The Council stated that even though journalists are "entitled to take a strong position on issues they address ... that does not legitimise gratuitous emphasis on dehumanising racial stereotypes and fear-mongering and, of course, the need for accuracy always remains". Coddington called the New Zealand Press Council's decision "pathetic".

Columnists and staff writers

A number of prominent New Zealand journalists have written for ''North and South''. These include:

Gallery

File:April 2013 NZ North&South magazine cover.jpg, April 2013 File:October 2014 NZ North&South cover.jpg, October 2014 File:August 2015 NZ North&South magazine cover.jpg, August 2015 File:November 2015 NZ North&South magazine cover.jpg, November 2015 File:May 2017 issue NZ North & South magazine cover NZ Green Party.jpg, May 2017 File:Feb 2018 issue North & South magazine NZ.jpg, Feb 2018

References

External links

Bauer Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:North and South (New Zealand magazine) 1986 establishments in New Zealand 2020 disestablishments in New Zealand ACP magazine titles Magazines established in 1986 Monthly magazines published in New Zealand News magazines published in New Zealand Mass media in Auckland