The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the
New Zealand Press Association
The New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) was a news agency that existed from 1879 to 2011 and provided national and international news to the media of New Zealand. The largest news agency in the country, it was founded as the United Press Associa ...
and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand. It is owned by media business
Stuff Ltd, formerly the New Zealand branch of
Australian media 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 2019, the newspaper won the title of New Zealand Newspaper of the Year.
History
The ''Sunday Star-Times'' was first published in March 1994 after the merger of ''
The Dominion Sunday Times'' and ''The Sunday
Star''. The ''Dominion Sunday Times'' started in 1965 and was renamed to ''Sunday Times'' (1976–1981), ''New Zealand Times'' (1981–1986), New Zealand Sunday Times (1986–1987), then reverted to its original (1987–1992), before it was known as the ''Sunday Times'' (1992–1994).
Jenny Wheeler
Jennifer Sylvia "Jenny" Wheeler is an Auckland newspaper journalist, magazine editor, author and company director, born in Thames, New Zealand, Thames 21 December 1946. She was founding editor of the ''The Sunday Star-Times, Sunday Star'' newspa ...
was the editor for six and a half years. The paper was edited by Cate Brett from 2003 until 2008 when she took up a post at the
New Zealand Law Commission
New Zealand's Law Commission was established in 1986 by the Law Commission Act 1985. The Commission is an independent Crown entity as defined in the Crown Entities Act 2004.
The main objective of the Law Commission, as declared in its founding ...
. She was replaced by Australian
Mitchell Murphy who, in 2010, was promoted to the role of publisher for Fairfax Sundays and in 2012 to executive director of publishing. In May 2010 David Kemeys was appointed editor, reporting directly to Murphy.
Jonathan Milne was editor of the Sunday Star Times from 2014 to June 2019.
The paper has a focus on providing an entertaining Sunday read with a mixture of news, features and celebrity gossip.
Regular contributors for the ''Sunday Star-Times'' include
Rosemary McLeod
Rosemary Margaret McLeod (born December 1949) is a New Zealand writer, journalist, cartoonist and columnist.
Career
McLeod began her career as a journalist in 1970, working for The Sunday Times in Wellington before moving to Eve magazine, whe ...
,
Michael Laws
Michael Laws (born 1957) is a New Zealand politician, broadcaster and writer. Laws was a Member of Parliament for six years, starting in 1990, initially for the National Party. In Parliament he voted against his party on multiple occasions an ...
, and Finlay MacDonald.
Steve Braunias was a regular columnist for the Sunday magazine part of the newspaper, but was sacked in early 2011 for exchanging abusive emails with a Gisborne police prosecutor named Claire Stewart.
On 21 October 2018, the paper changed format from
broadsheet to
tabloid, following Stuff's conversion of their 9 daily papers in April that year.
Māori Party claims
In 2004 the paper published a front-page story claiming that the
New Zealand Security Intelligence Service
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS or SIS; mi, Te Pā Whakamarumaru) is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on matters including national security (inc ...
was spying on members of the newly formed
Māori Party
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
. The article was co-authored by
Nicky Hager
Nicky Hager (born 1958) is a New Zealand investigative journalist. He has produced seven books since 1996, covering topics such as intelligence networks, environmental issues and politics. He is one of two New Zealand members of the Internationa ...
. A government inquiry led by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security later rejected these claims in April 2005, and the paper had to publish a front page apology to its readers when a government investigation found the claims to be unsubstantiated.
Awards and nominations
See also
*
List of print media in New Zealand
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday Star-Times
Newspapers published in New Zealand
Mass media in Auckland
Sunday newspapers
Publications established in 1994
1994 establishments in New Zealand