Asia-Pacific Regional Press Freedom Seminar

Country Report - New Zealand

New Zealand has a multi-racial population (indigenous Maori, Pacific Islanders, Asian, and significant groups from many other parts of the world) of nearly 4m with those of European descent predominating. Geographically the country is a long and narrow group of islands with an extensive coastline.

There are published 5 metropolitan dailies, 23 provincial newspapers (mostly daily) and 2 Sundays and 2 weekly business newspapers. Also there are a material number of small newspapers published in languages other than English but exact information on them is not readily available. New Zealand is well served with quality newspapers.

About 90% of the metropolitans and provincial newspapers are in the ownership of international media companies. New Zealand's economy in general is very much affected by worldwide economic downturns and these quickly manifest themselves in loss to newspaper publishers.

The newspaper industry worldwide has responded to the competition of the Internet in three ways. Firstly, by emphasising and exploiting the distinctive nature and traditional strengths of the print medium. What readers see in their newspapers has been put there by trained journalists, working within clear ethical lines and professional standards. The material has been selected and edited, with someone carrying responsibility for its accuracy and quality at every stage of its preparation. Some newspapers will see a particular strength in their identity with, and comprehensive coverage of, the local community; others will see their sustained investigative articles and their authoritative analysis of current issues as doing something no other medium provides. Newspapers have been challenged, not supplanted, in New Zealand by the arrival of the Internet, and will continue to inform and entertain in their familiar way. Browsing in newspapers will continue to be a sociable and pleasurable experience.

The second way the industry in New Zealand has responded is by establishing newspaper Internet sites that complement existing print titles. Several New Zealand newspapers, both metropolitan and provincial have established themselves on the Internet, either as sole sites, or as participants in a corporate cluster of sites.

Thirdly there is a new development for New Zealand in that one of the morning metropolitan dailies, The Press, published in Christchurch has just been offered as a complete online newspaper. Electronic replicas of the entire Press - text, headlines, colour photographs etc are being delivered via the Internet to anywhere in the world simultaneously with production of the newspaper in Christchurch. Single copy and subscription sales of The Press are offered through the owner's web-site www.stuff.co.nz

These New Zealand initiatives are part of an international drive by the industry to build a presence as trusted, professional communicators in an Internet scene in which there is a plethora of news sites.

The flowering of the community newspapers is an impressive phenomenon in New Zealand. Most such newspapers are "give-aways" to be picked up free at distribution points in shopping areas or delivered to letterboxes at home. Most are weeklies, some come out 2 or even 3 times per week. The ratio of advertisements to editorial varies from newspaper to newspaper. The total circulation of communities is about per 2.6 million copies per week. The communities fulfil an important function in the delivery of local news. The leading international owner/publishers are significantly involved in the publication of community newspapers.

The main stream newspapers are members of the Newspapers Publishers Association and the following figures were made available from the NPA.

Total average daily newspaper Circulation (Daily press and Sunday papers)

1999 - 1,091,125

2000 - 1,096,523

2001 - 1,071,810

Readership on a typical day

1999 - more than 1.7 million New Zealanders over the age of 15 read a newspaper

2000 - more than 1.6 million over the age of 15 read a newspaper

2001 - approximately 1.6 million over the age of 15 read a newspaper

Weekly Spend on Newspapers (Dailies and Sundays)

1999 - New Zealanders spent approximately $4 million per week

2000 - New Zealanders spent approximately $4.2 million per week

2001 - New Zealanders spent just over $4.5 million per week

The government plays no role in the publication of ordinary newspapers nor does it exercise control over newspapers. Newspaper publication commercially is left in the hands of private enterprise.

New Zealand enjoys a very high level of freedom of expression. The concept was recently given statutory endorsement in the Bill of Rights Act, 1990, which in s14 states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form.

In practice New Zealanders are enthusiastic users of free expression. With independent international studies on freedom of expression in New Zealand usually rates in the top bracket. There are few restrictions on freedom of expression but the usual sections in the Crimes Act are present, as are the defamation laws. There are other Acts that exercise a more precise role in areas of publication but not so as to limit freedom of expression in a material way. For example the Privacy Act and the Coroners Act.

Does it mean, therefore, that in a democratically governed society, with a high standard of living there are no challenges left to express our regard for a free press? There are still goals for us to attain, not in the provision of basic freedoms but in their use.

In my paper to be delivered this afternoon I recount the history of the New Zealand Press Council and its recent publication of a Statement of Principles. In the interests of time I simply confirm that there is in New Zealand a very active and independent press council that receives complaints from the public and vigorously at all times supports the concept of self-regulation of the industry. An important part of the Press Council is its persistent advocacy of freedom of expression.

Sir John Jeffries
Chairman of the New Zealand Press Council

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