A twice-weekly Auckland newspaper, in print for three decades, will go online.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
The Auckland City Harbour News, owned by Fairfax NZ, has been delivered to 20,000 houses from Ponsonby to Mount Albert since 1985.
Fairfax national communities editor Jeremy Rees said the paper was no longer commercially viable and from next month would appear online only. There was not enough advertising to cover the printing production, delivery, journalists and advertising sales staff, he said.
The inner-city paper always struggled to develop an identity, he said, unlike its strong suburban sister papers East Bays Courier and Western Leader.
"Maybe we didn't have the news mix right, or maybe the advertising was elsewhere," he said.
While digital media might gradually take over print, many of Fairfax NZ's 52 suburban and rural publications were still well-loved with a long runway ahead, Mr Rees said.
"There isn't anyone else generally doing the news for those areas [and] there are a lot of people who still want to read local news," he said.
Mr Rees said some delivery jobs would be affected but there would be no other job losses.
All the reporters and staff would continue to create content for Auckland City Harbour News online and for Stuff.co.nz.
Three other bi-weekly Auckland papers - the Central Leader, the East Bays Courier and the Eastern Courier - will become weekly papers from the beginning of October.