Bauer Media says some of the nation’s most important magazines will be back within weeks now that new buyers have been found. But four months after the company shut down the likes of the New Zealand Woman's Weekly and The Listener, many staff have moved on and some subscribers have asked for their money back. What's the plan for bringing them back?
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Photo: Bauer
Nearly four months have passed since New Zealand’s biggest magazine maker by far - Bauer Media - stunned its own staff and infuriated its own customers by pulling the plug on them, claiming the COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown gave it no option.
The Listener and New Zealand Woman's Weekly - in print for more than 80 years - and the glossies Metro and North & South - created by editors Warwick Roger and Robyn Langwell back in the 1980s - all vanished from shop shelves and subsbribers' mailboxes as they searched for willing buyers.
More than 270 people lost their jobs and in May several of its journalists were escorted by security guards when they cleared out their desks at Bauer’s HQ in Auckland.
As weeks went by, names of possible and potential buyers appeared - along with news stories saying the process wasn't going well.
But in June Australia-based private equity firm Mercury Capital announced it was acquiring the company's magazines. It was no coincidence that the firm owns the company which printed many of the magazines until last April’s closure.
Last week Mercury Capital said Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, The Australian Women’s Weekly NZ, The Listener and Air NZ in-flight magazine Kia Ora would all “resume publishing immediately.”
Auckland entrepreneur Simon Chesterman has acquired Metro. He is one of the founders of the rugby streaming service RugbyPass, which was sold to Sky TV for $40 million last year.
And a couple of German journalists in Auckland - Konstantin Richter and Verena Friederike Hasel - have bought North & South.
“We see ourselves as hands-on publishers. We are passionate about bringing North & South back to life and are currently putting together the team," says a job ad for an office administrator- starting immediately:
However other Bauer lifestyle magazines NEXT, Taste, Fashion Quarterly, HOME and Simply You are still "being assessed for sale,” the statement said.
Bauer Media also said several of the company's Australian titles will also be distributed into the New Zealand market.
But this week it emerged there will be fewer of those too. Bauer axed another eight titles from Australia on Tuesday, prompting the editor of media news website Mumbrella to declare: "Good riddance to the Bauers, the family that wrecked Australia’s magazine industry."
Bauer’s statement said the New Zealand business would have around 40 local editorial and advertising personnel, headed up by Bauer’s former general manager Stuart Dick.
But who will be on the team?
Several of the best journalists from those magazines have moved on to other things. Award-winning North & South investigative writer Mike White for example is now investigating stuff and writing for Stuff. Other former Bauer writers have set up their own publications and businesses.
Brendan Hill, Bauer chief executive for Australia and New Zealand, told Mediawatch that Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, The Australian Women’s Weekly NZ and The Listener will be back in early September.
Mr Hill told Mediawatch recruitment was under way here in New Zealand and some journalists would start work this coming week and business premises would be ready in about two weeks.
But 40 staff in New Zealand clearly can’t do the same work as more than 250 people employed until April. Does that mean much of the work including the magazines' journalism will actually be done in Australia?
“All the content will be created in New Zealand and the advertising sold here. The back-end operations like circulation and human resources will be done in Australia,” he told Mediawatch.
How closely with these magazines resemble the ones subscribers and buyers were getting before the shutdown in April?
“They will be the same as they were prior. A lot of the people have been delighted to come back and we are happy with the team we put together so far - including ex-employees,“ he said.
“Things will be the same in terms of the pagination, the quality of content and the contributors, the art directors and journalists. During the lockdown period Woman’s Day and Australian Woman’s Weekly NZ had a lot of Australian content in them because they had to be produced in Australia over that period. They will be back in the New Zealand editorial office and they will have the same New Zealand editorial content they had before,” he said.
Subscribers have complained Bauer Media has been sitting on millions of dollars of subscribers' money during the months when nothing has been published.
Brendan Hill told Mediawatch 5-10 per cent of subscribers had asked for their money back since April – and the company has been prepared to pay them back at any point since April.
“Anyone could get a refund at any time and they still can,“ he said.
Brendan Hill told Mediawatch many of the journalists had recently been given contracts and details of their employment would be finalised in the coming week.