The story
Fairfax Media, 2003–2018
The print publications and the Stuff website previously belonged to Independent Newspapers Limited, until they were sold to Australian company Fairfax Media in 2003.
When a 7.8 earthquake struck Kaikōura 14 November 2016, cutting the town off via road access, Stuff (then Fairfax New Zealand) flew free copies of its newspapers to residents.
In 2016, Fairfax New Zealand and media company New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) sought clearance from the Commerce Commission to merge their operations in New Zealand. As part of the merger proposal, Stuff's Australian owner Fairfax Media would have received a 41 per cent stake in the combined business plus $55 million cash. On 2 May 2017, the Commerce Commission declined to approve the merger. Stuff Ltd. and NZME appealed the Commission's decision to the Wellington High Court, which upheld the Commission's decision on 18 December 2017. In June 2018, the companies appealed the Commission's decision at the New Zealand Court of Appeal, which rejected their merger bid on 25 September 2018. In October 2018, Stuff and NZME abandoned their first merger attempt.
On 1 February 2018, Fairfax New Zealand Limited changed its name to Stuff Limited.
Nine Entertainment, 2018–2020
In July 2018, Stuff's parent company Fairfax Media merged with Australia's Nine Entertainment, which acquired Stuff and its stable of New Zealand newspapers. In July 2019, Nine Entertainment attempted to sell Stuff but did not receive any adequate bids.
In November 2019, NZME confirmed that it had entered into negotiations with Nine Entertainment to purchase Stuff and submitted a proposal to the New Zealand Government regarding a "possible transaction." NZME proposed a "Kiwishare" arrangement that would ringfence Stuff's editorial operations and protect local journalism.
On 11 May 2020, NZME offered to purchase Stuff for a symbolic $1 on the basis of saving jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Stuff's parent company Nine Entertainment terminated further discussion with NZME. In response, NZME filed for an emergency injunction at the Auckland High Court to force Nine Entertainment back into negotiations. On 19 May, the Auckland High Court rejected NZME's bid for an interim injunction against Nine Entertainment.
Sinead Boucher, 2020–present
On 25 May, Nine Entertainment agreed to sell Stuff to Stuff's chief executive Sinead Boucher for NZ$1, with the transaction due to be completed by 31 May. This marked the return of the company into New Zealand ownership. Nine retained all of the proceeds of the sale of wholesale broadband business Stuff Fibre to telecommunications company Vocus Group, and ownership of Stuff's Wellington printing press.
Read the full text
In later-released court filings, it was revealed Nine had decided it would shut down Stuff if a merger or sale had not proceeded by 31 May.
2022 news team restructuring
On 18 October 2022, Stuff released details of a proposed restructure for its regional and local publications. Under the proposal, the number of newsroom staff at the Manawatū Standard, Nelson Mail, and Timaru Herald would be reduced from seven reporters to three. Other regional newspapers Taranaki Daily News and The Southland Times would retain four reporters each. In addition, news director roles at regional papers would be disestablished, with the remaining editors expected to write news. Stuff has proposed counterbalancing these job cuts by establishing a new regional team composed of a group regional editor, four news directors and nine breaking news reporters. According to Radio New Zealand, several unidentified Stuff employees expressed sadness and unease about the restructuring and increased work load.
In response to the proposed restructuring, several journalists affiliated with the E tū union organised strikes in December 2022. Despite opposition from employees, Stuff proceeded with the planned restructuring in early December 2022. Stuff's Chief Content Officer Joanna Norris defended the restructuring, stating that the company had created an internal news service operating across regional New Zealand that would be able to cover stories at any time and place. By contrast, Mayor of Nelson Nick Smith expressed concern about the impact of job cuts on the quality of local newspaper Nelson Mail's news coverage.
Flagship brands' web launch
On 27 April 2023, Stuff confirmed that it would launch separate subscription-based websites for three of its newspapers: The Dominion Post, The Press, and Waikato Times. These websites will co-exist with the free Stuff news website. In addition, Stuff confirmed that The Dominion Post would be revamped as The Post from 29 April.
In early October 2024, Stuff Digital's Head of Growth Janine Fenwick confirmed that the Stuff news website would be reorganising its regional news content. Content from the Stuff Group's North Island newspapers Taranaki Daily News, Manawatu Standard and the Wairarapa Times-Age would be hosted on The Post's website while South Island newspapers Southland Times, Nelson Mail, Timaru Herald and Marlborough Express would be hosted on The Press's website. Users would also be prompted to subscribe to a single subscription package offering unlimited access to content on The Post, The Press and Waikato Times websites.
2024 developments
On 16 April 2024, Stuff announced an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to replace the outgoing Newshub news service with an evening news bulletin provided by Stuff from 6 July 2024. The news bulletin will run from 6pm to 7pm on weekdays and a 30 minute news bulletin on Saturday and Sunday. As part of the agreement, Warner Bros. Discovery will pay Stuff an annual fee, estimated to be likely in the millions. Stuff publisher Boucher also confirmed that Stuff would hire several former Newshub staff (less than 40–50) to produce the 6pm bulletins.
On 7 May 2024, Stuff confirmed that it would hire seven former Newshub journalists—Samantha Hayes, Jenna Lynch, Laura Tupou, Ollie Ritchie, Juliet Speedy, Zane Small and Heather Keats—to produce its 6pm news bulletin and other news products. In late May 2024, Stuff revealed that the new 6pm news bulletin would be called ThreeNews.
On 15 May 2024, the Stuff Group acquired the Wairarapa Times-Age newspaper, its website and associated publications from National Media Limited.
In mid-June 2024, the Stuff Group announced that a new community newspaper called The Waikato Local Te Pūtahi would be launched in the Waikato Region on 3 July. This newspaper replaced several defunct Stuff community newspapers including the Piako Post, Matamata Chronicle, South Waikato News and the Hamilton Press. The Waikato Local was also distributed in Te Aroha and Tīrau.
In December 2024, The Spinoff website reported that Stuff would be restructured into two divisions: Stuff Digital and Masthead Publishing. Stuff Digital was given oversight over stuff.co.nz, Neighbourly and its audio and video divisions. Masthead Publishing was given responsibility over the company's newspaper brands and their websites particularly The Post, The Press and Waikato Times. In late March 2025, The New Zealand Herald reported that Stuff had threatened to pursue a defamation lawsuit against The Spinoff for covering the restructuring.
2025-26 developments
On 21 March, NZME confirmed it had entered into negotiations with Stuff in late 2024 to acquire several of its Wellington and South Island newspapers in order to boost its OneRoof business revenue and audience. However, Stuff had paused these talks in response to Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon's bid to replace NZME's current leadership board during a shareholder meeting scheduled for 29 April 2025.
On 25 March, retail website Trade Me CEO Anders Skoe confirmed that his company and Stuff had been discussing content sharing and other unspecified collaborations. On 3 June, Trade Me acquired a 50 percent stake in the Stuff Digital division, whose assets include the website Stuff and the evening news bulletin ThreeNews. In addition, Stuff's property section will be rebranded as Trade Me Property, with listings, advertisements and some content shared across both platforms.
On 19 August 2025, unionised employees of Stuff affiliated with the E tū union voted to strike to protest their employer's plan to split their collective bargaining agreement into two agreements, reflecting the company's split into separate digital and print divisions.
In late March 2026, Stuff announced plans to close down its Petone printing press in 2027, affecting about 30 jobs.
From Wikipedia’s article on Stuff (company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4