Daily Newspapers in NZ

A few facts you may not know about your news

The daily newspaper has shaped the way New Zealander's see their world for more than 100 years, and has no sign of becoming a thing of the past.

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Whoever said newspaper was a dying source of information was poorly misinformed.

Though the daily newspaper is facing a changing web-wise world and evolving to meet demand with online versions, daily papers in New Zealand remain a strong resource for regional communities.

They may have started from humble beginnings and been based largely on their big brother models in motherland England, but the daily newspaper in New Zealand has come a long way.

Shaped throughout the years to illuminate Kiwi values and reflect the changing landscape of New Zealand society, each long-established daily newspaper has stood the test of time to bring its readers the latest news coverage. Many have also evolved to include Internet-based online newspaper versions to meet the demand from readers for news on the go at the click of heir mouse.

Here are some fast facts you may not already know about some of the biggest daily newspapers in New Zealand.

The Press

• The first edition of The Press was published in May 1861 from a cottage in Montreal Street in Christchurch, using a hand-operated printing press.

• Founder James Edward Fitzgerald formed the company with a meagre capital of just 500 pounds, joining the newspaper business as his second career choice because he could not afford to buy a sheep run.

• Fitzgerald’s timing couldn’t have been better, because in the week The Press launched, gold was discovered in Central Otago. The subsequent gold rush meant a financial boost for the whole of the South Island, including The Press.

• The Press is now the only remaining daily newspaper in Christchurch.

The Dominion Post

• The Dominion Post is not only New Zealand’s newest daily newspaper, but it is also the second-largest daily newspaper in the country,

• It was launched in July 2002 following the merger of Wellington’s two competing daily newspapers, The Dominion and The Evening Post. It circulates mainly in the central North Island, from Wellington to Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, across to Taupo and to New Plymouth in the west. It also sells in Auckland and the top of the South Island.

The Timaru Herald

• The Timaru Herald began publishing in 1864, initially as a weekly, then bi and tri-weekly, before becoming a daily morning newspaper on January 1, 1878.

• The Timaru Herald has been something of a trendsetter in the New Zealand newspaper industry over the years.In 1900 it became one of the first New Zealand daily papers to replace hand-composed type with a linotype setting machine, in 1957 it became the first daily newspaper to offer two-colour printing, and in 1988 it became the first newspaper in the South Pacific to introduce fully computerised page layout and production systems.

The Waikato Times

• Founded in 1872, The Waikato Times is one of New Zealand's oldest newspapers, but also has the grand title as being the country’s largest regional daily newspaper.

• The Waikato Times daily newspaper covers the region south of Auckland to Taupo, including large areas of New Zealand's premier dairy, forestry and thoroughbred land developments and reaching 97,000 readers every day.

• The Waikato Times won best major daily newspaper in the 1996 Qantas Awards, was a finalist best major daily newspaper in 1997 and judged runner up best major daily newspaper in 1999.

So how does your daily newspaper reach your doorstep each morning? It’s quite a process to fill the pages of a daily newspaper everyday and get it out to readers, but it’s a routine industry giants have perfected over the years.

There are many crucial steps involved throughout the production, print, and distribution processes, all of which combine to ensure an up-to-date and error free issue reaches readers.

The basics of getting each daily newspaper to your door
Firstly, a paper’s editors will determine the amount of pages and editorial copy in each issue based on the advertising space that has already been sold. Editorial assignments and news stories are assigned to journalists and staff writers, who then work to produce their content before their deadline.

News items and editorial pieces are checked and sometimes rewritten, and then laid out by sub-editors in a draft version of the paper called a ‘dummy’. The dummy has rough notes for headlines, story insertions, and graphic elements such as photos and images. Once everything has been finalised, including breaking news that may be inserted at the last moments of production, the issue will be sent to print.

Using technologically advanced printing presses, each issue of a daily paper is then published onto newsprint, with machines arranging and cutting papers into the right format for distribution. Distribution teams then make sure the issue gets to homes and newsstands throughout the region by morning, with truck drivers and delivery crew working throughout the early hours of the morning.

A daily newspaper will often have hundreds of staff on board across all departments to ensure a smooth delivery of the news. With advancements in technology and a merging with the Internet, readers can now choose to access their daily newspaper directly online.

To read your daily newspaper online click here.

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Lifestyle images from Flickr: newspaper, Yoga and Wine.