Mayors and local leaders have urged publisher Stuff to reconsider proposed cuts in regional newsrooms in response to rising costs.

In September, Stuff Group announced plans to "streamline" newsgathering to enhance the sustainability of its regional news.

It followed the creation of regional reporting hubs in 2022 in which Stuff journalists on-duty cover news in other regions where none are available in local newsrooms. Each regional newsroom would still have an editor, reporters and visual journalists, Stuff said at the time.

Specialist reporting and production roles would be cut in Manawatū, Wairarapa, Nelson, Timaru and Southland under the current proposal.

The main journalists' union, E tū, said hundreds of people had now signed a letter by Stuff journalists warning that the plan could turn established local mastheads into "zombie papers".

E tū said up to 18 newsroom roles were at stake under the current proposal and the cuts "should be understood as an existential threat to the country's media ecosystem . . . leaving only two reporters in many districts, and just one photographer to cover whole regions."

"All but one regional print producer - the last line of defence for spotting errors before print - are proposed to be cut. This team is already understaffed and overworked," E tū said.

"Stuff plans to keep every page and every print day while getting rid of the people who fill them," E tū assistant national secretary Mat Danaher said.

It also comes as E tū members at TVNZ plan to walk off the job from 1pm to 2pm tomorrow.

Local leaders' concern

"I recognise the financial pressures on Stuff but hope a way can be found to maintain the critical mass needed," Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said.

Stuff's Nelson Mail has been published four days a week since 2017, and lost reporting staff in the 2022 restructure.

Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith also urged Stuff to retain journalists at the Manawatū Standard.

"Local knowledge ... and the ability to be present when something happens cannot easily be replaced by remote coverage, contributed material or imagery sourced elsewhere," he said.

"Local photos and videos also help people feel connected to what is happening in their own community. Reducing the (visual) team to one person will inevitably mean less local coverage," Manawatū Business Chamber's Chief Executive Amanda Linsley said.

"I've done this job on my own before for six months and it nearly broke me. Things got missed because I couldn't be in two places at once," Manawatū Standard visual journalist Warwick Smith said in E tū's statement.

In September, National's Rangitata MP James Meagher said he was "disappointed ... Stuff is proposing to reduce the number of reporters in regional New Zealand, particularly at the Timaru Herald."

"I'm a strong believer that local content is the best content, and that regional reporters cover many important regional issues that the larger publishers would otherwise overlook," he said on Facebook.

"While I'm not a fan of taxpayers subsidising media, I do believe in paying for good content and making the choice to support local - so that's what I do, and I'd encourage you all to do the same."

New sites developed

A Stuff spokesperson told Mediawatch: "We are still working through the process with our people and won't be commenting further."

Stuff Group has said the company employed about 300 journalists and publishes 13 daily and weekly newspapers.

"We must always evaluate the sustainability of our local newsrooms as our news model evolves, including as more efficient production technology becomes available," a Stuff spokeswoman told The New Zealand Herald earlier this month.

Stuff sought feedback with staff until October 13 and said "we will carefully consider and respond to that before any final decisions are made."

It also called on central and local government to "evaluate their role in the importance of local journalism as the costs ... of newspapers rise."

Stuff recently launched 18 free-to-view local Neighbourly News websites carrying stories from its journalists, readers and other local sources of information.

E tū also claimed Stuff was "giving away news for free" through Neighbourly News while also trying to attract subscribers to paywalled websites for The Post, The Press and Waikato Times.

Danaher says journalists have offered to work with Stuff on a new plan for regional news.

"Stuff should take them up on it and drop these cuts. Every one of these voices is asking for the same thing: keep local reporters in local towns."

E tū's open letter earlier this month directly addressed the Stuff Group chief executive Sinead Boucher, who bought the company from its Australian owner Nine for $1 in 2020.

"We haven't forgotten the vision, motivation, and hope that came when you took the company over. We want to fight together to save our local stories," E tū said.

Other job cuts and TVNZ walkout

In July Stuff Digital - a joint venture with Trade Me - announced a maximum of eight roles could go jobs as it looks for a "simplified structure" in its editorial team.

Stuff reporters told Mediawatch that would stress the daily reporting teams and staff of the Stuff website.

Last week The New Zealand Herald reported new cost-savings cuts at news publisher NZME.

Newsroom roles in Auckland and Gisborne and other jobs in the company's product, podcast and development teams are understood to be affected, the Herald reported.

E tū members at TVNZ will walk off the job from 1pm to 2pm tomorrow.

TVNZ has offered workers a 2.5% pay rise, but E tū says pay has fallen in real terms in recent years and workers at the company can't meet basic living costs.