48 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019ThefirstissueofthePapamoaPost
rolledoffthepressattheendofMarch
andwasdeliveredfreeto10,500house-
holds.It’sa 24-page,full-colourmonth-
lypublication,slightlysmallerthana
tabloid,withanadvertising-to-editorial
ratiothatwouldpleaseanaccountant.
Thestoriesaresharplywritten,focused
onparish-pumpsnippetsandlarger
communityconcerns,suchasthecam-
paignfora newsurf-rescuebase.Irvine
believesthere’sa hugehungerfor
hyper-localnews.“Peoplewanttoread
aboutwhatis relevantandimportant.”
Butisn’tit a risktostarta newspaper
inanonlineworld?“Iconsumea lotof
internationalandnationalnewsonline- butnoneofit isaboutthecommunity
whereI live.There’sa gapandI want
tofillit.IfI don’t,someoneelsewill.”
I
t’snosecretnewspapersalloverthe
worldareintrouble.Unprecedented
structuralchangeandtechnological
disruptionoverthepast 15 years
haveledmediacompaniestocutstaff,
outsourceservices,orsellorcloseun-
derperformingtitles.InNewZealand,
Stuff(formerlyFairfaxNewZealand),
thebiggestnewspaperpublisherinthe
country,lastyearput 28 communitypa-
persontheblock– morethana thirdof
itsmastheads.InDecember,publisher
NZMEclosedtheBayNewsand
WhangareiReport.
Theshutdownshavecomeasnosur-
prise.Lastyear,whentheNewZealand
CommerceCommissionblockedStuff
andNZME’sbidtomerge,thecompanies
warnedtherewouldbecasualties.Sales
ofprintednewspapershavecollapsedin
thepastdecade,withsomedailieshalving
theircirculations.Lastyear,thecombined
circulationlossforthecountry’sfourlarg-
estdailypapersand 15 regionalswasmore
than20%.Revenuehasfollowedthesame
downwardtrend.FortheyeartoJune
2018,Stuffreporteda netlossafterwrite-
downsof$74million.NZMEreporteda
4%declineinprintrevenuetoDecember
andhasintroducedanonlinepremium
paywalltotrytostemtheflow.
Overseas,newspapersarefaringno
better.IntheUK,a quarterofthecoun-
try’sregionalandcommunitynewspa-
pershaveclosedinthepastdecade,and
thenumberofjournalistsworkingon
localnewshashalved.Whilereaders
maymournthelossoffamiliarand
long-servingmastheads,thereisa
deeper concern: that smaller communi-ordinarypeoplewhohavedonesome-
thingextraordinary,orhadsomething
extraordinaryhappentothem.”
Thecouplebuilta homeinPapamoa,
theBayofPlenty’sfastest-growingsub-
urb(population26,000),15kmdown
thecoastfromMtMaunganui.Theyhad
a babyandEllenbeganworkfora local
PRfirm.Sixmonthsago,shehada light-
bulbmoment.ShelookedatPapamoa
withfresheyesandsawa prosperous
communitywithfourprimaryschools
anda college,a refurbished$20million
centralshoppingcentre,a population
ofyoungfamiliesfleeingthestresses
ofbigcitylife,andretireesluredbythe
charmsofa white-sandbeachattheir
backdoor.“Itstruckmeweshouldhave
ourownnewspaper.”Then she thought,
“What a great idea.”withtherichandfamous.Sheflewto
SydneytointerviewHarrisonFordfor
theNews. “Niceman.Morepleasantthan
I hadbeenledtobelieve,”shesays.
Itwasa headylifefora singlewoman
inherlate20s,butthepursuitofscan-
dalsandthehamsterwheelofhard
newslostitsappeal.Whenshemether
futurehusband,CampbellIrvine,they
movedtoTauranga,whereCampbell
establisheda golfingbusinessandEllen
joinedtheBayofPlentyTimes.Award-
winningjournalistKeriWelham,who
wasdeputyeditoratthetime,saysshe
wasa “rock-solid”journalist,“well-
researchedandfast”.
Thereturntoa smallerprovincialpa-
perremindedIrvinewhathaddrawn
hertojournalism.“Forme,thebuzz
has always been writing stories aboutEllenIrvinewithhusbandCampbellanddaughterPenny.Atthe
PapamoaPost,Irvine’sjobdescriptionincludeseditor,reporter, sales rep,
distributor, production editor, photographer and layout sub.IMAGINE IMAGES