50 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019
eBay,hereturnedtoNewZealandand
wasappointedgeneralmanagerofa sta-
bleofNewZealandnewspapersowned
byNZME:theBayofPlentyTimesand
Rotorua’sDailyPost, plus 10 communi-
typapers.Butaftersevenyears,hewas
exhausted,andtheoverarchingreachof
headofficehadtakensomeofthethrill
outofhisjob.“Iwas45,wehadtwo
childrenbythen[nowthree],andI was
lookingforsomethingtoignitemypas-
sion.”Heboughta realestatebusiness.
Thenheboughta newspaper.
Therearetwoweeklynewspapers
basedinCambridge,a prettyWaikato
townwitha villagegreen,anabundance
ofantiqueshopsanda reputationfor
attractingworld-classathletes(think
equestrianSirMarkTodd,cyclistSarah
Ulmer,rowerMaheDrysdale),plusthe
rockbandTheDatsuns.Thepopulation
isexpectedtodoubletomorethan
30,000inthenext 30 years,largelybe-
causeofthecompletionoftheAuckland
toWaikatoExpressway.TheCam-
bridgeEdition, ownedbyStuff,wases-
tablishedin1981.ThepaperMackenzie
bought– theCambridgeNews– was
launchedin 2008 bylocalbusinessman
MarkNogaj.Initially,itwasregarded
asa cheekyupstart,butunderMacken-
zie’swatchithasgatheredsteamand
kudos.Itcommonlyrunsto 40 tabloid
pages,fatwithadsandstoriesabout
localpeopleandtheissuesthatinterest
them.Mackenziesaystheformulafor
successissimple:providestoriesthat
willinterestreaderswhomadvertisers
wanttoreach.“Ifwehaveanaudience
engagedwithusandadvertisersthat
wanttotalktothem,wecanbuilda
successfulbusiness.”LikeAndrew
Denholm,hesayswhenyoutakeout
headofficeoverheadsthemodelworks.
“Wedon’thavea flashofficeorcom-
putersystem;weusetheBNZbusiness
centreformeetings;ourpayrollandIT
systemsarehandledbylocalfirms.We
worktogetherasa communitytomake
itwork.”Anotheressential,hesays,is
toworkinthebusinessandbepartof
thecommunityyouserve.
Mackenzieisanoutspokencrusader
forcommunitynewspapersandoptimis-
ticabouttheirfuture.Hebelievesa re -
naissanceis onthehorizonaspeoplelose
faithingiantonlineplatforms.“Newspa-
pershaveprosperedforonereason:the
trustthatcomesfromrepresentingread-
ers’interestsandgivingthem the news
that’s important to them.”D
avidMackenzie,presidentof
theNewZealandCommuni-
tyNewspapersAssociation,
anorganisationof 80 inde-
pendentlyownednewspapers,under-
standsbetterthanmostthefluctuations
innewspaperfortunes.Hebeganhis
ownloveaffairwithprintasa paperboy
attheNelsonMail, whichatthetime
hada circulationof20,000(now7584).
Thebosslikedhisworkethic(“andthat
I cleanedhiscar”)andgavehima jobin
distribution,wherehewaseventually
promotedtocirculationmanager.
WhentheMailwasboughtin 1993 by
INL(IndependentNewspapersLtd)
Mackenziesawthepowerofheftycapi-
talinvestment.Therewereradical
changesintechnologyandthequalityof
journalism.Hisownworkbenefitedand
hewassentfirsttoregionaldailythe
ManawatuStandardasa trouble-shoot-
er,thentotheChristchurchPress. Inhis
early30s,hewasappointedgeneralman-
ageroftheWaikatoTimes, thenthe
country’slargesteveningpaper,andlater
theSundayStar-TimesandSundayNews,
bythenownedbyFairfax,whobought
INL’snewspapersin2003.Hequickly
learnedthelanguageofcorporateboard-
roomsandthecut-throatnatureofthe
competitivemediabusiness;healso
learnedthemostvaluablelessonsabout
newspapersweretobehadovera beer
withcolleaguesattheendoftheday.
After a stint in the UK working for“Digitalcomeslasthere,unlessit’s
breakingnews.Storiesfirstappearinthe
paperandinthreedaystheymightgoup
online.WhywouldI wanttoputcontent
onlinefree?”Hehasnointerestinmi-
gratinganyadvertisingtotheinternet,
andis criticalofmediacompanies’belat-
edmovestointroduceonlinepaywalls.
“Thehorsehasbolted.Theguywho
madethedecisiontoputnewsonthe
internetfreeshouldbeshot.”
Realestatefirmsmakeupa highpro-
portionofadvertising.Andpropertysto-
ries– whathecalls“propertyporn”– fea-
turehighonthenewsagenda.“Everyone
wantstoknowthevalueoftheirproperty
andwhatpricesaredoing.”
Readersaremainlyolderandhugely
loyal.Aneye-wateringeightoutof 10
aresubscribers.Casualbuyersareat-
tractedbybreakingnews,butDenholm
isn’tinterestedinwooingthemwith
“clickbait”,a termusedpejorativelyto
describeonlineheadlinessensational-
isedtoattractattention.Healsocan’t
abidein-voguemediatermssuchas
“content”and“audience”(inold-speak
“news”and“readers”).Whenhewrote
a submissiontoaccompanytheWair-
arapaTimes-Ageentryintothisyear’s
VoyagerMediaAwards,henailedhis
coloursfirmlytothemast:“Wearein
thebusinessofsellingnewspapers.”
TheWairarapaTimes-Ageis a finalist
forCommunityNewspaperoftheYear
and Best Editorial Campaign/Project.
Above:DavidMackenzieispresidentoftheNewZealandCommunity
NewspapersAssociation,representing 80 independentlyownednewspapers.
Hispaper, theCambridgeNews, commonlyrunsto 40 tabloidpages,fatwith
ads and stories about localpeople and the issues that interest them.