North & South (New Zealand magazine)

North & South is a New Zealand monthly national current affairs magazine, specialising in long-form investigative stories and photojournalism. In an eight-page article in 2015, for example, "Long Walk to Justice", staff writer Mike White asked if New Zealand’s justice system should establish an independent commission to investigate wrongful convictions.[2] Issues involving justice in New Zealand provide a theme for many of his stories for North & South. Editor-at-large Donna Chisholm specialises in health and science writing. The editorial content also includes profiles of New Zealanders, brief stories, essays, opinion, music, film and book reviews, food, and travel.[3]

North & South
EditorTo be announced
CategoriesCurrent affairs
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation27,724 *NZ Audit Bureau of Circulation (July–Dec 2009)
Year founded1986
First issueApril 1986
Company
  • Bauer Media (until 2020)[1]
  • Konstantin Richter and Verena Friederike Hasel (2020 onwards)[1]
CountryNew Zealand
Based inAuckland
Websitehttps://www.northandsouth.co.nz/
ISSN0112-9023

History and profile

North & South was launched in April 1986 by Metro Publications – Mick Mason and Bruce Palmer, under editor Robyn Langwell.[4] ACP Magazines then sold to ACP.[5] It is now published by Bauer Media NZ, based in Auckland.[6] Bauer Media NZ acquired the title in September 2012.[5] Virginia Larson succeeded Robyn Langwell as editor in 2008 until 2020.[3]

The magazine has won more than 300 journalism, photography and design awards, including multiple MPA Magazine of the Year awards, Citi Journalism Awards for Excellence and Wolfson Fellowships to the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

In early April 2020, the Bauer Media Group closed down several of its New Zealand brands including North & South in response to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand.[7][8][9][10]

On 17 June 2020, Sydney investment firm Mercury Capital purchased North and South as part of its acquisition of Bauer Media's New Zealand and Australian media assets.[11][12] On 17 July, Mercury Capital confirmed that it would be selling North and South to independent publishers Konstantin Richter and Verena Friederike Hasel.[1][13]

Contribution to press freedom

In 1995, North & South published an article by Joe Atkinson in which he called ex-Prime Minister David Lange lazy. Lange objected to this and other criticisms in the article, and sued Atkinson and the publishers for defamation. The subsequent case ran for five years, and resulted in the media being able to use a defence of qualified privilege when reporting on politicians.[14] This was a ground-breaking extension of press freedom, which was subsequently subsumed in a more general defence of public interest communication.[15][16]

Controversy

In November 2006, Deborah Coddington Deborah Coddington wrote a cover article, "Asian Angst", questioning immigration and referencing the high profile of "Asian" crime, talking of a "gathering crime tide" and an "Asian menace". Coddington's article attempted to justify this language by pointing to a 53% increase in police arrest figures for "Asians" over the last 10 years. However, she neglected to mention that the corresponding overall "Asian" population had increased by more than 100% in that time and that the arrest rate among that "Asian" population (which was already very low compared to the general population) had halved. A member of the general population was now four times more likely to be arrested than an "Asian".

Outraged reaction swiftly followed,[17] and formal complaints to New Zealand Press Council came from the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the head of Journalism at Massey University and a consortium of mostly academics, journalists and ethnic Asian community leaders led by Tze Ming Mok.[18][19]

The following month, the New Zealand Press Council condemned Coddington's article and ordered North & South to print an apology.[20][21][22]

The Press Council found the language of the article "misleading" and "emotionally loaded". The Council stated that even though journalists are "entitled to take a strong position on issues they address ... that does not legitimise gratuitous emphasis on dehumanising racial stereotypes and fear-mongering and, of course, the need for accuracy always remains".

Coddington called the New Zealand Press Council's decision "pathetic".[22]

Columnists and staff writers
North & South former editor Virginia Larson

A number of prominent New Zealand journalists have written for North and South.[23] These include:

  • April 2013
  • October 2014
  • August 2015
  • November 2015
  • May 2017
  • Feb 2018

References
  1. Edmunds, Susan. "The Listener and other Bauer mags return — some may be gone for good". Stuff. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  2. White, Mike (March 2015). "A long walk to justice: The case for a Criminal Cases Review Commission". North and South.
  3. Nicholls, Jenny (18 October 2019). "Confessions of a media junkie". Noted. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  4. Hannis, Grant (May 2009). "Reporting Diversity in New Zealand: The 'Asian Angst' Controversy". Pacific Journalism Review. 15 (1): 114–130.
  5. Merja Myllylahti (23 November 2012). "JMAD New Zealand Media Ownership Report 2012" (PDF). JMAD. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  6. "North & South". Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  7. Edmunds, Susan; Nadkarni, Anuja; Cookes, Henry (2 April 2020). "Govt 'could have given half-a-million' to help Bauer but publisher didn't want it, Faafoi says". Stuff. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  8. "Covid 19 coronavirus: Bauer Media closing - publisher of the Listener, Woman's Day, North & South". The New Zealand Herald. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  9. "Covid-19: Major magazine publisher Bauer Media closing down". Radio New Zealand. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  10. "Publisher of NZ Listener, Woman's Weekly, North & South to shut down". The Spinoff. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  11. "Bauer Media NZ bought by Australian investment company". Radio New Zealand. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. Edmunds, Susan (17 June 2020). "Bauer magazines sold to private equity firm". Stuff. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  13. "Bauer resumes publishing of The Listener and NZ Woman's Weekly after Mercury Capital takes over". New Zealand Herald. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  14. "Lange v. Atkinson". Global Freedom of Expression. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  15. Cohen, David (13 June 2018). "Peters lawsuit not some rare phenomenon". RNZ. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  16. Williams, Garry (31 August 2018). "The new defence of responsible communication on a matter public interest". New Zealand Law Society. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  17. Kean, Nicola (5 March 2007). "When Silence is Yellow, Not Golden". Salient. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  18. "Asian Angst letter of complaint | Identity". Stevenyoung.co.nz. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  19. "Reporting on diversity in New Zealand: The case of 'Asian Angst'", Grant Hannis, Massey University
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "badmotherfisker". Tze Ming Mok. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  22. Oliver, Paula (11 June 2007). "Press Council condemns 'Asian angst' story". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  23. "Star Storytellers, Then and Now". North & South. March 2011.
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