PoO is wondering about the fate that might befall the Stuff website staffer who posted news of two editorial appointments at The Post. Whoever it was might have provided readers with more information than presumably was intended by newly appointed editor-in-chief Matthew Hooton.
Both The Post print version (on Page 2) and website (here) have recorded the appointments of Henry Cooke as The Post’s political editor and Amelia Wade as Auckland editor.
The article on Page 2 of The Post this morning is headed
This carries the byline of “Matthew Hooton, Editor-in-chief”.
The online version is headed
It carries no byline but kicks off:
Incoming editor-in-chief of The Post and the Sunday Star-Times, Matthew Hooton, has appointed Henry Cooke as political editor and Amelia Wade as Auckland editor.
Among the differences between the two versions, PoO noted greater sparseness in the report beneath Hooton’s byline.
He writes of Wade:
She grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and attended Westlake Girls High School and Auckland’s University of Technology before beginning her journalism career on a competitor’s night desk in 2010 during her final year of study.
Her career has been dominated by reporting in Auckland covering social issues, courts, transport, consumer affairs and local politics.
On the website we are told:
Wade grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and attended Westlake Girls’ High School and Auckland University of Technology. She began her journalism career on the NZ Herald’s night desk in 2010 midway through her final year of study. Bar a few OEs, she has spent most of her career reporting in Auckland, covering social issues, courts, transport, consumer affairs and local politics. She has recently been investigating big tech and their influence on society.
The Hooton announcement on Page 2 of The Post further says:
She joined our Auckland newsroom as a senior journalist in 2024 after four years in the press gallery for Newshub and another national newspaper.
The website version says:
Wade joined The Post’s Auckland newsroom as a senior journalist in 2024 and her appointment as Auckland editor begins immediately. Before joining The Post, she spent four years in the parliamentary press gallery as a political reporter for Newshub and the NZ Herald. Her reporting included close scrutiny of the managed isolation system and the immigration problems that followed, National Party leadership changes, Labour’s decline in government, and the 2020 and 2023 general elections. She was nominated for Political Reporter of the Year three times during her four years in the press gallery.
In the first comparative example, Hooton has trimmed 74 words to 55. In the second, 93 words have been lopped to 24.
If things go awry at The Post, he might consider taking this talent to Reader’s Digest.
But how does the reader benefit from changing “the NZ Herald’s night desk” to “a competitor’s night desk” and when working as a political reporter for “the NZ Herald” is changed to time in the press gallery for “another national newspaper”?
On some matters, maybe, the aim will be to leave readers guessing.
Come to think of it, does New Zealand have a national newspaper.
According to Google:
New Zealand does not have a dedicated national newspaper. Instead, the country’s print media is anchored by major regional metropolitan dailies that circulate across the nation, alongside independent and network digital news websites. [1, 2]
The main metropolitan newspapers that serve as the country’s leading sources of information include:
It should have mentioned the RNZ and OneNews websites, too.
Oh – and let’s not ignore a final consideration.
Because this is Hooton’s first article as Editor-in-chief at The Post, we have supposed that whatever he wrote has been published without change on Page 2.
But maybe what Hooton wrote and the website version are the same, and the differences noted here are the consequence of a sub-editor at The Post wanting to show the new boss how things should be done…
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
Two new appointments for The Post announced.
This carries the byline of “Matthew Hooton, Editor-in-chief”.
The online version is headed
Two key appointments announced by new Post editor-in-chief Matthew Hooton
It carries no byline but kicks off:
Incoming editor-in-chief of The Post and the Sunday Star-Times, Matthew Hooton, has appointed Henry Cooke as political editor and Amelia Wade as Auckland editor.
Among the differences between the two versions, PoO noted greater sparseness in the report beneath Hooton’s byline.
He writes of Wade:
She grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and attended Westlake Girls High School and Auckland’s University of Technology before beginning her journalism career on a competitor’s night desk in 2010 during her final year of study.
Her career has been dominated by reporting in Auckland covering social issues, courts, transport, consumer affairs and local politics.
On the website we are told:
Wade grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and attended Westlake Girls’ High School and Auckland University of Technology. She began her journalism career on the NZ Herald’s night desk in 2010 midway through her final year of study. Bar a few OEs, she has spent most of her career reporting in Auckland, covering social issues, courts, transport, consumer affairs and local politics. She has recently been investigating big tech and their influence on society.
The Hooton announcement on Page 2 of The Post further says:
She joined our Auckland newsroom as a senior journalist in 2024 after four years in the press gallery for Newshub and another national newspaper.
The website version says:
Wade joined The Post’s Auckland newsroom as a senior journalist in 2024 and her appointment as Auckland editor begins immediately. Before joining The Post, she spent four years in the parliamentary press gallery as a political reporter for Newshub and the NZ Herald. Her reporting included close scrutiny of the managed isolation system and the immigration problems that followed, National Party leadership changes, Labour’s decline in government, and the 2020 and 2023 general elections. She was nominated for Political Reporter of the Year three times during her four years in the press gallery.
In the first comparative example, Hooton has trimmed 74 words to 55. In the second, 93 words have been lopped to 24.
If things go awry at The Post, he might consider taking this talent to Reader’s Digest.
But how does the reader benefit from changing “the NZ Herald’s night desk” to “a competitor’s night desk” and when working as a political reporter for “the NZ Herald” is changed to time in the press gallery for “another national newspaper”?
On some matters, maybe, the aim will be to leave readers guessing.
Come to think of it, does New Zealand have a national newspaper.
According to Google:
New Zealand does not have a dedicated national newspaper. Instead, the country’s print media is anchored by major regional metropolitan dailies that circulate across the nation, alongside independent and network digital news websites. [1, 2]
The main metropolitan newspapers that serve as the country’s leading sources of information include:
- The New Zealand Herald: Based in Auckland, this is the most read newspaper in New Zealand and circulates widely across the upper North Island and the rest of the country.
- The Post: Formerly known as The Dominion Post, this publication is based in Wellington and primarily serves the lower North Island.
- The Press: Published in Christchurch, it serves as the major daily newspaper for the Canterbury region and the wider South Island.
- Otago Daily Times: Based in Dunedin, it is the primary daily newspaper for the Otago and Southland regions. [1, 2, 3, 4]
It should have mentioned the RNZ and OneNews websites, too.
Oh – and let’s not ignore a final consideration.
Because this is Hooton’s first article as Editor-in-chief at The Post, we have supposed that whatever he wrote has been published without change on Page 2.
But maybe what Hooton wrote and the website version are the same, and the differences noted here are the consequence of a sub-editor at The Post wanting to show the new boss how things should be done…
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
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