Marlborough Express thrown a funding lifeline

The region’s oldest newspaper has received a government lifeline potentially saving the business.

The Marlborough Express received a more than $700,000 funding boost for “non-incremental” roles over two years from the NZ On Air administered Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF).

To receive the funding, PIJF general guidelines require proof loss of staff is demonstrably imminent.

A press release by the Foundation for Public Interest Journalism, released yesterday, revealed Stuff will receive $731,300 over two years to continue providing public interest journalism across the Marlborough region.

The term “non-incremental” role is used because in general, PIJF funding goes towards the creation of new, or “incremental”, jobs or content.

Non-incremental roles are an exception to standard fund operation and require a high level of proposal detail, PIJF guidelines say.

To receive the funding, Stuff had to demonstrate imminent risk to current positions and provide confidential financial information.

The Marlborough Express was founded by Samuel Johnson in 1866. It had several family owners before being bought by Rupert Murdoch in 1998. In 2003 the Express was sold to Fairfax.

In 2018 Fairfax’s New Zealand branch changed its name to Stuff after being acquired by Australian television network, Nine.

NZME repeatedly tried to merge with Stuff but was thwarted by the Commerce Commission.

After Covid-19 hit in 2020, Nine sold Stuff to management for $1.

NZ On Air earmarked $9m for this funding round, the third drawn from the $55m Public Interest Journalism Fund announced in February 2021.

Demand was high from a broad spectrum of media organisations, with 82 initial applications collectively seeking $29,135,469.