NZME has combined its print, digital and radio news teams to come together in one integrated, multi-platform, 24/7 operation.

The co-location of the teams in NZME’s impressive new facility at 151 Victoria Street will be led by Managing Editor Shayne Currie. Currie says the moves were driven by ever-changing audience demands and were the logical next step in the evolution of the newsroom.

[quotes style=”classic” align=”center” author=”NZME’s Managing Editor Shayne Currie”]We already think digital-first, and this will make it fully operational, allowing us to better serve rapidly growing mobile audiences. We have engaged leading international newsroom consultants in addition to gaining first-hand experience of best practice newsrooms around the world to ensure we create a newsroom that can leverage NZME’s unique mix of print, digital and radio. It’s about being totally focused on our audience and delivering even better journalism and content wherever they are.[/quotes]

With the changes, NZME will be investing in new roles and training and development to ensure the delivery and format of journalism engages new and existing audiences. Hastings says the new structure is designed to set NZME up for the future.

[quotes style=”classic” align=”center” author=”NZME’s Managing Editor Shayne Currie”]It will strengthen the quality of our news and information products. We have spent time over the past 12 months testing the model and we are confident of the benefits it will deliver. It will unlock the talent and energy of separated news teams to more efficiently contribute news reporting, feature writing, video, photography, design and production to wherever it is needed.[/quotes]

Journalists who until now have been assigned to the New Zealand Herald or the Herald on Sunday will in future be multi-skilled, working across all platforms. At the same time, fast-paced radio breaking news reporting will be embedded into the digital news stream.

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