The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events,

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, social issues, health, technology, arts, food, culture and

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

. The Bauer Media Group closed ''The Listener'' in April 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. In June 2020, Mercury Capital acquired the magazine as part of its purchase of Bauer Media's former Australia and New Zealand assets, which were rebranded as

Are Media Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 2010 ...

History

''The Listener'' was first published in June 1939 as a weekly broadcasting guide for radio listeners, and the first issue was distributed free to 380,000 households. First edited by Oliver Duff then from June 1949 M. H. Holcroft, it originally had a monopoly on the publication of upcoming television and radio programmes. In the 1980s it lost that monopoly, but despite the increase in competition since that time, it was still one of the top selling magazines in the country. It was privatised in 1990 and was published by Bauer Media Group until the magazine's closure in early 2020. Pamela Stirling was the editor since 2004, and by 2018 readership was 197,000 with a circulation of 45,262. From 2004 to 2009, the ''Listener'' produced an annual ''New Zealand Listener'' Power List of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand. It also published the Best 100 Books, Best 50 Kids Books, and Best Cookbooks, every November/December. Notable writers to have had their work published in the Listener include

James K. Baxter James Keir Baxter (29 June 1926 – 22 October 1972) was a New Zealand poet and playwright. He was also known as an activist for the preservation of Māori culture. He is one of New Zealand's most well-known and controversial literary figures. H ...

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She was internationally renowned for her work, which included novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous awar ...

and

Maurice Shadbolt Maurice Francis Richard Shadbolt (4 June 1932 – 10 October 2004) was a New Zealand writerRobinson and Wattie 1998 and occasional playwright. Biography Shadbolt was born in Auckland, and was the eldest of three children. He had a younger bro ...

Closure and restart, 2020

On 2 April 2020, the Bauer Media Group announced the closing of many of its New Zealand and Australian publications, including ''The Listener'', due to the continued loss of advertising revenue, hastened by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Prior to that, the weekly current affairs printed magazine was billed as "New Zealand's best-selling current affairs magazine with a per capita circulation higher than ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'', the '' New Yorker'' and '' Spectator''". On 17 June 2020, Australian investment company Mercury Capital purchased ''The Listener'' as part of its acquisition of Bauer Media's Australia and New Zealand assets. On 17 July, Mercury Capital announced that it would resume publishing ''The Listener'' and other former Bauer publications. In late September 2020, Mercury Capital rebranded Bauer Media as

, which took over publication of ''The Listener''. Publication of ''The Listener'' resumed with the issue of 10 October 2020.

Editors

* Oliver Duff (1939–1949) * M. H. Holcroft (1949–1967; 1972–1973) *Alexander McLeod (1967–1972) *

Ian Cross Ian Robert Cross (6 November 1925 – 2 November 2019) was a New Zealand novelist, journalist and administrator, and contributed significantly to New Zealand letters. His first novel, '' The God Boy'', was released in 1957 to critical acclaim. ...

(1973–1977) *Tony Reid (1977–1980) *Peter Stewart (1980–1983; 1987–1989) *

David Beatson David Colin Beatson (14 April 1944 – 21 September 2017) was a New Zealand journalist, media analyst and broadcast presenter. He was editor of the ''New Zealand Listener'' in the 1980s. He worked as Chief Press Secretary to 1990s New Zealand Prim ...

(1984–1989) *Geoff Baylis (1989–1993 Editor-in-chief, CEO) *Terry Snow (1991–1995) *Jenny Wheeler (1995–1997) *Paul Little (1997–1998) * Finlay Macdonald (1998–2003) * Pamela Stirling (2004–2021) *

Karyn Scherer Karyn is an English-language given name and may refer to: * Karyn Bailey (born 1986), Australian netball player in the National Netball League * Karyn Bosnak (born 1974), American author of two published books: ''Save Karyn'' and ''20 Times a Lady ...

(2021–current)

Regular writers/journalists

Diana Wichtel Diana Wichtel (born 1950 in Vancouver) is a New Zealand writer and critic. Her mother, Patricia, was a New Zealander; her father, Benjamin Wichtel, a Polish Jew who escaped from the Nazi train taking his family to the Treblinka extermination cam ...

Donna Chisholm Donna Elise Chisholm (born 9 June 1957) is a New Zealand Investigative journalism, investigative journalist and author. Career Chisholm was the first female chief reporter at the ''Auckland Star'' newspaper. Former ''New Zealand Listener'' ed ...

Bill Ralston Bill Ralston (born 1953) is a New Zealand journalist, broadcaster, and media personality, active in television, radio and print. He has worked as a political correspondent, fronted the television arts show Backch@t, and was the head of news an ...

* Nicky Pellegrino *Sally Blundell * Paul Thomas (writer) *Jane Clifton *Russell Baillie, Books & Culture Editor *Fiona Rae * Michael Cooper * Clare de Lore * Peter Griffin *Marc Wilson, psychology columnist * Paul Thomas, sports columnist * Joanne Black
Jennifer Bowden
*Greg Dixon *Michele Hewitson *Mark Broatch * Rose McIver *

Andrew Anthony Andrew Anthony is a journalist who has written for ''The Guardian'' since 1990, and ''The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', who ...

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

*Louise Chunn *Cathrin Schaer *Bernard Lagan

Regular cartoonists/illustrators/photographers

* Chris Slane (cartoonist) * Anthony Ellison (cartoonist) *Andrew Tristram (cartoonist) * Jane Ussher (photographer) *Ken Downie (photographer) *Simon Young (photographer) *Hagen Hopkins (photographer)

References

External links

* (archived) {{Are Media 1939 establishments in New Zealand 2020 disestablishments in New Zealand Are Media Literary magazines published in New Zealand Magazines established in 1939 Magazines disestablished in 2020 Mass media in Auckland News magazines published in New Zealand Weekly magazines published in New Zealand