Wellington (AFP)
The German group Bauer Media closed several press titles in New Zealand on Thursday because of the coronavirus, which earned it criticism from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The decision, which means the disappearance of the weekly New Zealand Listener, the monthly North & South and the women's magazine Women's Day, will result in the loss of 237 jobs.
It follows a similar announcement from News Corp on Wednesday.
The German group Bauer invoked "the serious economic impact" of the pandemic to justify the end of the publication of these titles.
An explanation refuted by Mrs. Ardern who suggested that the publisher had, in any case, the intention to withdraw from this market because of the difficulties encountered by the press even before the health crisis.
"From my point of view, it appears that this decision was made at the same time as the Covid-19, but not because of it," the Prime Minister told reporters.
She said that Bauer had refused government assistance to help businesses during this crisis, which is affecting advertising revenue in particular.
"I am extremely disappointed and frankly disgusted to see some of the things that made New Zealand history close suddenly enough today," she said.
This week, another major publisher, NZME, closed Radio Sport station and there are many rumors of imminent layoffs in major media in the country.
Finance Minister Grant Robinson said the government is considering a support plan for troubled New Zealand media.
Australia's largest newspaper group News Corp, owned by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch, announced on Wednesday that it was suspending the printing of sixty regional newspapers across the vast island continent because of a fall in advertising revenue linked to the coronavirus.
© 2020 AFP