Waihī locals will soon enjoy top quality news delivered to every letterbox as the Valley Profile community newspaper expands to cover the entire Hauraki District from next week.
Valley Profile owner and editor Teresa Ramsey said full coverage and distribution in Waihī was always on the cards as the independently-owned and operated free weekly paper was already covering the rest of the Hauraki district.
“Since we began in May, 2020, we have had many Waihī locals asking us to cover their patch as well as Paeroa, Thames and the Hauraki Plains,” she said.
“And we’ve covered many big stories from Waihī, Waikino and the Karangahake Gorge over that time, so it’s nice to finally be in a position to cover important stories and deliver to Waihī officially.
“Our qualified journalists are looking forward to reporting general news, covering local democracy and celebrating community champions in Waihī, during a time when many in the news industry are facing redundancies, cutbacks and uncertainty.”
The announcement comes as some community newspapers were struggling because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on advertising revenue, she said.
The Valley Profile understands Stuff was planning to temporarily reduce print numbers for 15 of its community titles nationwide, including the Hauraki Herald, with rural delivery deliveries stopped first.
Both NZME and Stuff have undertaken many redundancies, closures and mergers in the past few years, including closing the Hauraki Herald and Waihi Leader offices and merging the Waihi Leader with Whangamata’s Coastal News.
In contrast, the Valley Profile has grown from a monthly paper with a staff of one to publishing weekly and employing four full-time staff and two contractors within its first year.
The Profile also opened its office in Queen St, Paeroa, in November last year.
Teresa said this was thanks to loyal advertisers who believed in The Profile’s commitment to local news, and also because advertising in The Profile was affordable and produced excellent results.
“Feedback from advertisers is consistently positive, they are experiencing many regular direct sales as a result of their ads in the Valley Profile,” she said.
“This is because we have engaging local editorial content throughout the newspaper, so readers spend time on every page and take in both stories and ads.”
The latest Covid-19 outbreak had affected The Profile too, but Teresa said the publication would never abandon large parts of the communities the paper covered – especially those in rural communities who may not always have a reliable means of communication.
“We might take a hit along with many other local businesses, but we will work very hard to make sure important information reaches every household in the regions we cover, especially during this health crisis.
“In the midst of a serious pandemic, our readers rely on our quality journalism to inform and connect our communities.
“So, instead of cutting back on the number of papers we’re delivering, we’re increasing our circulation to more than 16,000 copies. And we will endeavour to make sure every one of them is delivered to every letterbox in the Hauraki and Thames Valley – even if it means we get out there and do it ourselves.”
The latest Omicron outbreak had affected delivery of The Profile in recent weeks but nothing the title couldn’t manage, she said. “As the virus quickly spreads through schools, some of our newspaper delivery superstars have either had the virus or were isolating as family members were sick,” she said.
“This meant some of our delivery people couldn’t complete their runs some weeks, however, our dedicated Profile staff and their family members stepped up to make sure every run was covered and every paper was delivered. It’s an ongoing mammoth effort from our team, but it’s so satisfying to know our local news has reached everyone.”
- Teresa Ramsey, editor
