Some good news and a dose of reality.
First, the good news
On 28 November 2024, we took a deep breath and sent an open letter to you, our audience. In the face of funding decisions not going our way and a sudden, catastrophic drop in commercial revenue, we felt the walls closing in. Behind the scenes, difficult decisions were being made – staff numbers were reduced and editorial commissioning was frozen.
The country was in recession. We weren’t sure if anyone had anything to give, but you met our vulnerability with an incredible outpouring of support. In the following month, more than 4,000 people donated – taking us from 9,000 to more than 13,000 Spinoff Members .
That surge in membership was transformative. It nurtured a newsroom of hugely talented journalists. We were able to bring on the brilliant Veronica Schmidt as our new editor. And it allowed us to grow our audience. Today, we are reaching more people and sparking more conversations, proving that there is a deep, enduring desire for independent media in Aotearoa.
The reality in 2026
The most sobering thing about where we stand today is that many of the challenges we laid out in our open letter haven’t just remained, they have intensified.
New Zealand media has had another brutal year of closures and job losses. Globally, publishers are facing significant decline in traffic due to advances in generative AI. As AI models scrape our original reporting to provide quick summaries, search traffic to news sites has plummeted, with some international reports showing a 33% drop in referral traffic. The content we generate is now being used to train the very tools that threaten our livelihood.
Despite The Spinoff’s market-leading engagement numbers and an incredibly hardworking team, the commercial landscape remains volatile. The vast majority of digital advertising spend is disappearing offshore to big tech companies who remain largely untaxed on their New Zealand profits. While local newsrooms pay for the journalists who cover our current affairs and culture, these offshore platforms reap the rewards.
We need your help
To be truly sustainable – to ensure our journalism remains available to everyone, without a paywall – we need to reach a new milestone.
Our goal is to find 5,000 new members by the end of this year. This is roughly a 38% increase in membership. We know it’s a big ask, especially when it’s been a hard year for many.
But if you value what we do, if you value local independent media, please consider supporting The Spinoff today. We won’t take a single dollar for granted.
And if you are already a member, thank you. Your ongoing support means the world to us.
