Jacinda Ardern reportedly received a NZ$1.5 million advance from Penguin RandomHouse, requiring about 140,000 global sales to break even. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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Issue #100 for 6 June 2025

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6 min read

IAN WISHART: Jacinda’s Book: A different kind of sales trajectory?

Jacinda Ardern reportedly received a $1.5m advance for her memoir, meaning 140,000 global sales are needed to break even. Early NZ sales appear good, but not exceptional enough to meaningfully hit that target.

Amazon and B&N rankings suggest minimal international traction. Reviews have been mixed, even from the Left. The book reads more like a résumé than a best-seller.

4 min read

Why the panic over NZME’s ‘Grenonade’ but no one bats an eye over Stuff’s new foreign 50% stakeholder?

Trade Me, owned by UK private equity firm Apax Partners, is taking a 50% stake in Stuff Digital.
This gives it major influence over NZ’s largest digital newsroom, with a shared board and integrated property content.

Yet unlike Jim Grenon’s 13% NZME stake, there’s been no panic over editorial independence.
Boucher gets a pass, but Grenon was vilified. The difference? One shares the media worldview. The other challenges it.

4 min read

Busted: The Herald seems to have quietly rewritten a political health story without telling readers

NZ Herald quietly rewrote a March 14 article on bowel screening and Māori health. Key changes softened criticism and political spin.

No editor’s note, timestamp change, or public notice. The edit was only discovered via the Wayback Machine.

5 min read

Auditor-General’s Treaty report: How ‘holistic intent’ outlived the government that created it

The Auditor-General’s 2025 report criticises every agency for failing to meet “holistic intent” Treaty obligations. But “holistic intent” has no legal definition, no operational framework, and was created under the previous government.

The agency that promoted it – Te Arawhiti – was restructured by the new government in 2024–25.
Its top recommendation is to embed the concept across the public sector, but isn’t holistic intent an outdated political standard?

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Issue #100 for 6 June 2025

IAN WISHART: Jacinda’s Book: A different kind of sales trajectory?

Why the panic over NZME’s ‘Grenonade’ but no one bats an eye over Stuff’s new foreign 50% stakeholder?

Busted: The Herald seems to have quietly rewritten a political health story without telling readers

Auditor-General’s Treaty report: How ‘holistic intent’ outlived the government that created it

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