A jubilant cheer for I Love Eggs NZ, MyTax.co.nz and NZME.

13 March marked the fourth anniversary of the Syrian Civil War, an ongoing human rights crisis that has resulted in over 220,000 deaths, left 6.5 million people across the nation displaced and caused over four million to flee across the border. And although people in New Zealand are aware of the war, such statistics quoted in isolation do not provide a real sense of the loss that innocent people caught up in the skirmish. So in an effort to present the human side of a story that is often lost in big numbers, World Vision partnered with NZ Herald to launch The Forgotten Millions campaign, which uses a journalistic approach to telling the stories of the people in Syria.

Over the last month, much of the attention attributed to iHeartRadio has rather unsurprisingly been centred on the motley crew of beer-drinking funnymen who comprise the Alternative Commentary Collective. When news emerged of the now well-recognised caravan being banned from the stadium, it was almost disappointing to discover that something as innocuous as a Gatorade promotion venturing into a prohibited space caused the expulsion of the crew. And while this has done little to stop the ACC from adding a little flavour to cricket commentary, it did highlight the important commercial role that iHeartRadio is starting to play for NZME. So, StopPress recently chatted to iHeartRadio head Carolyn Luey to find out how the platform generates revenue for NZME. PLUS: iHeartRadio partners with 2degrees to bring Charli XCX to Auckland for a single show.

The Alternative Commentary Collective has been one of the country’s recent media highlights. The witty, oft-politically incorrect or downright offensive banter, the purposeful mangling of names (RIP Mrs Mangel), the dubious factoids, the humorous nicknames and, occasionally, the cricket commentary, have attracted thousands to NZME’s iHeartRadio platform, as well as a number of commercial partners. But after the ICC got a bee in its bonnet over Leigh Hart’s appearance on Gatorade’s bottle/inflatable penis during a drinks break at McLean Park in Napier on Sunday, the team has had their accreditation revoked, leading to howls of protest from fans—and probably a bit of sucking up from NZME—to ensure the caravan of cricket can continue doing the work of God for the rest of the tournament.

NZME’s flagship lifestyle​ brand Viva comes as a separate magazine inside the Herald. And now it also comes as a separate website, viva.co.nz.

We asked some stalwarts a simple question. Here’s what Jane Hastings, chief executive of NZME, had to say.

In keeping with an ongoing tradition, a few industry players gave us their take on the year for our annual opinion harvest. Here’s what Laura Maxwell-Hansen, the group director of digital media at NZME, thought about 2014.

Following on from the recent launch of ShopViva, NZME is continuing down the online retail path by announcing the 2015 launch of ShopGreen, an online shopping hub for ethical products.

One of the major struggles for news publishers is that the rise in online audiences and revenue has struggled to make up for the loss of print advertising and subscription revenue. And a new feature on the Herald seems to give readers another reason not to pay for paper.

Immediately after the results were published, both sides of the network divide sent out media releases that seemed to use hyperbolic phrasing in lieu of punctuation and cherry-picked at the positive results served up by the survey. But it didn’t end there. Once the radio survey was covered by the media, the networks turned their attention to promoting the results not only to the public, but also to the media agencies and clients that are likely to advertise on radio. We take a look at how MediaWorks and NZME are celebrating their wins through advertising.