NZ media mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 96, media outlets around the world broke the news and commemorated the life of the longest-serving British monarch.

Here in New Zealand, Stuff released a special afternoon newspaper to mark the passing of Her Majesty, which was distributed by staff at lunchtime on the streets of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

This accompanied live coverage from the moment news came from Balmoral, as Stuff’s digital audience soared with millions of early morning views of the site’s live blogs, audio takes and videos.

By 8am Stuff had the special 20-page commemorative newspaper heading to the presses across the country, featuring images of the Queen’s life and carrying the whakataukī ‘Te Kōtuku rerenga tahi’ which means ‘The flight of the white heron is seen only once.’

Joanna Norris, Stuff Chief Content Officer, said the special print edition was well received by people across the country.

“We had people on Ponsonby Rd and at Commercial Bay grabbing copies from our teams – it was amazing to see the interest.

“It’s not every day we get to print a special edition. We know when there is breaking news Kiwis turn to us, but it was also wonderful to be able to mark this occasion with a physical print edition – a fitting tribute to a monarch who has been with us all our lives,” says Norris.

The special print edition is also being inserted into Saturday’s daily papers and the Sunday Star-Times. 

Over at TVNZ 1, regular scheduling was replaced by breaking news coverage which aired for the duration of the day on Friday, September 9.

The coverage, lead by the 1 NEWS presenting team continue to cross live to reporters at home and abroad, including 1 NEWS’ Europe Correspondent, Mei Heron.

This coverage will continue across the weekend with special documentary programming scheduled to commemorate her legacy.

The NZ Herald marked the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign with extensive coverage including a live blog and a special episode of its daily podcast, The Front Page.

NZ Herald Focus is live from Wellington covering the Death Gun Salute by New Zealand Army’s 16 Field Regiment around 6pm.

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