Strong Engagement From New Zealanders With Public Interest Journalism

Local audiences are solidly engaging with NZ On Air funded Public Interest Journalism (PIJF), according to NZ On Air’s first PIJF tracking snapshot.

Analysis of audiences from the beginning of measurement in August 2021 until 26 February 2022 reveals that a total of 2.2m unique users consumed PIJF content online in that period. More than 50% of these users are based outside of Auckland.

As more projects commence and are tracked NZ On Air has seen an increase in the number of users repeatedly accessing PIJF content. The number of returning news consumers is 39%, indicating that while PIJF content is reaching and engaging new users weekly, it also has powerful retention rates that keep online news consumers coming back for more.

Users also spend a considerable length of time consuming PIJF content. On average, users spend 4 minutes and 41 seconds engaging with pages that host PIJF projects, videos, and articles.

Overall, 4.7m page views have now been recorded across 7,833 pieces of PIJF content. This number is swiftly increasing as platforms continue to produce new content – 770 pieces of PIJF online news were added in the last week alone.

29 websites are currently tracking and sharing data about PIJF projects with NZ On Air. While the numbers are impressive, they capture only online views and the impact of the funding will be felt much wider across social media, radio, television and print circulation audiences.

“It’s incredibly important for Aotearoa to be able to see the direct impact the Public Interest Journalism Fund has made on local journalism, which is why NZ On Air is closely monitoring the performance of PIJF content,” said NZ On Air Head Of Journalism Raewyn Rasch.

“NZ On Air is delighted to see the strong engagement figures captured by this snapshot, which is a testament to the high quality and quantity of public interest journalism produced by recipients of this fund. We believe it shows New Zealanders appreciate strong public interest journalism,” she continued.

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