LW Bulletin journalist leaves for DQ comms role

Local journalist Paul Taylor is the latest casualty of NZ news media crisis, leaving the Lakes Weekly Bulletin for a communications role at Destination Queenstown.

Mr Taylor was editor of the Mountain Scene before leaving in 2019 (main image above) to take up a role with the Lakes Weekly Bulletin. This was our Crux coverage at the time.

Paul Taylor took up his Mountain Scene Editor role in October 2017, replacing former editor David Williams who left to work with Newsroom in Christchurch. 

He's started work (yesterday Monday October 6) as Communications Advisor to Destination Queenstown.

Radical changes in audience preference from from print to digital, and the associated decline in print advertising revenue, have put extraordinary pressure on community newspapers and publications such as the Lakes Weekly Bulletin. They have also suffered from a dramatic increase in print and distribution costs.

The Mountain Scene and Wānaka Sun have both seen a big drop in the number of reporters they employ (down from seven to three in Queenstown) with Crux often being the only news media platform present at a number of local election debates over recent weeks.

At least 29 community newspapers in New Zealand have closed or were slated for closure as of late 2024 and July 2025, with 14 titles from publisher NZME closing by Christmas 2024, and Stuff planning to close 15 titles by July 2025. These closures, driven by declining advertising and rising costs, create "news deserts" and are seen as a significant blow to local democracy and journalism. 

NZ's number of trained/qualified working journalists has dropped over the past 10 - 15 years from a peak or around 4,000 to a less than 1,000.