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Story: Newspapers

Last issue of the Manawatu Herald, 1997

During the 1990s many long-running New Zealand papers went out of business, usually because of amalgamation and competition from electronic media. One of those was the Manawatu Herald, founded in Foxton in 1878. By 1997 the Heraldwas one of several local newspapers owned by Manawatu Standard Ltd. This company decided to close the Heraldand extend another of its titles, the Horowhenua Mail, into its circulation area. In this photo published in the last issue on 30 April 1997, Manawatu Herald receptionist Shirley How (left), veteran reporter Anne-Marie Hunt and advertising consultant Veronica Hirini peruse the paper.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Manawatu Herald, 30 April 1997, p. 1 (N-P-1854-1)

Courtesy of Fairfax NZ

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Mark Derby, Newspapers – Competition and challenges, 1940–2000, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/zoomify/43195/last-issue-of-the-manawatu-herald-1997 (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by Mark Derby, published 31 October 2013.