Metro (magazine)
Metro is a glossy quarterly lifestyle magazine published in New Zealand. It has a strong focus on the city of Auckland, with reportage of issues and society. The magazine was first published independently by Mick Mason, Clive Curry and Bruce Palmer. "Metro" was shut down by its owners, the Bauer Media Group due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 17 July 2020, "Metro" was acquired by independent publisher Simon Chesterman. History. "Metro" was established in 1981. The debut of the magazine coincided with the rapid expansion of the New Zealand economy that occurred from 1984, following the election of  the Fourth Labour Government, who implemented widespread neoliberal deregulation and economic reform. The increased access to imported luxury goods made "Metro" magazine an attractive media environment for advertisers. From "Metro"'s ninth issue in March 1982 until 2002, the magazine featured an influential gossip column called Felicity Ferret. The writer was anonymous, although in May 2006 Auckland restaurant owner Fran Fisher told "Metro" that she had pitched the idea to editor Warwick Roger in 1982, and had contributed to it – along with Roger – until she left New Zealand in December 1983. The Ferret's initials hinted at her own name . While multiple writers were known to have written for the column over the years, after 1983 the Ferret was suspected to be largely the work of former model and notorious Auckland socialite Judith Baragwanath. "Metro" magazine's success led to the launch of a sister title "North and South", edited by Robyn Langwell. This publication took a wider look at New Zealand regional stories. Langwell was editor of "North & South" until June 2007. A third title, women's interest magazine "More", was launched before the stable was bought by ACP Media, an Australian publishing consortium. Both "Metro" and "North & South  have won awards for publishing and journalism and Metro", in particular, has been well known for its standard of photography and design under art directors William Chen and Jenny Nicholls. This tradition is still strong, with "Metro" winning Best Art Director (Charlie McKay) at the 2010 Qantas Media Awards. ACP Media was the former owner of "Metro" until 2013 when the magazine was acquired by Bauer Media Group. "Metro"'s fortunes have varied since Warwick Roger gave up the editor's chair. The appointment of Bill Ralston saw dramatic shifts in the magazine's editorial focus away from the rigor  of Roger's style to a more flamboyant, celebrity style format. Sales were disappointing and a period of decline followed. The magazine was relaunched as a large format glossy title while led by Nicola Legat, a long-time contributing journalist. The changes were intended to reverse the decline of sales and readership. At its peak "Metro" sold 40,000 copies, but this had fallen to less than 20,000. During this period the society scandal column Felicity Ferret was dropped from "Metro"'s pages. The Ferret briefly returned to the pages of "Metro" in 2009. In 2005, Legat left the magazine to  join publishing company Random House. She was replaced by Lauren Quaintance, a former "North & South" writer, who oversaw a 5 per cent increase in circulation. Quaintance left in June 2007 to return to the "Sydney Morning Herald" and the long-serving deputy Bevan Rapson was appointed acting editor. A makeover in 2009 saw "Metro" changed to a smaller size, and the incorporation of "Citymix" magazine within its pages. In mid-2010, Rapson was replaced as editor by Simon Wilson, a "Metro" senior writer and former editor of "Cuisine" and "Consumer", the magazine published by the Consumers' Institute of New Zealand. In  2010, Wilson oversaw a 25 per cent increase in "Metro's" readership, according to Nielsen Media Research. In August 2015 Susannah Walker became the editor of the magazine, replacing Simon Wilson in the post. In early April 2020, the Bauer Media Group closed down "Metro" and several of its New Zealand operations in response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. On 17 June 2020, Sydney investment firm Mercury Capital purchased "Metro" as part of its acquisition of Bauer Media's New Zealand and Australian media assets. On 17 July, Mercury Capital confirmed that it would  be selling "Metro" to independent publisher Simon Chesterman. Awards. "Metro" won a number of 2010 Qantas Media Awards: