Sad time for sacked ‘Sun’ workers

Press, 11 July 1988, Page 4

Sad time for sacked ‘Sun’ workers

By

GLEN PERKINSON

It will be hard to hold back the tears when sacked “Auckland Sun” workers return to the newspaper for the last time on Wednesday, says a “Sun” staffer and former Christchurch newspaperman, Chris Johnston.

Johnston, aged 21, a journalist for the “Sun” for just 11 days, says the shock of being redundant will not dull his memories of "the best paper in the country.” Two weeks ago he left Christchurch after a short holiday to work in the editorial room of New Zealand’s newest newspaper. Little more than a week later he was standing stunned outside the Mt Eden newspaper building wondering what had gone wrong. Around him colleagues were crying on one another’s shoulders.

On Wednesday he and 200 workmates will return for the last time to the 11-month-old newspaper to collect three months redundancy pay each. However, he is not bitter, he says. What will stick in his mind from his

short stay is the enthusiasm and vibrancy of the tabloid “Sun.” He has nothing but praise for those who put the “Sun” “at the top.” The editor, Peter Pace, worked hard for the paper. He was there 18 hours a day. “I had to file a story at 10 p.m. from Kaitaia from a shooting. It was the editor-who took my copy over the phone. What other editor would do that on a big city paper?” Johnston said. There were others who had come thousands of kilometres to work on the new newspaper. About half of the editorial staff of about 70 had “left good jobs behind in Australia, Britain and South Africa to be part of the team. “I don’t feel cheated but there are those who might — those who have families and have bought houses here.” Johnston said the staff at the “Sun” had never been given any indication that their paper would fold.

Before he accepted the position he was assured that the newspaper would stay afloat. He was told N.Z. News, which owned

the paper was pouring 90 per cent of its resources into the “Sun” at the expense of its Auckland stablemate,’the “Auckland Star.”

“Sun” workers believed it was the “Star” that would close.

“Nobody believed it would be us. We were becoming more secure by the day. The circulation had never stopped growing — in fact it was increasing by 1000 copies a week.”

Mr Pace had given his troops a pep talk last Wednesday. Because of the swelling circulation editorial deadlines were made earlier to provide time to print the extra copies.

“Right to the day it died it was growing. It was expected to hit 60,000 copies a day before its first birthday,” said Johnston.

He said most workers had no idea where they would go now the paper had closed.

Before shifting to the “Sun” Johnston was at Whangarei’s “Northern Advocate” and before that he was a member of the Ashburton staff of “The Press.”