Awwal 25, 1432 / April 29, 2011, SPA -- The New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) will close on August 31, ending 131 years of news gathering by the national news agency, reported the dpa today. More than 40 journalists were given termination letters Friday, confirming a decision flagged by the board earlier this month after 60-per-cent shareholder Fairfax Media of Australia gave notice it was withdrawing from the news co-operative, said the dpa. The agency, founded in 1880, at one time had staff correspondents in Australia, Asia, London and Washington. It has struggled with financial difficulties in recent years and closed all but one of its overseas offices. Until 2006, all New Zealand newspapers shared their news content, which was distributed by the co-operative. Since then, its journalists have produced independent content that was provided to all shareholders and sold to third parties.
