The epic story of The Spinoff’s first 10 years

Plus: Why the PM still hasn't seen a draft Treaty Principles Bill.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Tuesday, September 10.

In today’s edition: The PM hasn’t seen a draft copy of the Treaty Principles Bill, because one still doesn’t exist; short-staffed emergency departments in the spotlight; and remembering the "man had eel in his bum” story that almost broke the New Zealand Herald.

But first, in celebration of our 10th birthday, founder Duncan Greive tells the full, authorised history of The Spinoff.

Happy birthday to us

Excuse the slight self-indulgence, please. Today marks the official 10-year birthday of The Spinoff. In an epic 10,000 word Cover Story, founder Duncan Greive looks back on a crucial moment from every year of the past decade. It covers the unassuming origin in 2014, when “The Spinoff” was just Greive and one Alex Casey.

It takes in the epic evolution in the years to follow, from the hiring and ascension of current and former editors Madeleine Chapman and Toby Manhire, to the Covid-19 years, to (yes) The Spinoff TV. There’s mentions of Mike Hosking, Anne the Champagne Lady and Jacinda Ardern. I suggest you stop reading The Bulletin right now, set aside 10 minutes over a frothy flat white or other drink of choice and read Duncan’s piece in full. Then, come back here for your regular news fix (that’s further down).

But, if you want a slightly condensed version of what’s happened over the past 10 years, read on.

2014: The Spinoff is born

It was on this day a decade ago at that The Spinoff first sprung to life. What was intended initially to be a TV review site linked with Neon predecessor Lightbox called “Unboxed”, that would have directed you to shows you could watch on the platform, ultimately evolved into a distinct media brand with Lightbox as its very first client.

Here’s Duncan:

I started to see this for what it was. A long to-do list, with the dream of a digital magazine at the end. One friend (Simon Chesterman, who now runs Metro) let me camp out in his Karangahape Rd office. Another, Joel Kefali, designed a logo and a little brand book for $600. The platform was already built. And after scouring the internet, I found Alex Casey.

2016: The Spinoff declares war

Two years later, The Spinoff had picked up a bunch of new staff members and a whole host of new sections. It was no longer just a telly blog, but a fully fledged (but still fledgling) news website. As Duncan Greive explains, this was the year The Spinoff went to war, launching a pop-up series that would cover the fate of the Auckland Unitary Plan.

It was a landmark for us in many ways. It was the first time we had taken a specific stand on an issue, and the first time we had gone to our audience asking for money, after spending months unsuccessfully meeting with banks and engineering firms trying to convince them to support this admittedly unconventional mode of coverage.

We set up a PledgeMe campaign, seeking $10,000, which would pay for Hayden [Donnell] to work on it full-time for a couple of months, while also allowing us to seek outside contributors. The response was incredible: we raised almost $25,000, the bulk of it in the first 24 hours. A makeshift team assembled, including Chris McDowall, whose gorgeous data visualisations showed the stakes and results infinitely better than the creaky PDFs otherwise available. 

2020: The plague year

We all know what happened in 2020. Just before Covid-19 arrived on our shores, The Spinoff had lost two of its biggest stars in Madeleine Chapman and Alex Casey (both would return to us later on). A new health crisis was raging on the other side of the globe and, as Duncan Greive writes, how was a website that liked to write “longform and opinion and jokes about TV shows and politicians” equipped to cover it? The rest is history.

Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles got in touch, suggesting that she collaborate with the gentle genius that is Toby Morris, then our comic artist and art director. They created a series of short animations that explained various aspects of the virus, how it worked and how best to protect yourself and your loved ones. Siouxsie suggested we release them under creative commons, meaning others could adapt, translate and share them.

Optimised for social media, they became a global sensation and our traffic soared to unimaginable levels. Jacinda Ardern held a printout of one at a press conference, then Obama tweeted a link to a story about them, then governments in Germany and Argentina started using them as the basis of their public health communication. It was weird, but there was no time to dwell.

I’ve picked just a few moments from Duncan’s grand piece, from some years that – as both a Spinoff reader and then writer – stick in my mind. But Duncan’s story, in its full glory, captures all of this and a lot more in exquisite detail. I really do recommend you just click through and have a read. And, happy birthday to The Spinoff.

Listen: Did Spark win its big gaming event?

Duncan Greive (him again) reflects on the week in media that was, including the ambitious Spark Game Arena Live and conflicting reports from NZME and Stuff claiming the number one spot in print and digital readership.

Treaty Principles Bill still not drafted, but cabinet discussions begin

Less than a week after the farewell for Kīngi Tuheitia, the government has started considering the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. As Newsroom’s Laura Walters reported, prime minister Christopher Luxon made efforts to further distance himself from the proposed law, which he maintains will not progress beyond first reading. At his Monday press conference, the PM indicated that discussion over the bill was a “big part” in why coalition negotiations were slow after last year’s election. And he admitted he was still yet to see a draft of the bill.

The reason Luxon hasn’t seen a draft copy of the Treaty Principles Bill is because one doesn’t exist. While the PM was unwilling to get into details of what was or wasn’t discussed in cabinet, an Act Party spokesperson told The Bulletin there still isn’t a draft of the bill, and ministers instead discussed a broader outline and next steps for the controversial proposed law. ThreeNews’ Jenna Lynch reported David Seymour had made a concession around principle two of the bill to specifically acknowledge iwi, hapu and taonga.

All of this came after a group of more than 400 religious leaders publicly opposed Seymour’s bill, which as The Spinoff’s Hayden Donnell wryly argued was “one of the more notable displays of Christian unity in New Zealand since pastors banded together with Simon Barnett in 2006 to urge parliament to let them continue smacking their children”.

Short-staffed emergency departments in the spotlight

A patient who died in the waiting room of Rotorua Hospital’s emergency room had been waiting three hours to be seen, reports RNZ’s Ruth Hill. It comes amid a time of heightened scrutiny over our under pressure health sector. Meanwhile, the front page of the Waikato Times reports on the “preventable” 2023 death of a woman in Waikato Hospital’s ED on a night where the department was also short-staffed.

Commenting on the death in Rotorua, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists head Sarah Dalton said she was worried incidents like this could become more common. "I really hope that we are not going to see more incidents like this but it's entirely possible that we will, based on the information we're getting back from our members,” she said.

It wasn’t just emergency departments under pressure, but the entire hospital system. "If there are no beds in the wards, you can't get people out of ED, and when ED stuffed full of patients – that makes them in turn slower to see patients waiting to get into ED,” said Dalton.

Can you believe it, The Spinoff is 10 years old! 

We are celebrating all week on The Spinoff with special content and prizes.

Don’t miss your opportunity to rank our rankings and get in the draw to win a mega hamper of goods ranked by The Spinoff. If you’re a Spinoff member you can get an extra entry into the draw by playing our birthday week treasure hunt. Find out more here.

You’re not meant to ask for presents, but if you’re not a member now would be a great time to gift us your support. We cannot overstate how vital support from our readers is, especially as we navigate uncertainty and look at the next ten years of telling Aotearoa stories.

Thanks for being part of our story, we wouldn’t have made it to this mighty milestone without you.

Click and Collect

• A single road network in Northland will consume one dollar in every 10 spent by the government on infrastructure over the next 25 years, excluding maintenance and renewals.

• Winston Peters negotiated directly with the prime minister to spare his Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the full force of the public service cuts.

• IRD has confirmed it will look into the safety of how it anonymises the taxpayers' details it provides to Facebook and other social media platforms.

• The Ministry of Health has confirmed one case of mpox, and several suspected cases, likely linked to Queenstown’s Winter Pride Festival. As The Post reports, there are long wait times for a vaccination.

• KiwiRail has been fined $432,500 for failing to maintain its ferry Kaitaki leading to it losing power and drifting with passengers onboard.

• Two new cancer drugs will be funded in the next two months as part of the government’s boost to Pharmac.

• The Princess of Wales says she has completed chemotherapy treatment.

• From the US, CBS explains Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are preparing for their first debate. Get your popcorn and bingo cards ready.

Right now on The Spinoff

Hayden Donnell remembers the "man had eel in his bum' story that almost broke the New Zealand Herald. The Spinoff Review of Books learns about a new festival that celebrates the art of the picture book. Researcher Revel Drummond argues that we need to understand some home truths about gene technologies. Duncan Greive discovers what set off the cold war between Live Nation and the Powerstation.

That’s it for this morning, thanks for reading. I’ll catch you back tomorrow.

Want to get in touch? Join the conversation in the Substack comments section or via email at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz if you have any feedback on today’s top stories (or anything else in the news).

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