Duncan Greive 
Less than a week after its shock decision to ban news, Facebook and the Australian government have the shape of an agreement to restore it. What just happened? Facebook has just announced that it will start the process of restoring news to its Australian platform, and allowing Australian publishers’ work to be viewable and shareable … Read more
Duncan Greive analyses a shocking development in the global pushback against big tech. Subscribe and listen to The Fold via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast provider. At 7.38am today a short email arrived from Facebook News Partnerships. It contained a total of five sentences, the most important reading: “I am writing to confirm that due to … Read more
Over the past year, The Spinoff audience has grown dramatically. Founder and managing editor Duncan Greive explains what The Spinoff is, and how best to use it. The purpose of this note is to welcome those new and newish to The Spinoff, to show you around and generally help you understand what we’re about. Our … Read more
In this episode of The Spinoff’s media podcast The Fold, Duncan Greive is joined by New Zealander Hamish McKenzie, co-founder of Substack, to talk about a new era of publishing and Elon Musk. For years, the media landscape has been filled with publications making money by selling ad space. While that model has proved itself … Read more
Journalist Ali Mau joins Duncan Greive for a conversation about the first three years of Stuff’s MeTooNZ project, the challenges of publishing stories about alleged abuse and misconduct, and her 30-year career in the media. In 2017, the Me Too movement brought some of Hollywood’s elite crashing down under allegations of serious sexual abuse and … Read more
Journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he’s launched a new subscription-only daily email. First published November 6, 2020. Working at the intersection of politics and economics, Bernard Hickey is one of the most interesting and unique journalists in New Zealand … Read more
It’s easy to sacrifice John Banks. It’s a lot harder for brands, sports organisations and government to truly stop funding racism. Are they willing to try? Yesterday John Banks, the former Auckland mayor and MP, became subject to one of the fastest firings in media history when audio covering his approving response to a racist … Read more
For two decades, under both National and Labour governments, housing costs have risen far faster than wages. Here’s a horrific graph that shows by just how much. Last Thursday saw the first of what will no doubt be dozens of housing-related set pieces from Labour, wherein they announced 8,000 public and transitional houses. Or, as … Read more
Summer reissue: The Fold’s very first guest is back to tell Duncan Greive how she pulled off the media deal of the year. The chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the acquisition of New Zealand’s … Read more
Summer reissue: The associate editor of The Indian News joins host Duncan Greive to discuss his belief that New Zealand’s media ignores the quarter of our population not born here – and why both parties lose as a result. First published July 31, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. … Read more
Summer reissue: Todd Scott made millions as a sales genius, and bought New Zealand’s best-known business publication. Then he lost his house. Duncan Greive profiles the country’s most enigmatic owner, and hears some blunt criticisms from the old friend he bought the paper off, Barry Colman. First published June 2 2020 Independent journalism depends on … Read more
The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand’s media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means. Subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or via your favourite podcast provider. For the final 2020 episode of my media podcast … Read more
The Spinoff was in mortal peril in late March, before its members came to the rescue. Managing editor Duncan Greive takes a look at what those members made possible in this most memorable year. Illustration and design by Ezra Whittaker and Lauren Maree Stewart. I’m writing – exhausted and, if I’m entirely honest, with a … Read more
The outgoing director of grassroots community campaigning organisation ActionStation joins Duncan Greive to talk about a busy, and effective, few years in the job. ActionStation was formed in 2014, but it feels like it’s been around much longer than that. The independent, crowdfunded community organisation has led a number of highly visible and successful campaigns … Read more
A tiny minority of local residents – led by a former PM – are holding back the joy of hundreds of thousands, and millions in economic benefits. On Friday night Eden Park hosted a thrilling seesaw of a T20 between New Zealand and the West Indies. On Saturday the Tasman Mako secured back-to-back Mitre 10 … Read more
Donald Trump has grudgingly accepted that preparations for a White House transition should commence, after weeks of crying fraud, mounting spurious legal challenges and attempting, in effect, a coup d’état. However hapless and distant it might seem, is there the potential for a similar breakdown in New Zealand? Duncan Greive examines our defences and our … Read more
NZ Rugby is in a fascinating situation at the moment, with some big calls to be made over the coming years. The man in charge of making them joins Duncan Greive on this week’s episode of The Fold. Mark Robinson probably has one of the most complex jobs in the country. As CEO of NZ … Read more
After years watching it unfold on social media with a growing envy, Duncan Greive finally hit the road to Beervana last year. With the 2020 edition about to kick off, he revisits a magic day. My day started early, with a beautifully balanced Westmalle Trappist Dubbel over a hearty omelette, just after 9am. It was … Read more
Each time there’s a new community case, New Zealand draws breath, then sighs with relief as it is contained. It’s long past time we stopped accepting that such a volume of leakage is inevitable, argues Duncan Greive. Yesterday Auckland was delivered news of the most troubling case of Covid-19 in the community since the Americold … Read more
No Filter, a superb new book chronicling Instagram’s rise, reveals more about the pathology of Mark Zuckerberg than anything else, writes Duncan Greive. As with many of the tech companies that went on to blithely mess with society, at first there was nothing but starry-eyed idealism. Instagram founder Kevin Systrom was an aesthete, moved by … Read more
Journalist Bernard Hickey joins host Duncan Greive for a wide-ranging chat about the challenges faced by New Zealand media and why he’s launched a new subscription-only daily email. Working at the intersection of politics and economics, Bernard Hickey is one of the most interesting and unique journalists in New Zealand today. As you’ll hear in … Read more
Review: In their heyday they were invulnerable, but now the likes of Piri Weepu and Eroni Clarke are all too human. That’s what makes Match Fit so compelling, says Duncan Greive. Match Fit is aimed at the more casual class of rugby fan, but its audience would likely bristle at what lies underneath its code-heavy … Read more
All his life, Duncan Greive has basically hated his undies and found socks annoying. And then he tried Allbirds underwear. It is quite accurate to point out that fields as varied as medicine, transport and 90% of humans are brutally compromised by sexism. This, naturally extends to underwear, with most bras notoriously created for the … Read more
From winning two world cups with the Black Ferns to heading up TVNZ’s sports and events department, Melodie Robinson’s career has been one full of remarkable firsts. She joins host Duncan Greive to talk about it on this week’s episode of The Fold. When the Ministry of Education decided to start a children’s educational channel … Read more
Sacha Baron-Cohen’s most successful character returns to a pandemic-stricken middle America. The formula is the same, but its impact has radically changed, says Duncan Greive. In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, more commonly known as Borat 2, the conceit is the same, … Read more
Headquarters in the Viaduct is where many National MPs go to celebrate. On Saturday night Act took it over, and with it the energy and vision of the right, reports Duncan Greive. David Seymour’s six year vigil as Act’s leader and sole MP has been the political version of Nigel the Gannet. Even the party’s … Read more
The Spinoff’s new(ish) political editor Justin Giovannetti joins Duncan Greive to share his impressions from a hectic first six months on the job – and in New Zealand. When Justin Giovannetti interviewed for the job of political editor at The Spinoff, from Canada, the world was quite a different place. In the time it took … Read more
Former Woman’s Day and NZ Woman’s Weekly editor Sido Kitchin joins The Fold’s Duncan Greive to talk about starting School Road Publishing and launching a whole new stable of magazines following the collapse of Bauer Media. Sido Kitchin loves telling New Zealand women’s stories. An important figure in the magazine industry, she edited Woman’s Day … Read more
The National Party leader tells Duncan Greive what conviction means to her, and why she thinks she gets treated differently to Jacinda Ardern. The first time I saw Judith Collins at close quarters, she was moving through what was inelegantly billed as the “National stakeholder party” held at parliament last year. It was a fun … Read more