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J·Index / Countries / New Zealand

AI in New Zealand's news media

25 verified, source-linked AI implementations across 13 news organizations, 2019–2025. New Zealand ranks 22nd worldwide by documented cases.
East Asia and the Pacific2019–2025
Cases
25
Organizations
13
Active since
2019
Controversies
3
Compared with the global pattern, Multimedia & Visual Production accounts for 16% of cases here against 4% worldwide.

What AI is used for — and how that differs

New Zealandworldwide sharepp = percentage-point difference
Content Production & Automation4+2pp
Multimedia & Visual Production4+12pp
Audience Experience & Personalisation3+5pp
Talent Development & Upskilling2+1pp
Distribution & Discovery2+5pp
Editorial Workflow & Writing Assistance2-9pp
Research & Investigation2-2pp
AI Ethics & Editorial Policy2+4pp
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)1+4pp

How far adoption has gone

1 – Access4
2 – Adoption7
3 – Proficiency13
4 – Ways of Working1
5 – Reorganizing0

Who is adopting

Funding: Own budget (17), Public broadcaster / state media (6), Tech company (Google/GNI) (2)

Notable cases

2024NZME / NZ Herald

AI-generated editorial about All Blacks centre selections published in the Weekend Herald without reader disclosure; editor-in-chief publicly acknowledged the use fell short of editorial standards; newsroom-wide meeting convened;" believed to be first AI-written editorial at a New Zealand newspaper

Content Production & Automation2 – Adoption⚑ controversy
Generative AI (specific product undisclosed)Source →

2025Radio New Zealand (RNZ)

AI voice clone of a deceased person used in true crime podcast 'Nark' to recreate the subject speaking in his exact documented words;" exception to RNZ's own policy prohibiting AI-generated audio for broadcast

Multimedia & Visual Production2 – Adoption⚑ controversy
AI voice cloning (specific product not disclosed)Source →

2024Stuff

AI-assisted te reo Māori translation pipeline — Straker AI + Microsoft used to translate English articles into te reo Māori at scale; every article reviewed and approved by in-house kaiwhakamāori before publication

Transcription & Translation3 – Proficiency
Straker AI translation; Microsoft (Azure AI)Source →

2025Waikato Times (Stuff)

'Democracy.AI' tool helps journalists scan and report on public documents including minutes of local council meetings and submissions; enables automated local democracy reporting;" launched new subscription section 'Ratepayers' Roundup'

Research & Investigation3 – Proficiency
Democracy.AI (custom tool built for Stuff's Waikato Times regional masthead)Source →

2025The Press / Stuff Group

Who Owns Christchurch — AI-assisted data journalism investigation mapping property ownership across Christchurch; used generative AI to process and synthesise large volumes of land registry and property records data; produced investigation into who controls the city's land and built environment

Research & Investigation3 – Proficiency
Generative AI (specific tools not publicly disclosed); data analysis and mapping toolsSource →

2024TVNZ (Television New Zealand)

WSC Sports AI-powered automation platform creates cricket match highlights, match recaps and AI-generated clips for digital advertising; enables multi-platform publishing across TVNZ+, 1News.co.nz and social media; automates graphics including resizing and cropping

Multimedia & Visual Production3 – Proficiency
WSC Sports AI-powered content automation platformSource →

Elsewhere in East Asia and the Pacific

Australia 28Cambodia 2China 75Hong Kong 6Indonesia 24Japan 24Malaysia 11Mongolia 2Myanmar 1Philippines 16Singapore 8
Data from J·Index, the Journalism AI Index — every case verified against a published source. See the methodological note for how cases are collected and coded. Updated 2026-07-23.