The move by New Zealand's major newspaper group to outsource editorial production work will cut into the quality of those newspapers, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists has announced.

The New Zealand branch of the Australian-based APN News & Media began outsourcing sub-news editing and page layout Sunday for Auckland's daily The New Zealand Herald. Once the paper's outsourcing move is complete, the media group will move on to its six regional dailies and other weekly and community titles.

Other publishers following in APN's footsteps “will only hasten the demise of the traditional press in developed countries,” the IFJ has stated.

Editing for The Herald, New Zealand's largest daily, and later other APN titles will be done by contractor Pagemasters in Auckland, a subsidiary of the Australian Associated Press. That office is 20 minutes away from The Herald's offices.

“This is a panic measure to save money, but in the end it is crazy economics because it will only further reduce the quality of journalism and accelerate circulation decline,” Aidan White, IFJ general secretary, said in a statement.

APN chief executive Brendan Hopkins told a profit results briefing in Australia that cutting costs is not the reason for contracting out the work, according to an ABC News Australia report.

“We are finding it more and more difficult to attract high quality sub-editing staff,” he is quoted by ABC as saying.