Metro (magazine)

Monthly lifestyle magazine
the American trade magazine
the Australian magazine

Metro is a glossy lifestyle magazine published in New Zealand. It has a strong focus on the city of Auckland, with reportage of issues and society. It has been published monthly, then bimonthly and now quarterly. The magazine was first published independently by Mick Mason, Clive Curry and Bruce Palmer. Bauer Media Group ceased publication of Metro in April 2020 because of the effect of the COVID 19 pandemic. On 17 July 2020, Metro was acquired by the independent publisher Simon Chesterman and the newly formed Metro Media Group.

Metro was established in 1981. The debut of the magazine coincided with the rapid expansion of the New Zealand economy that occurred from 1984, following the election of the Fourth Labour Government, which implemented widespread neoliberal deregulation and economic reform. The increased access to imported luxury goods made Metro magazine an attractive media environment for advertisers. From Metro's ninth issue in March 1982 until 2002, the magazine featured an influential gossip column called Felicity Ferret. The writer was anonymous, although in May 2006 Auckland restaurant owner Fran Fisher told Metro that she had pitched the idea to editor Warwick Roger in 1982, and had contributed to it – along with Roger – until she left New Zealand in December 1983. The Ferret's initials hinted at her own name. While multiple writers were known to have written for the column over the years, after 1983 the Ferret was suspected to be largely the work of a former model and notorious Auckland socialite, Judith Baragwanath. In early April 2020, the Bauer Media Group closed down Metro and several of its New Zealand operations in response to the economic effects of the COVID 19 pandemic in New Zealand. On 17 July, Mercury Capital confirmed that it would be selling Metro to the independent publisher Simon Chesterman who formed Metro Media Group. Henry Oliver remains as editor and Simon Chesterman as publisher.