Bernard Hickey
Founder, The Kākā
Bernard Hickey is a New Zealand financial and political journalist, editor and serial media founder, best known today as the publisher of The Kākā — a subscription newsletter and podcast covering Aotearoa’s political economy.
Hickey built his reputation over more than two decades inside major newsrooms, with roles at Reuters, the Financial Times Group and Fairfax Media across Wellington, Sydney, London and Singapore and was involved in the early formation of digital platforms including Reuters UK, MSN and Stuff. Through it all he became one of the country’s most recognisable voices on housing, interest rates and the economy, known for making complex financial subjects clear and accessible to a general audience.
But it is his record as a builder of independent media that earns his place here. Hickey co-founded and edited Interest.co.nz, the news site aimed at New Zealand’s borrowers and savers; was one of the founders of Newsroom and its subscription service Newsroom Pro; and started his own ventures, including the earlier Hive News and, in 2020, The Kākā. He has also backed the journalism-funding platform PressPatron as an investor.
The Kākā is the clearest expression of his “journopreneur” instincts: a daily newsletter and podcast on housing, climate and poverty, sold directly to subscribers and built as a genuine business, one that has grown to support several full-time jobs. It is a model that depends on niche authority and a direct relationship with readers rather than advertising or platform reach.
Hickey’s profile is noteworthy because his career maps the shift in New Zealand media itself: from international wire-service newsrooms, through the digital transformation of the big publishers, to the rise of the independent, reader-funded newsletter. He has helped build several of the platforms New Zealanders rely on to understand the economy and his work is featured among New Zealand media founders to watch, alongside Duncan Greive of The Spinoff.
Sources: Interest.co.nz · The Spinoff · PressPatron
About this profile
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