It told Media Insider that “in this instance, our checking processes were inadequate”.
The man who posted the video, Leon Eldred, has claimed in a message online that it was part of a “school project to create a fake viral video”.
However, it appears he took the ruse a step further – Stuff interviewed him for its article, in which it published quotes from the man that backed up the alleged incident and the actions of the “delivery driver”.
Eldred has not yet responded to a Media Insider request for an interview.
The half-minute video shows the so-called delivery driver walking up a flight of stairs to a house, apparently in central Wellington. The “driver” takes an item from the food bag and eats it before drinking from an accompanying takeaway cup.
A person at the house appears at the door, and the “driver” quickly turns away, before tumbling down the stairs.
The video was posted to the Vic Deals Facebook page by Eldred, with the caption, “Is this guy f*cking serious? $25 down the drain, I am so f****ing confused, is this normal for these delivery apps? I live on the Terrace, first time trying any of those Uber eats kind of apps, and what the f**k.”
In comments under the video, Eldred said that he had complained on the delivery app and was seeking a refund.
The video was still up on the Vic Deals page this morning – it has more than 276,000 views, more than 100 shares, more than 700 comments and almost 5000 reactions.
Many commenters were critical of the “disgusting” actions of the “delivery driver” and joyous at the “instant karma” of him falling down the stairs.
But at least one member of the page was suspicious of the video soon after it was posted.
In a message to Stuff, the member of the public wrote: “Did any of your staff bother to check the source of this video? When I saw it, I became immediately suspicious for the following reasons: the so-called delivery guy hides his face. He would know the person was home because it is allegedly hot food. There is no branding on the packaging. There is no food in the bag. The liquid looks like water. And he looks like the owner of the post! I’m not surprised mainstream media is losing readership when you fail to do basic verification. I mean, what’s worse, the obviously faked video or the apparent ‘legal action’ over $25?”
The member of the public also engaged with Eldred on Facebook.
In a direct message, he told Eldred that, by engaging with media, he had put the Stuff journalist’s reputation in doubt and “you have created distrust in delivery drivers, which potentially puts their safety at risk. And ultimately all your credibility has gone out the window”.
Screenshots posted by the member of the public show Eldred’s response, in which he claims it was a “school project” to create a fake, viral video.
“… if you want to show people how incredible [sic] the news is, then you would let [it] do its course in the media, now you are giving the media a get out of jail free card and they won’t be called out for it because you tried to expose it quickly.
“I know I put my credibility at risk. But I am a filmmaker, not a journalist, and yeah, you are helping the lazy media by trying to expose it too quickly.”
Eldred told the member of the public he did not have “nefarious” intent, but if the “news wants to not do their research, let them”.
As the member of the public pointed out, however, the Stuff journalist spoke to Eldred as part of his inquiries, and quoted him.
“… that is him fact-checking,” the member of public told Eldred. “You lied to him. How do you think journalism works? They rely on people like me and members of the public to report news to them.”
Eldred responded that anyone had the power to lie to a journalist. They needed to do more research, he said.
“… if they expect everyone to be completely honest, then that is low-key their fault. The world is full of liars.”
Stuff had reported that the food had come from Wendy’s. Another sleuth told Media Insider that Wendy’s in Paraparaumu, the closest outlet, did not cater for food deliveries to central Wellington.
Eldred told Stuff, in the now-deleted article, that he saw the man taking a sip of the drink.
“I was sort of watching in shock; it was low-key surreal. I didn’t even know what to do,” Eldred was quoted as saying.
In perhaps a touch of irony, he further stated: “I started asking myself if this is like a prank or something”.
Stuff reported that Eldred had refused to name the food-delivery service as he was seeking legal advice.
“My friends get orders just fine all the time. I have seen crazy videos from America of things like this happening but that’s America, plus you never know if those videos are real or not.”
Stuff Digital editor-in-chief Keith Lynch told Media Insider: “This video and subsequent story was deliberately created to mislead, which it did despite a journalist attempting to verify it.
“This is an occurrence which all credible newsrooms are increasingly having to combat, and in this instance, our checking processes were inadequate.
“As soon as we were able to confirm that it was a fake story and video, we retracted it and have since reviewed the timeline of events to see where our processes can and will be improved.”
Heather on a high
Congratulations to the indefatigable Heather du Plessis-Allan, last night named the Sir Paul Holmes broadcaster of the year at the annual New Zealand Radio and Podcast Awards.
I was simultaneously listening to du Plessis-Allan signing off from her 4pm-7pm Newstalk ZB drive show, while watching online as she was crowned with New Zealand radio’s biggest individual prize.
Yes, du Plessis-Allan was still working as her peers gathered to celebrate her and other industry winners at the Sky City Theatre in central Auckland.
“How good is Heather?” said her executive producer, Laura Beattie, accepting her award.
“She is so fast. She goes straight into a story and then she twists the knife with a minister or a story, and she just goes straight in. It’s incredible how hard she works. Anyone who listens to her knows she’s dedicated. She cares a lot.
“It’s amazing to be working as a part of her team. It truly feels like a team effort, but this is a prize for her. So very excited. I kind of feel she might be regretting doing the shift tonight… you deserve this so much.”
Awards host Jeremy Corbett – he has special powers in keeping the likes of the radio awards and recent Voyager Media Awards humming along in a room full of media people – couldn’t believe du Plessis-Allan was still at work.
It was a big night for Newstalk ZB, with a swag of awards, including the overall metropolitan station of the year for the fifth straight year. Other big winners included Mike Hosking and Marcus Lush.
More FM Northland won best local radio station and Radio Tarana was named independent radio station of the year.
Stacey Morrison (formerly Flava/NZME), Jamie Mackay (The Country) and Rodger Clamp (formerly MediaWorks) were honoured for their outstanding contributions to radio.
Morrison received a standing ovation. In a heartfelt speech paying tribute to the stations and colleagues she’s worked alongside, Morrison said: “Finally and surprisingly to me in 2025, I must ask and plea that you have your continued aroha and you take the opportunity to uplift te reo Māori in your work practice.
“You don’t have to be an expert in te reo Māori to be a champion for te reo Māori, and I would actually suggest that it’s a professional opportunity to be able to pronounce one of the official languages of our country correctly when we broadcast. I know it’s scary, but we can do this together.”
The coveted Blackie Award went to Radio Hauraki’s Matt Heath (now at ZB), Jeremy Wells, Jeremy Pickford and Finn Caddie for their Pinot Wahs campaign, supporting the Warriors league team.
TVNZ drops Hacks
Fans of the award-winning US show Hacks will have to hope another streaming service picks up the fourth season.
After three seasons on TVNZ+, the state broadcaster has opted not to buy season four.
“We love the show, but unfortunately, not enough viewers felt the same for us to continue with it,” said a TVNZ spokeswoman.
Hacks stars Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder and is based on the professional relationship between a legendary Las Vegas stand-up comedian and a younger writer.
It has twice won the Golden Globe for best television series – musical or comedy as well as a swag of primetime Emmy awards.
Asked if any other shows were in a similar position to being dropped, the TVNZ spokeswoman said: “Nothing comes to mind! But as a commercial broadcaster, audience numbers will always influence our decision to re-commission or re-purchase shows. These are calls we make throughout the year every year.”
One Good Poll
Advertising industry upheaval
Major moves in the advertising agency world, with the departure of several high-profile leaders and executives.
OMD chief investment officer Hamish Roderick is leaving the company next week after 12 years.
Sources say Roderick’s departure is amicable – one source said he was now eyeing a role in the mortgage broking sector, a complete break from the advertising industry.
His departure comes on the eve of a likely massive shake-up for OMD and other companies under parent company Omnicom Group’s planned global merger with Interpublic (IPG).
The Commerce Commission has received a clearance application for the merger. The commission had originally intended to deliver a decision by May 30, but this has been extended to June 19.
The merger is likely to see thousands of job losses across the globe, including some in New Zealand.
OMD chief executive Nigel Douglas did not respond to an email.
He has told clients, in an email seen by Media Insider, that Chrissy Payne will lead the company’s investment team in the interim, with support from Scott Keddie.
“We’re currently working through what the longer-term plan [is] and will keep you updated as things progress.”
Meanwhile, Simon Bird, the chief product and strategy officer of PHD – another Omnicom company – is leaving to join Lassoo.
“I’ve loved working alongside the talented bunch of people at PHD and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together over the last decade,” Bird told Media Insider.
“It’s a great agency and I know they’ll continue to go from strength to strength. Walking out of Normanby Rd for the final time will be a big moment but a pint at the Good Home will help with that.”
He said he was excited about joining Bridgette Smith and the Lassoo team in August, as partner – strategy & measurement.
“I’ll be consulting to clients across a combination of strategy, analytics, modelling and research. I’m really hoping that my experience can help build upon Lassoo’s already great reputation.
“Change has been a constant in the industry for a long time and it continues to be, it keeps the industry interesting and change also creates opportunities for new thinking and different approaches.”
IMANZ leader departs
The advertising changes don’t stop within the agencies.
The general manager of the Independent Media Agencies of NZ (IMANZ), Kath Mitchell, is switching sector groups to become the new chief executive of Out of Home Media Association Aotearoa (OOHMAA).
Mitchell is a respected media industry leader and notably spent more than a decade at TVNZ, including leading the broadcaster’s trade marketing team.
She joins OOHMAA as the outdoor advertising industry sees big year-on-year revenue percentage growth.
“With the imminent launch of our unified audience measurement service, this is a pivotal and exciting time for the out-of-home industry,” said OOHMAA chair Paul Maher.
“Kath’s appointment is a significant step in driving continued growth and innovation across the sector.”
Mitchell said she was excited about the move.
“It is the fastest-growing media channel in New Zealand in every sense; revenue, audiences and coverage across Aotearoa. The creative and commercial potential is immense.”
Making Contact
Talking of independent advertising agencies, New Zealand’s biggest – Together – has won one of the year’s most significant pitches.
Contact Energy has appointed Together for media planning and buying, data and customer services after a competitive pitch.
Together wins the contract from the incumbent, Omnicom’s Hearts & Science.
Contact has more than 600,000 customer connections in electricity, gas, broadband and mobile plans.
The contract covers Contact’s media services across planning and buying, data, analytics and customer communications for all energy and telecommunications products and services.
“We were impressed with the agency’s culture and the shared ambition for New Zealand,” said Contact head of brand and marketing Sera Flint.
“From the outset, they felt like us. Together’s customer-first model, combining direct marketing and media buying, will be a game changer for Contact as we continue to drive efficiencies and find ways to best serve over 400,000 households.”
Together media managing director Pen Brown said: “From our first meeting, it was clear we were aligned as companies and people, on the positive impact we want to have on Aotearoa.
“We were excited about how we could create value for Contact and their customers through an integrated model. We proposed customer-centric thinking with innovative data and technology solutions…”
Stuff’s new digital boss
It’s been a huge week for New Zealand’s two biggest digital news publishers, Stuff and NZME.
After the long-awaited announcement of Trade Me’s acquisition of Stuff Digital, Stuff announced a new managing director yesterday for its digital arm.
Nigel Tutt joins as Stuff Digital managing director, replacing Nadia Tolich, who has been poached by TVNZ for the new executive role of chief news and content officer.
Tutt is currently the chief executive of Tauranga-based economic development agency Priority One.
In a press statement, he said he had watched Stuff’s “rebirth” with delight.
“Now it’s ready for its next era – one I am hugely excited to play a part in – helping all of its talented people to flourish so that they can continue to have a positive impact in the lives of New Zealanders.”
Tutt starts in his new role in August and will report to the new Stuff Digital board, to be chaired by Stuff owner Sinead Boucher, with equal representation from Trade Me and Stuff Group.
In this week’s Media Insider podcast, I quizzed Boucher about her staff trust – and whether workers would also reap the rewards of the Trade Me deal – and I sat down with new NZME chairman Steven Joyce after this week’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
We discussed Joyce’s own time in media, including the successful establishment and operation of a suite of radio stations, and some of the headline-grabbing acts of his staff at the time (including an infamous prank call to Paul Holmes that infuriated the ZB host).
I also quizzed Joyce on how he defines editorial independence, the Herald’s editorial endeavours, the Stuff/Trade Me deal, and where he sees OneRoof’s future.
He also has views on how best to level the playing field between New Zealand-owned media and the global social media and search giants.
Analysts on NZME
Market analysts have given NZ Herald publisher NZME a cautious uptick after this week’s annual shareholders’ meeting, with one firm saying it takes comfort that the company’s publishing arm will continue to appeal “to the broadest set of New Zealanders”.
Jarden analysts Arie Dekker and Vishal Bhula said they expected NZME’s refreshed board would review capital management with the “current macro environment unlikely to result in near-term changes”.
They saw “little likelihood for a major change in strategic focus (growing OneRoof; retaining leading positions in audio and publishing)”.
“Given that publishing remains the dominant source of profitability for the group, we take comfort that the board changes seem unlikely to meaningfully shift [NZME’s] focus from positioning the publishing platform as one that appeals to the broadest set of New Zealanders.”
They retained NZME on an “overweight” rating with a target share price of $1.28, up from an earlier target of $1.25.
NZME shares closed at $1.15 on Thursday.
The Jarden analysts discussed Trade Me buying into Stuff Digital, under a subhead in the report, “Rattling the cage”.
“For Trade Me, we can see benefits of the deal in access to audience and content, but view the move more as a defensive one as it looks through Stuff Digital to leverage some of the benefits OneRoof is getting through its tie-in with [NZME’s] publishing platform.”
Forsyth Barr, meanwhile, like Jarden, noted NZME’s trading update at the annual shareholders’ meeting, in which the company reported that ebitda for the first four months of 2025 was ahead of the same period in 2024.
Forsyth Barr’s James Lindsay and Will Twiss also noted management’s comment that trading remained volatile, but that NZME had implemented an additional $8m in annualised cost savings in the first half of the year, alongside the $4m in annualised savings from recent newsroom cutbacks.
Forsyth Barr lifted its spot valuation from $1.25 to $1.26.
The return of Leigh Hart
He’s back with Sports Cafe and now he’s back with Radio Hauraki.
Leigh Hart never really went away – he’s been busy launching beer and chip business empires – but his media work is beginning to ramp up again.
He is launching a new one-hour show, Paid to Talk, on Hauraki every Friday from 3pm-4pm, starting today. The show will also become a corresponding podcast.
“Although I have been in the New Zealand radio wilderness for a while, I have kept my hand in as the breakfast, drive-time, late-night talk-back host and newsreader on Caliente FM in Peru,” said Hart with his trademark humour.
“This was, of course, a challenge as Spanish was very much a second language to me.
“So I am excited to be back on the New Zealand airwaves in Paid to Talk with Matt Ward, better known as ‘Lobo de Noche’ or the Night Wolf. The show is called Paid to Talk. Unfortunately, however, the listeners aren’t paid to listen. This will be offset by giving away air-fryers!”
Paid to Talk debuts today on Radio Hauraki at 3pm, with the podcast available on iHeartRadio and other podcast platforms.
Ian Baker-Finch’s 16 days of NZ golf
Legendary former Newstalk ZB sports host Murray Deaker now hosts his own podcast, and this week spoke to Ian Baker-Finch, the Australian golfer who won The Open major title in 1991.
Baker-Finch, who went on to become a renowned sports broadcaster himself, revealed he was in New Zealand recently, playing 16 golf courses in 16 days.
He rates the Te Ara Iti golf course, north of Auckland, as the “best course in the world”.
“I think it’s right up there with the famous golf courses like Cypress Point, Augusta National, Pine Valley, Royal Melbourne,” Baker-Finch told Deaker.
Baker-Finch – whose professional career famously fell away with a loss of confidence – said the north and south courses at Te Arai Links, also just north of Auckland, were also in the top 10 in the world.
“I really believe that, and that’s coming from an Australian, so it’s an unbiased perspective. I think it is just an amazing place.”
Baker-Finch said his wife Jennie hit a hole-in-one on their last day – on the 11th hole at the north course.
“The whole trip was fantastic,” said Baker-Finch, who shot 66 on the north course himself.
“I’m a 72 shooter. I’m a par shooter. I’m a 70 to 75 most days, and occasionally I shoot in the 60s, and my goal is to break my age, and hopefully this year, before I turn 65, I’d love to do that.
“That’s what I’m working towards, breaking my age. I think everyone should try and do that. Just try and stay relevant and confident and fit and healthy and make that a goal.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME, including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
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