The Niue Star is a weekly Niue

Niue

Niue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to...

an newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

, founded in 1993. It is Niue's only newspaper. Its founder, owner, editor, journalist and photographer is Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson (journalist)

Naea Michael Jackson is a Niuean journalist and former politician.In the 1970s and 1980s, he was government printer and government press photographer in Niue. He published the Tohi Tala Niue, Niue's government-owned weekly newspaper. In 1991, he set up a private printing business, and, in 1993,...

. The newspaper is distributed in Niue, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and has a circulation of 800. It is a bilingual newspaper, published both in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and in Niuean

Niuean language

The Niuean language or Niue language is a Polynesian language, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian languages. It is most closely related to Tongan and slightly more distantly to other Polynesian languages such as Māori, Sāmoan, and Hawaiian...

.

The Niue Star was founded with the assistance of UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

, which provided Jackson with equipment including a computer, a digital camera and a printing press. It also provided Jackson with a journalism course. The latter had previously worked as publisher of the now-defunct government newspaper Tohi Tala Niue

Tohi Tala Niue

Tohi Tala Niue was a Niuean daily newspaper published from October 1953 to June 1992. It began in 1953 as a news sheet published by the New Zealand colonial administration in the Niuean language, alongside an English language news sheet called the Niue Newsletter...

, but set up the private Niue Star as his own initiative.

The Star was originally printed in Alofi

Alofi

Alofi is the capital city of the Pacific Ocean nation of Niue. With a population of 581 , Alofi has the distinction of being the smallest national capital city in terms of population. It consists of the two villages Alofi North and Alofi South, where the government headquarters are located. Alofi...

, until its main office and printing shop were destroyed by Cyclone Heta in 2004. It then moved to Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, and is still printed there today.

According to its editor, Michael Jackson,

"The Niue Star is the community newspaper. Now it's mainly information, village happenings, community happenings, family interest stories like hair cuttings and ear piercing. The good thing about it is that all our families in New Zealand and Australia are looking forward for the Niue Star to read how, you know, what goes on back home and to see these colourful photographs. So that's my market."

However, Jackson also reports on political news ("[I]f the government is, you know, not doing the right thing and the people want to know, then I will insist in reporting it."), and, through the Star, aims to "connect Niueans wherever they are". A large majority of Niueans live outside Niue itself, which, due to continuous emigration, has a population of barely 1000. Most Niuean expatriates live in New Zealand, where the Niue Star is distributed within the Niuean community.

In addition to its single newspaper, Niue has audiovisual news media, namely Television Niue and Radio Sunshine.