Matthew Hooton has been appointed editor-in-chief of The Post and Sunday Star-Times, replacing Tracy Watkins. The appointment was reported by the NZ Herald's Media Insider on 15 June 2026. These are Stuff's flagship Wellington daily and Sunday newspapers.

Hooton has worked as a political strategist and adviser. According to RNZ, he previously advised the National Party and ACT. He has also been a regular commentator on political matters across radio, television and newspapers. He has not worked as a journalist or editor before.

The Post is Wellington's main newspaper and covers Parliament, the Beehive (government headquarters) and the public service. It reaches an audience of politicians, public servants and others who work in the capital. This is different from appointing an editor to a newspaper in Auckland, which would have less direct impact on the government.

The main question is whether Hooton will be able to separate his old role as a political strategist from his new role as a newspaper editor. Historically in New Zealand, editors of newspapers covering the government have come through journalism ranks rather than politics. This appointment is unusual.

Hooton's past work for National and ACT means The Post's coverage will be watched closely. The newspaper covers the same government that those parties have been part of in recent years. Readers and journalists at the paper will want to know whether his old political connections will influence the news the paper publishes or the opinions it runs. Whether Stuff — the company that owns The Post — plans to address these concerns publicly has not yet been announced.

Editing a newspaper requires different skills than being a political strategist. An editor manages journalists, makes decisions about which stories to cover under time pressure, deals with legal issues and protects journalists' relationships with sources. What training or support Stuff has given Hooton for this kind of work has not been made public.

Watkins, who Hooton replaces, was a journalist who spent her career working in Parliament and following politics. Her departure means The Post loses someone with deep knowledge of how Parliament and government work. Hooton's appointment does not obviously fill that gap in the same way.

Stuff has faced the same financial challenges as most New Zealand newspapers. The company bought these titles from Fairfax in 2020 and has struggled with declining advertising revenue since then. High-level appointments like this one reflect what the owner thinks is important. Staff and readers will notice who gets appointed to run the paper, and will draw their own conclusions about why.

What matters now is how Hooton actually does the job. The stories The Post publishes, which stories it chooses to cover first, and how it handles situations where his old career touches on the news will show whether this appointment works. Those answers will come from the newspaper itself, not from any public statement.