It's hard for NZ media to get enough scale to be profitable. There are initiatives like press patron
https://www.presspatron.com/discover.html which allows readers to donate to publications. I know the spinoff tries to do investigative journalism but has to save up to do it and does it at a loss, also you see stuff/fairfax occasionally do good stuff but I think fairfax in general is probably quite Wellingtoncentric just like the Herald is too Auckland centric. I don't really read the NZ press much as it's mostly tabloid, although I do listen to some of their podcasts - but I should make an effort to read the independent players like Spinoff and Newsroom more.