Honolulu Weekly is folding.
So much to say. I'll point out that the Weekly bought the Hawai`i Island Journal a few years before it closed. And I remember when the Stephens company put out Big Island Weekly to compete with HIJ. Big Island Weekly had some substance when it began, but now....
The Weekly seems to have hit its peak in the early-to late-nineties, with talented writers and cartoonists like Bob Rees, Curt Sanburn, and Bob Pritchett. Borders in Hilo carried the paper for a time, too.
http://bambooridge.com/blog.aspx?bid=441
As Hattie says in the comments, Tiffany Edwards-Hunt publishes the Big Island Chronicle, a spinoff of her blog of the same name. But it's hard. If you like a magazine, newspaper, or blog, especially a small, struggling one, consider a donation.
And again, I'll have more to say later.
Former Weekly writer Chad Blair remembers the paper. He provides details of Honolulu Weekly's acquisition of Hawaii Island Journal in 2005. It was part of a plan to extend the Weekly's reach statewide. Blair doesn't mention it but in December 2006, Stephens issued Big Island Weekly (you know it from its hot pink vending boxes). HIJ was a relaunch of Kau Landing (1992-99), premiering in late 1999 and ending in 2008.
Showing posts with label Hawaii Island Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawaii Island Journal. Show all posts
Thursday, June 06, 2013
Sunday, November 02, 2008
What Now?: Alan McNarie's Blog
Former Hawaii Island Journal writer Alan McNarie follows the lead of Hunter Bishop, et al. and has set up a blog, which I just found this Sunday evening. Most of the posts so far are his previously published articles, but McNarie has original stuff, like a commentary on Sarah Palin.
22 February update: This is Alan's site devoted to his fractured Christmas carols.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
What Now? Part Five
29 July Update: I just found out about Coconut Girl and her take on what she calls "the sad state of Big Island newspapers."
====
Hunter Bishop reports on his blog that the Hawaii Island Journal might come back, probably in August or September.
By chance on Monday or Tuesday night I saw part of the televised testimony before the County Council. Peter Serafin spoke, followed by a woman from the ad department (I think). She said that the three main departments of the paper often operated as three independent entities, and thus were out of sync. Senior writer Alan McNarie opened with a remark that Serafin's and the woman's testimony were both true but that the paper's demise was more "complex" than that. The bulk of his testimony blamed Honolulu Weekly's 2005 acquisition for making the paper "not local." He also said bloggers are "inherently biased," as if papers aren't.
I'm curious about the Island Sun, whose inaugural run of 5,000 copies might mean it'll be hard to find an issue. No website that I can see either. And will people read the Big Island Weekly, Hawaii Free Press (the black sheep of the Big Island alternative media), Island Sun, and a resurgent Hawaii Island Journal? I'd like to think so. The only thing is that BIW, IS, and HIJ might be clones of one another. Each may be a liberal-left paper with lots of arts, some politics, etc., but each should develop its own personality. Book, movie, music, and art reviews, obviously. Sports coverage (see the Village Voice's Jockbeat for inspiration). Cartoons. Big Island Weekly's publication of Berido's cartoons are a good step in the right direction.
====
Hunter Bishop reports on his blog that the Hawaii Island Journal might come back, probably in August or September.
By chance on Monday or Tuesday night I saw part of the televised testimony before the County Council. Peter Serafin spoke, followed by a woman from the ad department (I think). She said that the three main departments of the paper often operated as three independent entities, and thus were out of sync. Senior writer Alan McNarie opened with a remark that Serafin's and the woman's testimony were both true but that the paper's demise was more "complex" than that. The bulk of his testimony blamed Honolulu Weekly's 2005 acquisition for making the paper "not local." He also said bloggers are "inherently biased," as if papers aren't.
I'm curious about the Island Sun, whose inaugural run of 5,000 copies might mean it'll be hard to find an issue. No website that I can see either. And will people read the Big Island Weekly, Hawaii Free Press (the black sheep of the Big Island alternative media), Island Sun, and a resurgent Hawaii Island Journal? I'd like to think so. The only thing is that BIW, IS, and HIJ might be clones of one another. Each may be a liberal-left paper with lots of arts, some politics, etc., but each should develop its own personality. Book, movie, music, and art reviews, obviously. Sports coverage (see the Village Voice's Jockbeat for inspiration). Cartoons. Big Island Weekly's publication of Berido's cartoons are a good step in the right direction.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
What Now? Part Four
From HunterBishop.com
Serafin's testimony on HIJ's demise
What follows is former Hawaii Island Journal Editor Peter Serafin's testimony to the Hawaii County Planning Commttee on Tuesday:
1 July 08
Peter's Council Testimony:
Members of the council, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. My name is Peter Serafin; for the past 2 1/2 years it's been my great pleasure and privilege to have served as editor of Hawai'i Island Journal. I'd like to start off by thanking Chairman Naole for providing me this opportunity to discuss the recent closure of the Journal, a locally owned newspaper which many on this island and elsewhere consider a valuable local resource.
In certain lines of work, the rewards are not exclusively, nor even primarily, financial. Firefighters. School teachers. Police officers. Health care workers. They certainly earn enough to support their families, but nobody gets rich doing these jobs. However, for a certain kind of person the additional reward provided is much more valuable than money: the opportunity for some type of community or public service.
So it is with journalists. Our function is to provide the most complete information we can, so citizens can make the best decisions they can. This is essential to a functional democracy. In fact, the Founding Fathers of the United States considered an independent press so important that it is the only profession protected, by name, in the Constitution.
For the past nine years, HIJ has served the community as a small, locally-owned newspaper. Then, as now, most local news coverage was provided by Stephens Media Group, a conglomerate of approximately 65 newspapers nationwide that is ultimately controlled from the company's headquarters in Las Vegas. On this island they owned both daily papers and a few smaller ones.
When the Journal started, the two Stephens dailies – West Hawaii Today and Hawaii Tribune-Herald — seldom ventured far from either Kailua-Kona or Hilo, respectively. The activities and concerns of people in Ka'u, Hamakua, Puna and other areas were ignored or, at best, underreported. To an extent, that has changed. We believe that the fact that the dailies are doing a bit better in covering these previously forgotten districts is a direct result of the Journal's example.
We morphed from Ka'u Landing into the Journal in 1998, and by 2005 were publishing biweekly, ultimately distributing 24,000 copies of each issue island wide. Over the years we'd built a reputation of looking deeper into local issues than the dailies did. We took the time to investigate without the pressure of daily deadlines, nor the requirement that a reporter write one story per day.
The Journal grew steadily, and eventually began getting attention beyond this island. Last summer in Honolulu we received top honors from the Hawaii Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for Best Community Reporting and Best Feature Writing. We won two of the four statewide categories we were eligible for. During the year no other Hawai'i Island paper was considered the best in any category. We were batting .500 -- not bad in any league. Then just last month, on our third attempt, we were accepted into the highly selective national organization the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
Despite these journalistic successes, we faced challenges on the business side. To print a paper like ours requires a Web press, which can cost over $1 million. Through the country, daily newspapers are the ones that an afford this expensive equipment. But their presses are busy only a few hours a day printing the paper. To maximize revenue from this expensive asset, virtually every newspaper company in the country takes on additional contract printing jobs in their off hours. For example, the New York Times press always printed the New York City phone book, and dozens of other outside jobs. It's standard in the industry.
Stephens Media owns the only two Web presses on this island, where they print the Trib-Herald and West Hawaii Today. Lane Wick, HIJ's previous owner, approached Stephens with a contract job to print the Journal. Their response: We'll only print the Journal if you sell us a controlling interest. As a believer in independent journalism, Wick turned them down. With the new publisher, it was the same story – we won't print you unless we own you. The Journal continued to be printed in Honolulu at the Star-Bulletin press.
Although they couldn't buy us, Stephens still wanted a monopoly. A year and a half ago they launched Big Island Weekly, a copycat paper specifically created to drive the Journal out of business. They pursued a strategy similar to the one go! airlines used against Aloha Air. Sell the product – be it advertising space or airline tickets – below cost, and make up the shortfall with cash infusions from the parent company on the mainland. Since the local company has to actually earn the money it costs to operate, keep it up and you'll eventually drive them out of business.
I'd like to make it perfectly clear that the local staffers of Big Island Weekly have nothing to do with this strategy of their bosses. Like the local go! Airlines workers, they're happy to have a job here doing something they enjoy. But make no mistake: just because the local BIW employees didn't know what their bosses on the mainland were up to doesn't mean it wasn't happening. It most certainly was. And a news monopoly serves no one – except, of course, the one holding the monopoly.
This isn't the only place independent newspapers are being attacked like this. In San Francisco, the Bay Guardian newspaper has been publishing every week for almost 40 years. A few years ago a media conglomerate came in from out of town. They launched the competing San Francisco Weekly and sold extremely cheap advertising. The Bay Guardian sued, charging the Weekly was using predatory pricing and cash infusions from the parent corporation intended to unfairly damage their paper. A court agreed and awarded the Bay Guardian $15 million in damages. The ruling stood on appeal.
Besides being targeted by Stephens, the Journal also faced industry-wide challenges. Like all other newspapers – free or paid – the bulk of our revenue came from advertising. Industry wide, newspaper classified ad revenues dropped 5% last year – a continuing trend over the past decade. Print ads were similarly affected nationally.
So what now? Do the people of this island want and deserve multiple news sources? We think they do. Are they content to get all their local news from one off-island company that owns both our dailies, the only commercial TV station and most of the other papers? We think not. I believe people here are smarter than that and want more than that.
Despite their best efforts, corporate media hasn't managed to control everything yet. Blogging is still in its infancy, but locally Hunter Bishop, Aaron Stene and others are giving us online alternatives to the monopoly, as does the new Island Sun.
As for the Journal, it may not be completely dead after all. I was off-island at the beginning of a long-planned vacation when the publisher called and said she was suspending publication. Since then I've been overwhelmed with calls and emails of support – strongly urging us to carry on. A number of investors are in discussion to buy the paper and relaunch publication. Anyone interested in participating in this effort, or anyone with any questions is welcome to contact me at SaveTheJournal@mac.com. As I've always said, I love hearing from readers.
Mahalo for your attention and for this opportunity to speak here.
Peter Serafin
Editor
Hawai'i Island Journal
SaveTheJournal@mac.com
Posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 07:38AM by Hunter Bishop | Post a Comment
View Printer Friendly Version
Serafin's testimony on HIJ's demise
What follows is former Hawaii Island Journal Editor Peter Serafin's testimony to the Hawaii County Planning Commttee on Tuesday:
1 July 08
Peter's Council Testimony:
Members of the council, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. My name is Peter Serafin; for the past 2 1/2 years it's been my great pleasure and privilege to have served as editor of Hawai'i Island Journal. I'd like to start off by thanking Chairman Naole for providing me this opportunity to discuss the recent closure of the Journal, a locally owned newspaper which many on this island and elsewhere consider a valuable local resource.
In certain lines of work, the rewards are not exclusively, nor even primarily, financial. Firefighters. School teachers. Police officers. Health care workers. They certainly earn enough to support their families, but nobody gets rich doing these jobs. However, for a certain kind of person the additional reward provided is much more valuable than money: the opportunity for some type of community or public service.
So it is with journalists. Our function is to provide the most complete information we can, so citizens can make the best decisions they can. This is essential to a functional democracy. In fact, the Founding Fathers of the United States considered an independent press so important that it is the only profession protected, by name, in the Constitution.
For the past nine years, HIJ has served the community as a small, locally-owned newspaper. Then, as now, most local news coverage was provided by Stephens Media Group, a conglomerate of approximately 65 newspapers nationwide that is ultimately controlled from the company's headquarters in Las Vegas. On this island they owned both daily papers and a few smaller ones.
When the Journal started, the two Stephens dailies – West Hawaii Today and Hawaii Tribune-Herald — seldom ventured far from either Kailua-Kona or Hilo, respectively. The activities and concerns of people in Ka'u, Hamakua, Puna and other areas were ignored or, at best, underreported. To an extent, that has changed. We believe that the fact that the dailies are doing a bit better in covering these previously forgotten districts is a direct result of the Journal's example.
We morphed from Ka'u Landing into the Journal in 1998, and by 2005 were publishing biweekly, ultimately distributing 24,000 copies of each issue island wide. Over the years we'd built a reputation of looking deeper into local issues than the dailies did. We took the time to investigate without the pressure of daily deadlines, nor the requirement that a reporter write one story per day.
The Journal grew steadily, and eventually began getting attention beyond this island. Last summer in Honolulu we received top honors from the Hawaii Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for Best Community Reporting and Best Feature Writing. We won two of the four statewide categories we were eligible for. During the year no other Hawai'i Island paper was considered the best in any category. We were batting .500 -- not bad in any league. Then just last month, on our third attempt, we were accepted into the highly selective national organization the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
Despite these journalistic successes, we faced challenges on the business side. To print a paper like ours requires a Web press, which can cost over $1 million. Through the country, daily newspapers are the ones that an afford this expensive equipment. But their presses are busy only a few hours a day printing the paper. To maximize revenue from this expensive asset, virtually every newspaper company in the country takes on additional contract printing jobs in their off hours. For example, the New York Times press always printed the New York City phone book, and dozens of other outside jobs. It's standard in the industry.
Stephens Media owns the only two Web presses on this island, where they print the Trib-Herald and West Hawaii Today. Lane Wick, HIJ's previous owner, approached Stephens with a contract job to print the Journal. Their response: We'll only print the Journal if you sell us a controlling interest. As a believer in independent journalism, Wick turned them down. With the new publisher, it was the same story – we won't print you unless we own you. The Journal continued to be printed in Honolulu at the Star-Bulletin press.
Although they couldn't buy us, Stephens still wanted a monopoly. A year and a half ago they launched Big Island Weekly, a copycat paper specifically created to drive the Journal out of business. They pursued a strategy similar to the one go! airlines used against Aloha Air. Sell the product – be it advertising space or airline tickets – below cost, and make up the shortfall with cash infusions from the parent company on the mainland. Since the local company has to actually earn the money it costs to operate, keep it up and you'll eventually drive them out of business.
I'd like to make it perfectly clear that the local staffers of Big Island Weekly have nothing to do with this strategy of their bosses. Like the local go! Airlines workers, they're happy to have a job here doing something they enjoy. But make no mistake: just because the local BIW employees didn't know what their bosses on the mainland were up to doesn't mean it wasn't happening. It most certainly was. And a news monopoly serves no one – except, of course, the one holding the monopoly.
This isn't the only place independent newspapers are being attacked like this. In San Francisco, the Bay Guardian newspaper has been publishing every week for almost 40 years. A few years ago a media conglomerate came in from out of town. They launched the competing San Francisco Weekly and sold extremely cheap advertising. The Bay Guardian sued, charging the Weekly was using predatory pricing and cash infusions from the parent corporation intended to unfairly damage their paper. A court agreed and awarded the Bay Guardian $15 million in damages. The ruling stood on appeal.
Besides being targeted by Stephens, the Journal also faced industry-wide challenges. Like all other newspapers – free or paid – the bulk of our revenue came from advertising. Industry wide, newspaper classified ad revenues dropped 5% last year – a continuing trend over the past decade. Print ads were similarly affected nationally.
So what now? Do the people of this island want and deserve multiple news sources? We think they do. Are they content to get all their local news from one off-island company that owns both our dailies, the only commercial TV station and most of the other papers? We think not. I believe people here are smarter than that and want more than that.
Despite their best efforts, corporate media hasn't managed to control everything yet. Blogging is still in its infancy, but locally Hunter Bishop, Aaron Stene and others are giving us online alternatives to the monopoly, as does the new Island Sun.
As for the Journal, it may not be completely dead after all. I was off-island at the beginning of a long-planned vacation when the publisher called and said she was suspending publication. Since then I've been overwhelmed with calls and emails of support – strongly urging us to carry on. A number of investors are in discussion to buy the paper and relaunch publication. Anyone interested in participating in this effort, or anyone with any questions is welcome to contact me at SaveTheJournal@mac.com. As I've always said, I love hearing from readers.
Mahalo for your attention and for this opportunity to speak here.
Peter Serafin
Editor
Hawai'i Island Journal
SaveTheJournal@mac.com
Posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at 07:38AM by Hunter Bishop | Post a Comment
View Printer Friendly Version
Saturday, June 28, 2008
What Now? Part Three
A 23 June post on HunterBishop.com mentions this:
Also in these comments from Tiffany was the agenda for the County Council's Human Services and Economic Development Committee meeting at 9:30 a.m. July 1 in Hilo, where the closing of the Hawaii Island Journal will be discussed:
Comm. 1296:
PRESENTATION BY HAWAI‘I ISLAND JOURNAL REPRESENTATIVES ON THE DEMISE OF THE ISLAND’S INDEPENDENTLY OWNED ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER
From Councilmember Emily Naeole, dated June 12, 2008, requesting the above presentation.
That should prove to be interesting.
-----
Would Naeole have gone through the trouble if it were the Hawaii Free Press that went under?
But "a flicker of hope remains" :
And another note on the Journal. There's a small chance that the reports of its demise may be premature. I understand that at least one buyer is interested and that the newspaper's staff has remained largely intact, though unpaid, pending further developments. Nothing certain, but a flicker of hope remains.
=====
Hunter Bishop doesn't mention Andrew Walden's HFP article that suggests Stephens Media may have acquired some of the Journal's assets. I see that Rob Brezsny's syndicated "Free Will Astrology" column, a Journal staple, has made its debut in the 25 June Big Island Weekly.
======
In that same issue of the Big Island Weekly, there is a letter by Galen Kelly that takes a very different view of the demise of the Journal:
Socialism is not a term to be easily tossed about. And no, I'm not afraid of the word, but more on that in a minute. Kristine, your two opening paragraphs (June 18) lead the reader to believe that what follows is your take on, and response to, the sinking of The Hawaii Island Journal. We get a bit of that and then are lead [sic] down the path of socialism and global warming. Firstly, it's my belief that the Journal was dying a slow death long before the BIW came on the scene; my own perception of it was that it was killing itself with moderation (mostly in its lukewarm coverage of the war), with playing it safe, with avoiding the kind of controversy that shines a light on many of the corruptions we face today. It is the Internet that houses the bravest of journalists and the most uninhibited informing, leaving in the dust those who still honor the status-quo and cower to power. Many papers are suffering under this phenomenon. The Big Island Weekly can escape that and seems to be going further in bringing the truth, even when the truth is ugly. May it continue to grow in being brave and uncompromising. [Emphasis mine.--P.Z.]
==
30 June update: This column by Andrew Walden, "Bloggers Buzz Over Big Island Media Shakeup," appeared in the 17 December 2006 issue of HawaiiReporter.com. It has proven to be prescient. In retrospect, the decline of the Journal might be traced to its acquisition by the Honolulu Weekly, though some would blame pre-Weekly editor Lane Wick for steering the paper back to the arcaneness which plagued the Journal's predecessor, Ka'u Landing, in the late nineties: [Note: I added the names of HunterBishop comment authors, and the dates when they were published.--P.Z.]
Special from Hawaii Free Press
By Andrew Walden, 12/17/2006 2:40:01
With the December 6 introduction of Big Island Weekly, Las Vegas-based Stevens Media, owner of the Hawaii Tribune Herald, West Hawaii Today, North Hawaii News, Westside Weekly, and the Kamaaina Shopper enters the Big Island alternative media space. This move continues the reshaping of a print media scene marked by the termination earlier this year of reporter Hunter Bishop and others at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, and now by the resignations of reporters Tiffany Edwards and Betsy Tranquilli from West Hawaii Today.
To counter the challenge from Big Island Weekly, the South Kona-based Journal is believed to be considering adopting a weekly format [Hawaii Island Journal never went weekly--P.Z.] and opening an office in (gasp) Hilo, considered by some of its Kona readers to be a “bastion of low-IQ people”.
Commenting on the first issue of Big Island Weekly, Bishop writes on his Blog, [link added by P.Z.] “Editor Kristine Kubat, a Puna geothermal protester in the early '90s, pulled out all the environmental stops in the inaugural issue, including an interview with her old friend Palikapu Dedman….”
More fake environmentalism from those who oppose accepting Madame Pele’s gift to Hawaii--clean geothermal electricity--can only be a sign the Big Island Weekly is aiming at the heart of the HIJ’s political base of anti-environmental “environmentalists”.
...
Say the readers of Bishop’s Puna-focused blog:
“I can't say I've been satisfied with the quality of Hawaii Island Journal since the purchase by the Honolulu Weekly. The size of the paper has dwindled and with it, the amount of quality content. Perhaps it will improve as a weekly but I won't hold my breath. That said, the publisher of BIW (Stephens Media) does not instill a lot of confidence in this reader that the average BIW will be any more worthy of my time than their Kamaaina Shopper already is.” [2nd comment, Rodion, 12 Dec. 2006]
“I kind of stopped reading the HIJ just because those articles were getting super long and cumbersome to read and because the overall subject matter was not that interesting to me.” [10th comment, Josephine Keliipio (was nativeroots), 14 Dec. 2006]
“[Hawaii Island Journal] used to come out with hard-hitting articles that focused attention on important issues. When is the last time they broke a major story? It seems that all they can manage now is a lot of new-age philosophy, which probably pleases some of their advertisers but doesn't do much for me. Oh yes, they will decry injustice and support the environment generically, but investigative reporting is what is needed. An expose' on the good old boy local power structure, or on the inequities in the local government funding structure might get my attention again. I don't even bother to pick it up any more, so somebody will have to tell me if they get it back on track.” [11th comment, Wankine, 14 Dec. 2006]
...
Also in these comments from Tiffany was the agenda for the County Council's Human Services and Economic Development Committee meeting at 9:30 a.m. July 1 in Hilo, where the closing of the Hawaii Island Journal will be discussed:
Comm. 1296:
PRESENTATION BY HAWAI‘I ISLAND JOURNAL REPRESENTATIVES ON THE DEMISE OF THE ISLAND’S INDEPENDENTLY OWNED ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER
From Councilmember Emily Naeole, dated June 12, 2008, requesting the above presentation.
That should prove to be interesting.
-----
Would Naeole have gone through the trouble if it were the Hawaii Free Press that went under?
But "a flicker of hope remains" :
And another note on the Journal. There's a small chance that the reports of its demise may be premature. I understand that at least one buyer is interested and that the newspaper's staff has remained largely intact, though unpaid, pending further developments. Nothing certain, but a flicker of hope remains.
=====
Hunter Bishop doesn't mention Andrew Walden's HFP article that suggests Stephens Media may have acquired some of the Journal's assets. I see that Rob Brezsny's syndicated "Free Will Astrology" column, a Journal staple, has made its debut in the 25 June Big Island Weekly.
======
In that same issue of the Big Island Weekly, there is a letter by Galen Kelly that takes a very different view of the demise of the Journal:
Socialism is not a term to be easily tossed about. And no, I'm not afraid of the word, but more on that in a minute. Kristine, your two opening paragraphs (June 18) lead the reader to believe that what follows is your take on, and response to, the sinking of The Hawaii Island Journal. We get a bit of that and then are lead [sic] down the path of socialism and global warming. Firstly, it's my belief that the Journal was dying a slow death long before the BIW came on the scene; my own perception of it was that it was killing itself with moderation (mostly in its lukewarm coverage of the war), with playing it safe, with avoiding the kind of controversy that shines a light on many of the corruptions we face today. It is the Internet that houses the bravest of journalists and the most uninhibited informing, leaving in the dust those who still honor the status-quo and cower to power. Many papers are suffering under this phenomenon. The Big Island Weekly can escape that and seems to be going further in bringing the truth, even when the truth is ugly. May it continue to grow in being brave and uncompromising. [Emphasis mine.--P.Z.]
==
30 June update: This column by Andrew Walden, "Bloggers Buzz Over Big Island Media Shakeup," appeared in the 17 December 2006 issue of HawaiiReporter.com. It has proven to be prescient. In retrospect, the decline of the Journal might be traced to its acquisition by the Honolulu Weekly, though some would blame pre-Weekly editor Lane Wick for steering the paper back to the arcaneness which plagued the Journal's predecessor, Ka'u Landing, in the late nineties: [Note: I added the names of HunterBishop comment authors, and the dates when they were published.--P.Z.]
Special from Hawaii Free Press
By Andrew Walden, 12/17/2006 2:40:01
With the December 6 introduction of Big Island Weekly, Las Vegas-based Stevens Media, owner of the Hawaii Tribune Herald, West Hawaii Today, North Hawaii News, Westside Weekly, and the Kamaaina Shopper enters the Big Island alternative media space. This move continues the reshaping of a print media scene marked by the termination earlier this year of reporter Hunter Bishop and others at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, and now by the resignations of reporters Tiffany Edwards and Betsy Tranquilli from West Hawaii Today.
To counter the challenge from Big Island Weekly, the South Kona-based Journal is believed to be considering adopting a weekly format [Hawaii Island Journal never went weekly--P.Z.] and opening an office in (gasp) Hilo, considered by some of its Kona readers to be a “bastion of low-IQ people”.
Commenting on the first issue of Big Island Weekly, Bishop writes on his Blog, [link added by P.Z.] “Editor Kristine Kubat, a Puna geothermal protester in the early '90s, pulled out all the environmental stops in the inaugural issue, including an interview with her old friend Palikapu Dedman….”
More fake environmentalism from those who oppose accepting Madame Pele’s gift to Hawaii--clean geothermal electricity--can only be a sign the Big Island Weekly is aiming at the heart of the HIJ’s political base of anti-environmental “environmentalists”.
...
Say the readers of Bishop’s Puna-focused blog:
“I can't say I've been satisfied with the quality of Hawaii Island Journal since the purchase by the Honolulu Weekly. The size of the paper has dwindled and with it, the amount of quality content. Perhaps it will improve as a weekly but I won't hold my breath. That said, the publisher of BIW (Stephens Media) does not instill a lot of confidence in this reader that the average BIW will be any more worthy of my time than their Kamaaina Shopper already is.” [2nd comment, Rodion, 12 Dec. 2006]
“I kind of stopped reading the HIJ just because those articles were getting super long and cumbersome to read and because the overall subject matter was not that interesting to me.” [10th comment, Josephine Keliipio (was nativeroots), 14 Dec. 2006]
“[Hawaii Island Journal] used to come out with hard-hitting articles that focused attention on important issues. When is the last time they broke a major story? It seems that all they can manage now is a lot of new-age philosophy, which probably pleases some of their advertisers but doesn't do much for me. Oh yes, they will decry injustice and support the environment generically, but investigative reporting is what is needed. An expose' on the good old boy local power structure, or on the inequities in the local government funding structure might get my attention again. I don't even bother to pick it up any more, so somebody will have to tell me if they get it back on track.” [11th comment, Wankine, 14 Dec. 2006]
...
Monday, June 16, 2008
What Now? Part Two
Foreshadowing in this 2007 issue of the Hawaii Island Journal.
The cover article in the 10-23 March 2007 issue of the Hawaii Island Journal (pictured), "Corporate Media," by HIJ editor Peter Serafin, deals with pseudo-alternative papers, and mentions the Big Island Weekly, which had debuted a few months before. Serafin also points out that "newsgathering resources are being cut at unprecedented rates, and the quality of information available to citizens has suffered.
"A local example: Using the industry's standard ratio to determine the number of editorial staffers a newspaper needs to serve a given number of readers, Stephens Media's Hawaii Tribune-Herald is understaffed. This means HT-H staff reporters don't always have time to be as thorough as they'd like, and some stories aren't covered as well as well as they could be--if they're covered at all. There simply aren't enough people to do the work."
Sunday, June 15, 2008
What Now?
was the title of a cartoon by Keith [not Ken, mea culpa] Tucker that ran occasionally in the Hawaii Island Journal. It was also the headline of the HIJ's second-to-last issue, and it's the question some are asking now that the final issue has hit stands.
In retrospect, the Journal (owned by Honolulu Weekly since 2005) has been struggling for some time. I noticed the paper had lately thinned out to twenty pages. Hattie has eyed the Big Island Weekly with suspicion as a faux-alternative paper designed to drain advertising away from the Journal, and she's probably right.
If there's a winner, or at least a survivor, it's the Hawaii Free Press, the center-right newspaper founded at the beginning of 2005 by Andrew Walden. It eschews the cultural coverage of the two other papers in favor of news and opinion. Each issue is only eight pages but there is little filler (few ads, no cartoons or horoscopes).
I'll try to post more about the HIJ later.
Update: This is perhaps the strongest post about the HIJ's demise.
An excerpt:
My understanding is that the Honolulu Weekly (and the Hawaii Island Journal) are (were) printed on the Star-Bulletin/MidWeek presses, and that the Advertiser isn't a competitive option. That is, they won't print alternative weeklies. If there are so few options, that makes publication of a weekly paper a precarious thing. With the price of shipping going up, I wonder if printing any paper out of town can make economic sense (I just don't know). If the Big Island wants to have a free weekly paper, what choices do they have to print it locally, that is, economically?
And let's face it, we're getting mostly ads and entertainment listings in the Honolulu Weekly. It's no Village Voice, and journalism isn't its main thrust. While I'm glad to see the articles they do run, those articles are very few. We're not necessarily getting our money's worth.
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