![[text]](http://ilind.net/from_rr/images/dave1.jpg)
Ten years ago today, on the morning of September 16, then-Star-Bulletin owner Rupert Phillips stood in the newsroom and announced that the newspaper would be closed in 60 days as part of a deal with Gannett to end the Joint Operating Agreement between the Advertiser and S-B. Phillips and his partners would get a cash payment and the Star-Bulletin would become history.
I took a few photos and threw them up on what was then a little personal web site. This one shows Managing Editor Dave Shapiro holding the day’s front page announcing the closure. A hint–click through that link to the main story, and there’s another link at the top to short video clips.
Some of that original posting, and those that followed, are still archived here, although some pieces, and most external links, did not survive the years and the move here from Roadrunner.
It has been a terribly long ten years for the newspaper industry. The Star-Bulletin was simply somewhere at the front end of of the fast-paced demise of newspapers. First it was primarily evening newspapers, like the S-B, that were biting the dust, then morning papers became an equally endangered species.
Amazingly, the Star-Bulletin survived the 60-days, eventually found a new owner in a court-supervised sale, and is still publishing, albeit in a different form and with reduced editorial heft and substance.
The glare of my online “newsroom diary” eventually drew the wrath of some of my colleagues and editors, and when the S-B eventually moved to new quarters under new ownership, I moved on.
That simple “newsroom diary” later moved to blog format and became iLind.net, and here we are today, a decade later, still wandering the halls of cyberspace.
All in all, an amazing journey.
Congratulations to all the folks who have kept the Star-Bulletin not only alive but a full player in the newspaper wars.
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The SB has some real shortcomings, but it would be terrible for Honolulu if the Advertiser were the only game in town. Congratulations SB!
Wow…I remember reading those early posts, and following what happened, in part foreshadowing what happened to the News-Chronicle many years later. I don’t know if “happy anniversary” is called for but best from me, Steph, Bikini and Ticket (the last two are our current cats)
Congratulations to YOU, Ian. You’re the first thing I read each morning, even before I read the papers.
Have newspapers in general reached the tipping point where it’s no longer financially viable? I mean, the main source of revenue is advertising including classified ads and between Craig’s list and MidWeek this source of revenue has diminished tremendously.
Remember when you wanted to send a message to someone quickly, you sent a telegram by Western Union? Well, today an increasing number of people get their news on-line instantly rather than waiting for a newspaper to be delivered.
And there is this expectation that on-line media are free.
Sure, it will be tragic if the print media were to shrink even more but I wonder if the present business model is sustainable.
Obviously, the ones who gained the most from this whole experience were the household cats.
Ian,
I’ve been reading your (e) column since I first heard about it, right around 10 years ago. You had the cajones to report the tough stuff going on at the time in the newsroom.
I remember reading about SB reporters being locked out of the THA library (if I’m correct in my memory) as well as being locked out of other parts of the Green Building.
I’m so glad you’re still posting. THANK YOU.
Lora