Well, there’s not much more to say about tomorrow’s election. I suspect any readers of this site have either already voted or clearly made up their minds. It appears the final test is which gubernatorial candidates can get their voters to actually vote. All the rest is bluster.
Email notices yesterday invited Abercrombie supporters to an election night party at the old CompUSA building. We’ll probably watch the returns while safely ensconced at home in Kaaawa, since it’s our turn to cook for our regular weekly dinner with a good friend and former neighbor.
Nationally, the impact of unrestrained corporate spending is already being felt, much going into negative advertising, according to this piece from NPR.
You might also want to check Public Citizen’s new report, “Fading Disclosure: Increasing Number of Electioneering Groups Keep Donors’ Identities Secret“.
As far as I can tell, we haven’t had that visible impact here yet. Corporate PACs registered with the Campaign Spending Commission generally show little money going into campaigns so far this year.
In any case, turning to more mundane news.
Leaders of British Columbia’s Liberal Party gathered for a barbecue at newspaper publisher David Black’s home in Victoria last week to ponder the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell. Campbell has to retain the support of his party in order to stay in office.
Black, of course, is the owner of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, now Honolulu’s only daily newspaper, as well as more than 70 newspapers in British Columbia, and more in Washington State.
The gathering was first reported by PublicEyeOnline.com, where this exchange of comments took place:
BC Blue | September 10, 2010 1:59 PM | Reply
Am I the only one appalled by a newspaper owner blatantly supporting the Liberals? Shouldn’t the media at least appear to be neutral?salty | September 14, 2010 9:55 AM | Reply
David Black is a newspaper owner. If he were a reporter or editor who was schoomzing with this cast then there’d be an issue with neutrality. If Black leans on his papers to be pro-Lib then there’s a problem. He’s also a private citizen who hosted a party at his home after hours. What he does is his business.
Chris Mikesell, opinions editor for Ka Leo, the UH Manoa student newspaper, asked for feedback on a couple issues they recently confronted.
First, the question of the same letter being submitted to multiple publications. Second, was it relevant to readers that another letter writer’s parents both work for one of the gubernatorial candidates? Read on.
It was centered around a couple of Letters to the Editor we received in support of Mufi Hannemann, which we examined in a later commentary.
The issue is pretty much resolved in print at this point, but I figure since you cover a lot of media ethics stuff, you’d be able to offer some additional insight.
Is this kind of thing really this common?
Commentary that prompted the letters
Letter #1 (the one on the bottom) and Letter #2
and
Share your views by leaving a comment here.
And have a great Friday and election eve.
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I’m wondering about the double page spread in today’s paper by Mufi. I didn’t see anyone who looked like him!
What I’m really impressed with about this blog post is how far Ke Leo has come since the whole DeRego debacle. It gives me hope for the future of journalism.
Nice to know that I’m not the only person appalled by HSA’s role of political “player.”
In this one-paper-town I want that paper to be objective and not attempt to be persuasive on public issues.
Bah to Mr. Black!
Assuming the letter writer is at least 18 years-old, which makes that person an adult, why does it matter to readers who a letter writer’s parents are? What if the scenario were flipped: an adult letter writer’s parents are working for a candidate and the letter writer supports an opposing candidate? Does it matter then?
On another topic, this election season must be a treasure trove for the local TV stations and the Star-Advertiser. I have seen uku million political TV ads for the last two weeks. Governor, lootenant governor, Honolulu mayor, Honolulu prosecutor. I was glad to see a TV ad for Maui mayor. Neighbor Islands represent!
Yeah, it’s like Christmas season for retailers.
Gotta agree with Rlb on Hollis: if she’s an adult, her parents are pretty irrelevant. Otherwise my family would be in a real dither– parents in the ILWU (Mufi), one spouse with the anti-Super Ferry environmentalists (Neil), a kid away in college mulling over voting in California (for the Dems) rather than in Hawaii, and relatives at King’s Cathedral (the righteous candidate). Hollis disclosed her full and actual name– that her mom is the spokesperson for Mufi Hannemann and her father works for the ad firm handling some of the campaign spin is nice to know but it’s her views being published. I wouldn’t want to presume telling my kid to sign a letter I’d written to submit to her college newspaper.
I voted for Neil, but I just never saw the UH, Harvard comparison as offensive. Being a Neil supporter it was more of a “Great, Mufi is offending more people again” rather than I’m mad as hell and I can’t support someone who disses UH. I thought the real problem was Mufi’s explanation of why he went negative in the first place.
Black’s Honolulu publisher is a major Mufi supporter, so much so that last year he scuttled the paper’s independent op-ed staff and put in rubberstampers.
From the StarAdvertiser editorial page in “Off the News”:
“Venting obvious frustration with the Star-Advertiser’s endorsement of his opponent Mufi Hannemann, he (Abercrombie) started to describe its editorial board: “The sniveling … ” he began, before press aide Jim McCoy shushed him. “Well, you know.””
The SA continues: “My, my — such words, coming from someone who’s been extolling the virtues of pono. Over here we would love to know how that sentence would have ended.”
http://www.staradvertiser.com/editorials/offthenews/20100917_Off_the_News.html
It doesn’t say who heard the quote. Was a SA reporter there? Was it reported by the Post? I haven’t found anything on the Post web site. Maybe someone will be able to point us to the web page?
I looked for the SA masthead in the print and electronic versions and maybe looked in the wrong places but couldn’t find who is on the editorial board. And as this commentary is written in the first person: “”My, my” (actually it is sort of mixed “My, my. . we. . .”), it should have been signed.
More suspicious minds than mine might wonder about its appearance the day before the election.
It had to be the fly on the wall.
That quote was in the original WaPo online story.
Actually what’s worse is the SA in today’s day-before-election issue printing an “Island Voices” article from Mufi’s campaign manager touting Mufi’s environmental cred without any equal time to a pro-Neil article, even when providing equal time had been the usual policy till today.
I guess buying a lot of expensive double-truck ads has its privileges.
At least the SA should try not to be too obvious. That and during this week, doing a highlighted box of the pro-Mufi article and leaving the short pro-Neil letter to the editor un-highlighted. SA, your slip is showing again!
Editorial board members are named each day in the print edition. In the last presidential election the Advertiser Editorial Board voted for Obama, with the Publisher and Editor in the minority. The minority didn’t like the vote so they chose not to endorse anyone,
The Island Voices piece was in RESPONSE to a pro Neil column on Wednesday. So what are you saying?? there should be a response to the response??? Is there an end?? Sorry actually, your lack of complete information is showing.
You don’t get it. There was only a single pro Gov article in today’s paper, the day before the election. Yes it was a response, but then why wasn’t there any pro Neil article the day before the election, response or otherwise.
Previously, every day featured one pro article from each candidate, again, response or otherwise. And actually, today’s response was to a response to Mufi’s dubious environmental bona fides.
the Post url is: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/15/AR2010091506926_2.html
slightly misquoted as “McCoy, gestured for him to tone it down” not “McCoy shushed him”.
SA publisher Dennis Francis is a big Mufi and George W. Bush supporter. He is still angry that the paper endorsed Obama. On the other hand, the Advertiser top brass were birthers. Usually a mistake to blame the newspaper staffs for the failings of the publishers, who dictate endorsements.
my bad, the editorial board members do seem to be sort of named in the print edition (today page A 17). At the bottom of the page: under “Oahu Publications Inc. * Honolulu Star Advertiser”, are listed the President and Publisher, Vice President/Editor, Editorial Page Editor, Deputy Editorial Page Editor and editorial page staff. One can infer some or all of these are the editorial board.
I am a bit disappointed to find a corporation rather than a newspaper having an editorial board, but then I am a bit old fashioned.
Will this be accepted?
The reason I ask is that an earlier comment on this blog was quarantined because I’d removed the cookie chaser.
Now it’s back – who’s been messing with my computator?
Back to the topic – I don’t have the $$$$ to take on the publisher so let him have his way.