I was very sorry when I got word yesterday afternoon of former Lt. Governor Jean King’s death.
This morning I did a quick search for those occasions when she was mentioned on this blog. Here are a few.
“Woman Alive,” February 1977 (pg. 7).
Sen. Jean King has drafted a Legislative Resolution and a bill aimed at affirmative action in programming and employment in Public Television….
The flurry of court action has created lots of confusion, with several related and overlapping moves.
Just weeks after withdrawing their motions to dismiss both the state lawsuit and the separate but parallel case brought by several “community leaders” backed by the Newspaper Guild, Gannett and Liberty Newspapers have now filed their own countersuit. It has been reported first in the state case, but I presume a similar counterattack will be launched against Jean King & Co.
The countersuit is substantively equivalent to the owners’ motion, filed just days earlier, which aims at forcing the state to put up a $21 million bond as a condition of maintaining the preliminary injunction, which has kept the Star-Bulletin in business beyond the planned Oct. 30 closing.
There have been unsung and unappreciated heroes in the continuing battle to save the Star-Bulletin. We may have the sense that there has been a spontaneous outpouring of community support, but unknown to most in the newsroom, supporters have been making the circuit of Honolulu’s neighborhood boards to describe our situation and appeal for support. In school cafeterias and community libraries, they’ve been successful in convincing board members to cast their votes in our favor. This is the tedious but necessary side of organizing, and these folks deserve our thanks.
Below is just one example, as it appeared in the minutes of the November 4, 1999 meeting of the McCully-Moiliili Neighborhood Board. The person appearing on our behalf, Jean King, is a former Lt. Governor and member of the Legislature, and is one of the plaintiffs in the SOS lawsuit against Gannett and Liberty Newspapers.
Presentation on Saving The Honolulu Star Bulletin – Jean King, member of the Save Our Star-Bulletin (S.O.S.), stated that their main goal is educating the public through various Neighborhood Board meetings throughout the island to gather community support and in raising public awareness of the importance for Honolulu to have two viable daily newspapers. Jean King stressed the importance of having at least two daily newspapers for these reasons; a healthy democracy requires competition – for reporters not to be complacent but in being thorough, and in challenging differing news editorials. Jean King cited the Joint Operating Agreement and the Newspaper Preservation Act, which exempted the two newspapers from the Sherman Anti Trust Act – to prevent the establishment of monopolies. Jean King noted that the joint operating agreement between the Advertiser and Star-Bulletin expires in 2012. The decision by Gannett Pacific, owners of the Honolulu Advertiser and Rupert Phillips of Liberty Newspapers – owner of the Star Bulletin to shutting down the Star-Bulletin due to the fact that Phillips is only getting a 12%, not 26% return of his investment is a violation of the joint operating agreement. Jean King was pleased that the State Attorney General’s office has taken legal action to stop the closure of the Honolulu Star- Bulletin, while the U.S. Justice Department has intervened as a friend of the court for S.O.S. The Courts have upheld the State’s position. Gannett has appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, where it is now pending. Jean King distributed a petition to avert the shut down of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Ka’apu moved and Aiona seconded to adopt the following resolution:
WHEREAS, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin was scheduled to close on October 30, and
WHEREAS, if the Honolulu Star-Bulletin is shut down, the Honolulu Advertiser will become Hawaii’s only statewide newspaper, and
WHEREAS, we benefit from two or more independent news and editorial voices our community; and
WHEREAS, the closure of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin will result in the loss of over 110 jobs, along with hundreds of independent dealers and newspaper carriers;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the McCully/Mo’ili’ili Neighborhood Board support the efforts to maintain more than one statewide daily newspaper continues to be published.
Honolulu Community Media Council, August 2006.
Jean King is listed as a member of the Board of Directors.
A new community group calling itself “The Friends of the Honolulu Advertiser” is planning a press conference at 11 a.m. today in front of the Advertiser building at 605 Kapiolani.
According to a message circulating yesterday:
It will probably last about 30 mins. Our committee members may have an informal meeting afterwards to discuss and plan future activities.
Our delegation to the Advertiser will announce the formation and purpose of our group–The Friends of The Honolulu Advertiser and our delegation will report on their 90-minute meeting last Thursday with Advertiser publisher Lee Webber and the editor Mark Platte. Webber told our delegation that the paper plans to go ahead with the lay-offs, and he also said that he doubts there will be a strike by the employees. Thanks to our five delegation members (Richard Port, AQ McElrath, Jean King, Amy Agbayani, and Mike Golojuch) for their time and quality effort.
SO PLEASE COME AT 11 AM TUESDAY TO THE MEDIA CONFERENCE AND SPREAD THE WORD AND INVITE OTHERS. This event we hope will help encourage the Advertiser employees who are reportedly planning their own actions later in the week and improve prospects for maintaining two newspapers as information sources for the people. Word is that the lay-offs may come down by or after Aug. 8.
I’m sure I’ve got a few photos of Jean at community events and private gatherings over the years, but haven’t had a chance to look for them.
We all owe a lot to Jean and her generation. They never gave up.
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My exchanges with her were fleeting, but remarkable nonetheless. I was so impressed with her unapologetic liberality. What a loss! I just don’t see anyone of her stature or principle coming up from the current ranks.
The least pretentious and most real of all the politicians I have worked with
That is a tribute!
She may have have been a “maverick,” but she was well-spoken, respectful and calm when I observed her.
(I was surprised no mention of her Big Island origins in all of the current coverage.)
Hugh
I believe her dad was a post master on the Big Island and her mom was a nisei housewife from Hilo.Coincidentally, her brother Allan passed away a month ago.
A woman of extraordinary grace, intelligence and perseverance.
She was one of my favorites. We need more politicians with such compassion and class.