November 9, 2000. It was a historic afternoon in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newsroom as champagne and smiles greeted the news that a buyer had emerged to buy the newspaper and save it from imminent closure.

Canadian newspaper publisher David Black donned a white Star-Bulletin t-shirt and appeared in the newsroom following a press conference where he had announced an agreement “in principal” to buy the newspaper. Black said the deal was contingent on getting a new contract with the union, and securing a supply of newsprint. The purchase was set to close on March 15, 2001.

The deal was described in an article, written by Rick Daysog, that made it into the same day’s afternoon edition of the Star-Bulletin. The headline: “Deal Saves Bulletin”.

Back in September 1999, the Gannett newspaper chain, owner of the Honolulu Advertiser, which was partnered with the Star-Bulletin in a joint operating agreement, announced that the smaller afternoon paper would be closed. A federal lawsuit filed by a union-backed community group had successfully blocked the shutdown, at least until a legitimate attempt was made to find a buyer, which most observers thought to be unlikely.

They were wrong. The Star-Bulletin did survive under new ownership. And in 2010, David Black bought the larger Honolulu Advertiser from Gannett, and merged it into the Star-Bulletin. The combined newspaper was renamed the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

For more history, read “The Pulse of Paradise“, published by the American Journalism Review in 2001.