Most of you who follow my entries here at iLind.net probably don’t remember the beginning of it all.
That was on September 15, 1999. Next weekend, it will have been 20 years. At that time, I was an investigative reporter for the old Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which was the junior partner in a Joint Operating Agreement with the larger Honolulu Advertiser, at that time owned by Gannett.
Here’s the first entry in what I called the Newsroom Diary, written before “blogs” were a thing, and even before the term “blog” was in general use. Over the first few months, my observations appeared as part of a small personal site, at that point using the free space provided by Roadrunner, which at that point provided our broadband service.
September 15, Wednesday
My first day back after a week-long trip to Chicago. The normal first day routine: clearing all that stacked up email, then the snail mail, then returning calls, getting reoriented to the stories in progress.
Routine, until mid-afternoon, probably around 4 pm, a wave of worry. Unexplained management meetings. No answers forthcoming about the subject. Finally word that “an announcement” will be made Thursday morning. We’ve been through rumors before. A month ago, some Advertiser staffers were supposedly asked to submit lists of who they would hire from the Star-Bulletin, but as far as I know this was never confirmed. But by 6 pm, all television stations are reporting the Star-Bulletin’s imminent closure.
Reporters who start early in the day were gone before the flutter started, and many hear the news for the first time when it’s broadcast.
Over the next 18 months, I tried to document what it felt and looked like within a daily newspaper as we seemed to be sailing into journalistic oblivion. I thought that bearing witness to the death of another American newspaper would be a good use of the time I had left as a professional journalist.
The “iLind.net” domain was registered several months later, in late January 2000, and the “newsroom diary” moved here. Of course, the newspaper didn’t close. It was purchased and continued publishing under new ownership, although I lost my job in the process. I turned freelance, writing first for Honolulu Weekly and, later, Civil Beat. And I continued posting here at iLind.net, which has been through many different phases over the years since.
In the last year, I’ve become less regular with my almost-daily posts, which has made me consider how or whether to continue when the two-decade anniversary arrives next weekend.
My internal jury is still out.
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Hope you do. Your work is read and appreciated by many!
I’m looking forward to another twenty years of ilind.net
Please continue. No other journalist in Hawaii has your depth of knowledge, courage, perspective, honesty and work ethic, especially when tackling local politics.
Your contributions going forward will be so important with the fate of the Hawaiians in the claws of DHHL & OHA, and the Mauna issue providing impetus for another renaissance.
Ian –
When a blog is a thing of joy and an outlet for what you want to share it is not a burden.
But blogs are a demanding mistress and after awhile most wither away when the desire to write becomes less than the desire to be doing something else.
If you have to drag yourself to the keyboard then it has become a burden and time to let go.
On the other side, you have many who look forward to what you have to say. You are a repository of so much that has happened over our recent past (mixed in with cats and dogs and walks and stuff). Your insight into the whole “Mauna Kea thing” has been priceless and brings some clarity to a twisted story. That alone is worth it.
But no one can do something he or she no longer looks forward to for very long.
Do as you must but please remember your importance is explaining and clarifying what many of us only know from the 6 o’clock news by reporters still very wet behind the ears and with no understanding of the issues or history behind many of the major stories today.
For that you are a treasure.
I hope you continue!
David and I read your blog every day. It’s our daily ritual.
I do hope you continue. That said, I completely understand taking days off. I’d much rather read content that you want to write about.
I can only add my hope that you will want to continue in some way to provide the depth of knowledge that Courtney Harrington described so well. Many people rely on you for that and for your clarity of thought, with Meda and her resources as your sidekick.
But I agree as well, that when the time comes that you dread, rather than look forward to, the “doing”, then I think all of us will understand.
(Without sarcasm) THANK you for your service.
And for your kitties!!! (from a caretaker of 3)
Boy, has it been that long? Hope you continue — but to your own self be true.
Ian, I hope you stay around and continue publishing your blog. Maybe you should set up a pay wall where people get a few free reads before they are asked to subscribe. I think you have established a strong and loyal readership base that would be willing to pay for your content.
After moving to California in 2016, your blog is one of my favorite ways to “keep up” with the islands. Although I subscribe to the SA, I find myself going to your site first to see what’s happening.
No offense, your cats bore me, but I really enjoy reading your deep dives into subjects and topics that I haven’t considered for many years. And you have a really interesting comments section. Of course your photos are priceless.
Finally, while at this time I can’t provide specific examples, I am almost certain the some of your postings have generated follow up responses and/or action steps by the SA, lawmakers, and other city and state entities. No doubt local politicos and their supporters are always scanning your blog.
In the end do what’s best for you and Meda.
You are destined to do this til the end of time or your own death, whichever comes first. Do not think otherwise. Please.
PS – I like the cat stuff. But then, we have … 8 of our own.
Congratulations. Not many of us have two decades of experience in independent online publishing. I remember the launch of the Newsroom Diaries, and with many friends working at the Star-Bulletin, followed it closely. I can certainly understand the self-imposed discipline of a daily post, and certainly wouldn’t begrudge you a day or week or month off!
My hourly ritual…when you must, hopefully we are weened off slowly, under your senior rights. Please consider two suggestions.
(A). A closure event no host fundraiser for your favorite charity, perhaps the Veterinarian bills?
(B). Help perpetuate freedom of speech via a replacement vehicle. We have nothing else in Hawaii!
Even a old fashioned letter to the editor of our lone paper is no longer relevant and the new venue Nextdoor only available in district’s places extreme limits on politics, but requires complete personal information disclosure.
Mahalo