Category Archives: Labor

Challenge to television stations license renewals attracts support

7 Replies

Opposition to the FCC’s renewal of the broadcast licenses for three Hawaii broadcast channels–KGMB, KHNL, and KFVE–appears to be gaining steam.

Media Council Hawaii, formerly known as the Honolulu Community-Media Council, filed a formal petition with the Federal Communications Commission on January 2, 2015. The council is represented by attorneys from the Institute for Public Representation in Washington, D.C.

Media Council Hawaii argues the combination of the three broadcast stations has harmed the public by reducing competition and diversity in news.

Because Raycom’s Hawaii News Now produces identical local news programs for the two network affiliates, produces a substantially similar local news program broadcast on KFVE, and has a partnership with Honolulu’s sole daily newspaper, there is little competition and diversity in local news. As a result, fewer issues are covered, very little time is devoted to state and local political races and issues, enterprise reporting has declined, and residents of Honolulu are not getting the information they need.

And the Media Council’s efforts have drawn support from public interest groups like Common Cause, as well as organized labor, including the Hawaii State AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), and UNITE HERE Local 5.

The council’s latest move follows its unsuccessful attempt to block the operational merger between the three stations that began back in 2009.

The FCC denied that earlier petition on somewhat of a technicality in 2011. The FCC took the position that the operating agreements that allowed the new “Hawaii News Now” to produce the news broadcasts on all three channels did not require an application to the FCC, while the applicable rules against certain kinds of media consolidation were arguably not triggered in the absence of an application. Applying the rule would have been “problematic,” the FCC said.

This is one of the statements in the FCC’s 2011 ruling which seemed to invite the current challenge.

…we conclude that the instant transactions did not violate Section 310 of the Act, because Raycom has not acquired control of a new license under applicable Commission and staff precedent. We also conclude that the exchange of network affiliations and other assets did not violate the duopoly rule, notwithstanding that at the time of execution of the agreements, it gave Raycom control over two of the top four stations in the Honolulu, HI market. Under the duopoly rule, one party may “own … two television stations licensed in the same Designated Market Area (DMA) … only [if] at the time of application to acquire … the station, at least one of the stations is not ranked among the top four stations in the DMA….” Because no application was involved in these transactions, and none was required, the applicability of the duopoly rule to these circumstances is problematic and finding a violation of that rule in this case would be similarly problematic. As we discuss below, however, we do believe that further action on our part is warranted with respect to this and analogous cases. And, as noted below, our decision here does not preclude us from considering in the context of licensing proceedings whether the actions taken by the licensees in this case, or analogous actions by other licensees, are consistent with the public interest.

And here’s another statement from the same document:

In the absence of an application or a rule violation, we will not
evaluate the impact of the instant agreements on competition and diversity in the Honolulu market.
However, consideration of the impact such agreements have on competition and diversity may be relevant
in determining whether license renewal for one or either of the stations that are the subject of the
transaction would be consistent with the public interest, a finding required under Section 309(k)(1)(A) of
the Act. As noted above, our decision here is not intended to prejudge this issue within the context of a
license renewal proceeding.

It will be quite interesting to see how this plays out.

In the meantime, Media Council Hawaii is interested in explaining the issues to community organizations. To arrange a presentation, contact Chris Conybeare, the council’s chair, via email (conybeare@msn.com).

Departing political reporter also led island Newspaper Guild unit

2 Replies

I was sorry to see Civil Beat’s report that Star-Advertiser political reporter Derrick DePledge is leaving his job with the newspaper at the end of the day, and reportedly moving to Oregon.

A familiar presence on the political trail and at the Hawaii State Capitol, DePledge’s departure is a loss for both Hawaii media and the community at large.

Hawaii’s media market has been shrinking and newspaper publishing in particular is in peril. At the same time, the importance of quality, dogged reporting — what DePledge represents — is as necessary as ever.

All true.

As Washington Post writer Chris Cillizza wrote last week when announcing a move by AP to bolster its state government reporting:

…one of the undertold-but-massively-important stories of the shrinkage of mainstream media organizations over the last decade is the disappearance of really good state capitol coverage. Many state and regional newspapers who took as their prime mission covering the machinations — politically and from a policy perspective — of each of the state capitols have been forced to make deep cuts in their budgets for that sort of reporting.

So the loss of an experienced reporter like DePledge will have an impact.

But it should also be noted that DePledge has been a leader representing the diminishing number of unionized reporters at Hawaii newspapers. DePledge was president of the Hawaii Newspaper Guild when it merged into the new Pacific Media Workers Guild back in 2011.

Following the merger, he was elected vice-president representing the unit in Hawaii in the Guild organization, and served on the executive committee. DePledge was reelected in voting at the end of 2013. He ran unopposed.

The Pacific Media Workers Guild now lists the Hawaii VP position, formerly held by DePledge, as “vacant.”

Police Commission chair should resign in wake of yesterday’s extraordinary action in federal court

12 Replies

Yesterday’s extraordinary events in Honolulu’s Federal District Court, and the response of the chairman of the Honolulu Police Commission, demonstrated again that “police accountability” is a contradiction in terms here in our fair city.

It’s time for the commission chairman to step down, and for new leadership to shake up the commission and its approach to its duties. The City Council and the mayor also have to be held to account about the sad state of affairs.

Yesterday’s major shock was the decision by federal prosecutors to throw out charges against Gerard Puana, uncle of the wife of Police Chief Louis Kealoha. Puana had been accused of stealing the mailbox from the chief’s former house in Kahala, following an investigation by HPD.

The move, according to news reports, was taken after prosecutors reviewed evidence collected by Puana’s attorney, Alexander Silvert, who has publicly alleged police misconduct in the case.

According to the Star-Advertiser:

Silvert said he met with prosecutors following the mistrial because he and Puana decided to put their faith and trust in the integrity of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “We presented our entire case, from top to bottom, to the prosecutors,” Silvert said. He said that included evidence he and investigators from his office uncovered during their own investigation.

Silvert said he also told federal prosecutors what eight of the jurors told him after Kobayashi had discharged them.

“All eight had said to us that after they saw the videotape (of the theft), they had already decided (Puana) was not guilty,” Silvert said.

Here’s the top of the title page from the docket of Puana’s federal court case, stamped simply, “Closed”.

[text]

But the story isn’t that simple.

The dismissal is a big deal on its own. But prosecutors went further, dismissing the case “with prejudice,” meaning that charges cannot be refiled, and asking the FBI to review the evidence, presumably to consider whether crimes were committed by police.

According to Hawaii News Now:

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen this happen,” says legal expert Ken Lawson, a University of Hawaii law professor, “The prosecution… not just dismissed it, but dismissed it with prejudice. And ‘with prejudice’ means not only are we dismissing your case, but we’re never bringing it back.”

Lawson is not involved with this federal trial, but has worked many federal cases in various states.

“There’s cause for great concern,” he says, “If I’m the chief of police, I’ve got a lawyer now.”

Prior to yesterday’s dismissal, there was a flurry of communications between prosecutors and attorneys, all of which were sealed and unavailable for public inspection. Click here for a list of documents filed with the court under seal since the December 4, 2014 mistrial, which was caused by Kealoha’s unsolicited disclosure of information about Puana’s history during his trial testimony. Observers say it was a rookie error, and unusual for an experienced police officer.

Instead of expressing concern about the unusual turn of events, which puts HPD in a very bad light, Police Commission Chairman Ron Taketa came out sounding like a spokesman for Chief Kealoha rather than the head of a panel which is supposed to provide independent oversight of the police on behalf of the public.

Without seeing any of the evidence that prompted the about-face by federal prosecutors and another federal investigation of HPD, Taketa used the opportunity to vouch for the chief.

The Star-Advertiser reported:

Police Commission Chairman Taketa said he believes the commission’s hands are tied in making public statements about the mistrial because a federal investigation is underway and because the department has rules about releasing personal information about police employees, including the chief.

And if the chief were found guilty of any wrongdoing, any discipline would likely be confidential because the case is considered a personnel matter.

Taketa added, however, that the commission holds the chief to a higher standard than other city employees and that he has been forthcoming with the commission, alerting it to his family dispute.

“He was honestly sincere about apologizing for what he said,” Taketa said. “He just admitted that it was error and it was spur of the moment and he regretted it.”

He continued: “The mistrial was the furthest thing from his mind as to what he wanted coming out of that trial. There’s actually in my opinion no reason to believe that he would have benefited from a mistrial.”

At minimum, I would have expected someone in Taketa’s position to express serious concern about the extraordinary circumstances and pledge to take action if the evidence, or the FBI probe, reveals departmental misconduct.

Instead, we had the chairman singing the chief’s praises, as if none of the other events of the day had taken place.

Taketa, the financial secretary and business representative for the Hawaii Carpenters Union, was first appointed to the police commission back in about 1990, and served for at least 15 years, and was appointed again in 2011. It would appear that his relationship is far too cozy with HPD to exert any real oversight.

Wondering why the UPW endorsement was made so late

3 Replies

Did you catch Friday’s announcement of UPW’s endorsement in the governor’s race?

Democratic candidate for governor Senator David Ige received an endorsement from the United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, which represents nearly 14,000 of Hawaii’s blue-collar workers in both the public and private sectors. UPW members are employees from local schools and hospitals to airports and correctional facilities, including EMTs, nurses, technical staff, maintenance staff, custodians, janitors, refuse collectors, heavy equipment operators and many other hardworking citizens.

“Democrat Senator David Ige has a proven track record of fighting for workers and the everyday person trying to make an honest living to support themselves and their families,” said UPW State Director Dayton Nakanelua. “Growing up in a working class family, raising a family of three plus his work in the private sector and the Legislature, make him the best candidate to improve education, expand job creation and grow Hawaii’s economy.”

The immediate question is why this endorsement is so late, with the election now just two weeks away.

I would love to know what happened in the union discussion that led to this late endorsement.

For the record, UPW endorsed Mufi Hannemann in both 2010 (for governor) and 2012 (for Congress).

Perhaps Hannemann was the union’s first choice, but they finally came to grips with polls that show he has no chance this time around.