|
July 20, 2002 - Saturday
Debbie Sokei's story in the current Pacific
Business News reports on the ongoing contract talks
at the Honolulu Advertiser. According to the story,
Advertiser publisher Mike Fisch is seeking a two-tier
salary structure, with new hires paid less than current
employees. The Newspaper Guild agreed to a two-tier
system at the Star-Bulletin, but in that case it was a
matter of "life and death" for the newspaper. On the
other hand, Gannett, owner of the Advertiser, just
reported rising profits. A very different story.
Imagine the Discovery Channel for cats. Okay. That's
what the producer of a new television show for cats is
aiming for, according to an AP
story this week. No more worrying about whether
fluffy has enough to do. Drop her in front of the
television set and let Meow Mix provide the
entertainment. There is, the story reports, some
skepticism about the concept. Yes, I can imagine there
is.
I know that most of you didn't know our friend, Ann
Keppel, but you might still find some good reading among
these stories
submitted by her friends.
July 19, 2002 - Friday
Thanks to Alex Salkever's HawaiiScoops for
pointing out the Star-Bulletin's dubious distinction of
being highlighted in a front-page Wall Street Journal
story today for disavowing any responsibility for
injuries suffered by a 14-year old paperboy. The story
makes clear that the Star-Bulletin isn't alone in
clinging to the fiction that its young carriers are
"independent contractors" who don't qualify for
insurance, medical coverage, or other benefits, but the
fact that it's a widespread industry practice really
doesn't ease the sting of this bit of unwanted national
exposure.
Another case described farther down in the story
involves the Fremont Tribune, a Nebraska newspaper then
owned in part by former S-B honcho Rupert Phillips. The
Nebraska Supreme Court ultimately ruled that an injured
carrier was an employee and eligible for workers' comp
benefits, despite the paper's denials.
"It is beyond sophistry and closer to outright
dishonesty to characterize a 10-year-old party to a
contract as a 'little merchant' and thus an independent
contractor," one judge in the case wrote, according to
the Journal.
There were a couple of different reader reactions to
the Kamehameha Schools' issue. From a former student:
I don't understand what all the fuss is for.
When I attended the school we had so many non-Hawaiian
people is was not funny. The only difference between
then and now is we were not told by the trustees about
these non-Hawaiians, we where told by the students
themselves that they were not Hawaiian. So, the
trustees should have kept their mouths shut like they
have always done in the past.
Then this story from another reader:
In regards to your comment about the
segregation and discrimination at Kamehameha, I was
reminded of a similar type of segregation at UH. When
I took the intro to Hawaiian Studies class one of the
first things that the instructor asked was "who is
Hawaiian". At first I thought it was an innocent
question, then I noticed how she would favor
those who raised their hand (indicating that they were
hawaiian), and those who looked hawaiian or had
hawaiian first or last names.
Of course I didn't think it was fair, but I guess
that's the type of person the instructor was.
|
And so it goes on this rainy Friday morning
in Kaaawa.
Yesterday also started wet and threatening,
almost derailing our morning walk, but we
pressed on and were rewarded with a wonderfully
stormy beauty. And we never had to deploy the
umbrellas.
I hope for more good luck today.
|
July 18, 2002 - Thursday
I've got to admit being puzzled by the whole
flap over possible discrimination and Kamehameha Schools'
admission policies. After all, Hawaiians have had the
highest out-marriage rates for most if not all of the
last century, creating this large population of
part-Hawaiians--myself included--who reflect incredible
ethnic diversity. Students who are half Hawaiian or more
are probably few and far between, even at Kamehameha, the
exception rather than the rule, and Kamehameha students,
while Hawaiian, are mostly something else and could
easily, and properly, claim one of their other ethnic
backgrounds instead.
So does this school somehow foster segregation and
discriminate against certain parts of the population? I
have a hard time with that notion, since just about every
ethnicity is actually well represented among Kamehameha
students. But, hey, that's just my humble opinion.
Gannett
reported its quarterly earnings this week with
profits up 30% over last year, boosted in part by a
change in accounting. Newspaper advertising revenue was
actually down slightly, and circulation stagnant, but
profits on the broadcast side were up.
July 17, 2002 - Wednesday
Alex Salkever's Hawaii
Scoops is back online after a hiatus of a couple of
months with his own commentary on local issues and his
own cat stories beginning to emerge. In a recent email,
Alex dropped this comment: "Am slowly coming around to
the cats. " Reading his recent entries, I would say it
certainly is the case.
Our local media future is looking more and more, well,
concentrated. A Gannett & Hearst-Argyle merger along
with the Emmis
duopoly control of KHON and KGMB under one management
would pretty effectively tie up a huge chunk of the media
market. Options for readers, advertisers, and reporters
would continue shrinking. With the "public access" slowly
being squeezed out of Olelo's cable offerings, the
opportunities for other voices to break onto the scene
continue to dwindle, in theory and in fact.
Of course, it may be that our dismally low voter
turnout means that few care much about public affairs
anyway. The Star-Bulletin seems to be leaning that way
with its increasing space devoted to feel good photos and
similar soft community coverage. I don't really believe
that, or perhaps don't want to believe it, but the data
may be pointing that way.
July 16, 2002 - Tuesday
Gannett,
owner of the Honolulu Advertiser, "may" be entering new
talks aimed at merging its broadcast stations with those
of Hearst-Argyle chain, according to a
report yesterday by Electronic Media. Hearst- Argyle
owns Honolulu's KITV (Channel 4), which currently has an
affiliation and shares news resources with the
Star-Bulletin. According to the report, the two media
giants had talked earlier, but a loosening regulatory
environment, including potential lifting of controls on
concentration of market control and cross-ownership, give
the deal more potential.
Kili just brought me a morning gecko, which I
immediately rescued. Leo is recovering from another
encounter with the yellow stray, this time a loud
interaction in the garage just after we got home last
night. Duke has taken to sleeping in my legs at night,
joining bed mates Miki, Leo, and Kili on a typical
night.
|
We joined yesterday afternoon with about 135
others to say aloha to our good friend, Ann
Keppel.
Meda dug out a photo of us taken back in the
mid-1980's.
Ann's ashes will be scattered near her
childhood home in Wisconsin, with a few reserved
for her family plot.
Aloha.
|
|
July 15, 2002 - Monday
Yesterday's item about the PBN's reporting on
Star-Bulletin circulation brought several comments.
From a S-B staffer:
the point that we are basically maintaining
the same numbers in the face of relentless pressure
shouldn't be ridiculed. gannett, the largest newspaper
company in the country, is doing everything in its
power to kill the the small star bulletin, and if this
is the best they can do, it isn't so bad after all. In
fact, I'm kind of relieved its not worse, considering
the kind of stuff gannett is doing to take business
away.
Also from the S-B, this different reaction: "It might
be a good time to make sure the old parachute is in good
working order and ready to deploy. Just in case."
Both points duly noted.
A third reader went in a different direction.
I am curious as to how much those vaunted
local investors actually put into the S-B. Was it a
token amount? The dirty little secret of a lot of
these investments is they are peanuts. In most cases,
the tech angel investors that were trumpeted in local
media were in fact just putting little piddly sums in.
Partly b/c they knew the ventures were shaky. Hot U is
a prime example.
Good question. Details, including the amounts
invested, have been absent, except that David Black
retains majority ownership.
I've been collecting stories about our late friend,
Ann Keppel,
sent in by friends, many of them former students. It's
been sad, and joyous, and humbling. This woman had a
talent for building and maintaining human relationships,
and the range of memories she has left behind is
extraordinary. When I finally pull these together for her
family, I'll share some here.
Another spell check insight. It hit "Keppel" and
returned "Keeper".
|
It's been an interesting cat weekend. Leo was
chased up the mango tree by the yellow stray in
a brief battle that sounded much worse than it
actually was.
Mr. Duke came close to strangling himself in
the string of a dangling cat toy.
And Ms. Cybelle is calming down and beginning
to enjoy this household.
For the latest in Cybelle's Saga and Mr.
Duke, just click on this picture or on Cybelle's
banner to the right.
|
Click here for the
latest
|
I almost let Bastille Day pass by yesterday without
celebrating
Ms. Kua, who died on that date back in 1998.
She was one of our favorites, and a great loss.
July 14, 2002 - Sunday
Debbie Sokei has another update on Honolulu's
newspaper circulation war in this week's Pacific Business
News. She reports for the first time the results of the
S-B's privately commissioned circulation audit, which
shows daily circulation down 2.1% and Sunday down 3.9%
since last September. Saturday sales dropped a whopping
6%.
Dave Kennedy, head of marketing for the S-B and former
longtime Gannett staffer, is quoted putting on a brave
face.
"We are showing growth in advertising revenue and in
readership," Kennedy told PBN.
What's that? Growth in readership? With circulation
taking a relatively big hit, especially on weekends?
Kennedy apparently bases his statement on a separate
S-B readership survey, which claimed to find a 9%
increase in readers of the smaller number of copies in
circulation.
The positive spin is that circulation is generally
"holding" above 60,000, and even just treading water
while Gannett's doing its utmost to knock its daily rival
out of business is a considered an ongoing victory. But
underneath it all, the circulation declines have to be
hurting both morale and the bottom line.
I don't think Sokei's story is online yet, but it
should be available later in the week.
|
The photo
gallery was updated last night with photos
from the past two weeks.
|
|
Previous
week •
Other
Search this site,
courtesy of the folks at Atomz.com
\*/.
|
Online
Store 
More
choices
|
