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With the beginning of summer, I thought it would be appropriate to give this page a different look, so I fiddled around yesterday a bit. A summer morning replaces the winter sunrise in the title photo, and I moved all the former little links into a separate "diary links" page, just to clean things up a bit, along with a couple of other minor changes. I hope you like it.Anyone who thinks there isn't much competition between Honolulu's two daily newspapers is nuts. After my comments on Tuesday morning about coverage of the Damien-St. Louis prep football controversy, I've been contacted several times by Star-Bulletin sports writers and others who were offended by my comments and pointing out why their coverage has been equal to or better than the rest.
One writer summed up his feelings in specific reaction to Tuesday's comments:
you don't point out how we were the first to break the story on sunday. we were on our second-day follow before the advertiser even chimed in with a story yesterday afternoon, when they basically gave an alum a chance to vent publicly.you mention the advertiser's coverage this morning is the best (it's basically the first that they've really addressed this issue); i question whether you've seen our third day coverage, which includes everything the advertiser, khnl or anyone else had, and at least one bombshell no one reported -- that one possible course of action is that damien could be voted out of the ilh for these forfeits. (you linked to our second-day coverage, and it's a little unfair to compare third-day to second-day...)[note: No, I hadn't seen the S-B's Tuesday coverage at the time I wrote my entry for the day.]
all in all, i can honestly say we haven't ducked anyone or anything. we're doing a damn good job of presenting the news as we get it, and as the issue continues to develop, we will analyze the situation.
and you can quote me on that.
Despite that release to attribute the quote, decided to delete the writers name primarily because other staffers have reported feeling under some pressure to avoid communicating or providing information to this journal, and I see no reason to put this writer on the spot for expressing these views.
I suppose it's worth going back over the week's coverage to see how it reads in retrospect, but that's a bigger chore than time allows this morning.
Privately, several Star-Bulletin folks expressed regret that former reporter Pat Bigold was blasted by the paper's management for highlighting the problem of St. Louis overkill on his own, long before it broke out into daily headlines. But still no indication that those in management have any appreciation of the irony of the week's developments.
Word went out this week on the demise of the Waikiki News. It's always sad to see another small publication go under, and this was no exception. Here's the release announcing the end of the print edition.
Honolulu, HI The current issue of The Waikiki News is the final one to be printed. Started in 1996 as a weekly, the now-monthly paper provided a forum for residents and business leaders alike and allowed Waikiki to become a more informed community during its five-year run.Waikiki is the economic engine of Hawaii. As such, the survival of Waikiki's visitor industry is necessary for the welfare of all. Residents need to know how important tourism is. Those working directly in the hospitality field are doubly obliged to be aware. The paper carried this message on a consistent basis, along with other news portraying the vitality of a unique, diverse Oahu community.
"We didn't side editorially with any of the vocal special interest groups," notes Steve Lent, the paper's founder. "Rather, we provided space for all viewpoints to be represented, presuming that logic would win out."
Lent was candid about Network Media's decision to discontinue the printed version of the paper. "In deciding to start the News," Lent said "we observed in HVCB surveys that while some influence on visitor spending came from the various visitor media, an almost equal amount came from referrals from local residents and workers. We knew that our editorial format and distribution would provide a vehicle for local firms to greatly enhance referral business. Increasing 'top of mind awareness' for those who personally inform, educate, or assist visitors naturally would make other advertising work better &emdash; like seasoning a meal to bolster its taste. We believed the concept would be greeted with significant interest from major advertisers, and pre-publication research indicated it would. However, with tough economic conditions over the past five years, the struggle to maintain advertising revenues has increased.
"While we have carried the advertising of hundreds of local businesses, it hasn't been sustaining. Based on our long experience with advertising and publishing, we know we provided a superior value to advertisers. Value, though, is often determined by perception, rather than reality. We appreciate the support and business sense of clients past and present, but at some point we have to say 'Uncle!'"
Rather than quietly going to pasture, The Waikiki News will continue in a different format, with a different direction. The on-line edition, www.waikikinews.com, has been very well-received by potential visitors looking to make arrangements to visit or vacation in Waikiki. The content will be redirected to focus on the needs of this particular group. In addition, The Waikiki News may be blended into other Network Media products to provide current visitors and advertisers with more timely information.
For further information, contact Steve Lent @ 955-2378, ext. 27, or steve@networkmedia.net.
We arrived at Swanzy Beach Park shortly after 6 AM yesterday morning. The tide was extremely low, and there, right about where yesterday's photo was taken, stood a large brown heron of some kind, fishing for breakfast in the tidal waters. We watched it for a minute or so before another man walked over toward the seawall and it flew off along the coast. It was a great start of the day.Two more tidbits on front page advertising.
From Chuck Frankel: "I'm sorry that Ed Edwards didn't get his champagne, but it was poured by Jim Couey in the city room when the Page One ads disappeared. In checking my poor memory, this may have happened in the 1960s rather than the early 1970s."
And from another correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous, another view altogether:
Advertising, of course, is America's greatest art form. I'm quoting the Baffler from 6 or 7 years ago. But it *is* the greatest--better even than movies. You shouldn't be numb; you should be ravished by Gannet's proximity to the divine. Putting ads on the front page of the Advertiser is American art at its most sublime, with Gannet as one of our better artists.A story trickling back to Hawaii from folks back at new UH President Evan S. Dobelle's former campus is that he aspires to be elected to the US Senate and is shopping for a potential district. Could he see himself as a potential Democratic successor to either of Hawaii's senators after a couple of years in this high profile position? Here's one worth watching closely.
Ms. Lizzie is still out there defending her turf, although I don't see any new injuries since yesterday morning. Perhaps that indicates a bit of progress.
Retired Star-Bulletin city editor Ed Edwards sent this addendum for the historical record:
Here we are again at the summer solstice. It's an interesting period. The sun continues to rise a bit earlier each morning although the days begin getting gradually shorter. Sunrise doesn't begin its run towards the late dawns of winter for nearly another month.
Looking toward Laie, 6/20/01If Jimmy Couey once brought a celebratory bottle of champagne into the Star-Bulletin newsroom, as reported by Chuck Frankel, not a drop got as far as the city desk.Regards,
Ed Edwards
Ballina, NSW, AustraliaAnybody else out there who can contribute to this bit of history?
Macy's buyout of Liberty House is sending nervous tremors through the Star-Bulletin. Liberty House has been a major advertiser and its account has made a significant contribution to the financial viability of the S-B as an independent newspaper. There's concern Gannett will try to monopolize Macy's advertising through some sort of package deal involving all the chain's papers, or some other offer relying on national clout and monopoly power. The loss of Macy's/Liberty House would be a big blow to the S-B, and you can be sure the lights are on in the war room late at night as plans are laid to counter Gannett's possible moves.
Meanwhile, here at home in Kaaawa, we're dealing with poor Ms. Lizzie. Somehow she's decided to defend the borders of the yard against intrusions by Anna Banana, who lives next door and outweighs her about 3-1. Lindsey, Leo, and Silverman, the three big boys in the family, don't bother Anna Banana at all. For her efforts, Lizzie's collected at least two good sized wounds so far, and she's refusing to abandon her border patrols. This morning there was the sound of growling and a clatter of claws, and I found Lizzie taking refuge in the mango tree and Anna making tracks back for her own territory. Along with the antibiotics, I'm ready to try the kitty lockup, but I know these two have just got to work something out.
Another item for the "Isn't that a coincidence?" file. Back on June 4, a little item buried at the bottom of the Star-Bulletin's political file noted an honorary doctorate awarded to U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye by Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, apparently based on a May 20 press release by the college.Coincidentally, the decision to honor Hawaii's senior senator must have been made about the same time that Trinity College President Evan S. Dobelle was waiting to hear whether he would be named president of the University of Hawaii system. Did Inouye or anyone in his office backed Dobelle's selection? It's an unfortunate question of appearances for the new UH pres.
I'm indebted to retired Star-Bulletin editor Chuck Frankel for setting the record straight on the issue of front page advertisements:
When I went to work for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in May 1960, there were Page One ads in the Bulletin (and also in the Advertiser). They were 2 columns wide (in the days of an 8 column newspaper) and 5 inches deep. Universal Motors was a major Page One advertiser.Even when President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1993, the ad was printed to our consternation and embarrassment. Page One ads were not dropped until the early 1970s when Jim Couey, publisher of the Star-Bulletin, and executive of the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, was able to eliminate them. He bought the champagne we drank in the newsroom in celebration.
And now for something completely different.
Cat photography with a typical consumer-level digital camera is a colossal pain. The problem is lag. Digitals are infamous for the variable delay between the time you first depress the shutter button and when the photo is actually taken. There's often a crucial second between the perfect expression and the photo, and a lot can happen in that period, especially with cats. In fact, that short time sometimes seems to stretch forever.
To give you a better sense of the problem, I made a little slide show of some of the many photos that missed their moving targets.
Moving targets
The Damien-St. Louis prep football controversy continues to simmer, and so far no one has turned up the heat despite obvious interest. The Star-Bulletin followed with a 2nd day story regarding an upcoming meeting between school officials and league representatives. Absent, though, was any history. Obviously some of these characters have been on the scene for years and have themselves contributed to the problems that Damien faces, but you wouldn't know it from the coverage so far.Most reactions quoted so far are in the "right to be bashed", "we're macho enough to take it" category. It's back to the famous Monty Python scene of knights in battle, which I've cited here before.
KHNL (Channel 8) at least provided a key bit of information that hints at the so-far hidden background of Damien's decision:
Coaches around the league have said all along their teams take three to four weeks to recover from injuries following a game against Saint Louis. This year's Damien squad would feature just five seniors. Two-thirds of the team would not be old enough to drive.But the Advertiser provided the best coverage so far this morning as it belatedly jumped into the fray with a good story on the league meeting, and an accompanying column by Ferd Lewis which provides some necessary perspective that should have been permeating reporting on the issue.
The practices and politics of St. Louis itself, though, are still pretty much off-limits for pointed criticism. How do you spell s-a-c-r-e-d__c-o-w?
One pointed response was received in reaction to my musings yesterday on whether these events might move Star-Bulletin editors to reexamine their treatment of former staff writer Pat Bigold, who first put the public spotlight on this situation. Says one S-B staffer: "Fat chance. They're like Custer in the movie 'Little Big Man' where he declares that no one ever reverses a Custer decision."
A part of Sunday was devoted to making a large pot of black bean chili, using up leftover bits and pieces of meat that had collected in the freezer. As I was transferring the beans into the meat-onion mixture, I noticed the reflection in the beans.
The result--this self-portrait of the artist in a young chili. And after simmering for several hours, the chili turned out great. It will last through several more meals this week.
Self-portrait in chili
A front page story in yesterday's Star-Bulletin should provide an opportunity for some serious self-reflection among editors at the paper. The story reported that Damien will refuse to have its football team play cross-town Catholic powerhouse St. Louis, instead choosing to forfeit two games. School officials cite concern for the physical safety of their student athletes.The story points to the lopsided history of their past games.
"Last year, St. Louis beat Damien, 49-7 and 84-0. In their past six meetings, perennial nationally ranked St. Louis has outscored Damien, 415-7."
What the story doesn't remind readers is the little episode last fall when Star-Bulletin editors, in a highly unusual and controversial move, had a critical column by sports writer Pat Bigold deleted from the paper's 2nd edition, apparently due to fear of a political backlash from St. Louis backers. Pat's column berated the St. Louis coaching staff for allowing the 84-0 rout. For his bout of premature morality, Bigold was berated, punished, and portrayed by editors as having some quixotic psychosis about the issue.
Now it seems the rest of the city is recognizing there's a much larger issue here, one Pat had a good fix on months ago. His reward from the Star-Bulletin? Unemployment. He's another in the small group of writers shown the door by the Star-Bulletin's new management.
I can't help wondering whether anyone at the Star-Bulletin will ask S-B publisher John Flanagan and managing editor Frank Bridgewater to justify their prior stance, or at least reflect on their decisions in light of this new development. And I also wonder whether the Star-Bulletin will be able to overcome that unfortunate lapse in journalistic judgment in order to develop this story, which raises critical questions about the meaning of high school athletics. I hope the S-B will rise to the occasion. But I'm not holding my breath.
As a rule, I don't believe in coincidences, so my eyebrows went up with the announcement that Craig Broadcasting, another family owned media business from Western Canada, has agreed to purchase Americast from Verizon, with plans to extend into broadband Internet access. Can we look forward to some future business ties between Craig and the Star-Bulletin? Back in British Columbia, S-B owner David Black's newspaper chain is in a joint venture with the province's largest Internet service provider, so they don't need to look too far for inspiration. This whole scene could get even more interesting!Here's an enjoyable rant received yesterday in further response to the appearance of a pizza ad on the Advertiser's front page:
I'm surprised that I, ever the rabble-rouser, can't get excited about the front page ad. I'm numb. Cut off a leg, cut off another leg, cut off an arm -- what's one more arm? It's just more of the same -- I've never believed Gannett or the Honolulu Advertiser put news before advertising. That's been the joke for years now: Honolulu ADVERTISER. I don't expect the populace to protest, because frankly I think they prefer pizza coupons to news (or we wouldn't be in the fix we're in).I could get into my theory about the dumbing of America, the dismantling of public education, being beneficial to corporate interests and government --the dumb being more easily led, more easily convinced to buy, buy, buy. I hope I live long enough to see the collapse of this strategy, as consumers fall so far into debt they stop buying altogether. It's been a chuckle watching the stock market slap all those day-traders. When everyone is poor, then there will be compassion for the poor. Stuff like that. We live in a silly country. Ads on the front page fit right in.
Yesterday's auction yielded an unexpected treasure--this great view of the Kaaawa coastline by the late Hawaii photographer Rick Golt. It's the same stretch that we walk on every morning, although this photo shows what it looked like before the ravages of erosion took their toll.
I'd seen it before when it appeared at auction several months ago, paired with another photo. But it was towards the tail end of a very long auction, and I couldn't be there to bid. So I was surprised--and very happy--to see it reappear yesterday. Then even more surprised, a happier still, that I was able to bring it home for just $35.
Ian's auction prize
Mr. LeoToday we celebrate Leo's adoption day.
It was Father's Day in 1999 when our morning walk was interrupted by the rescue of a gray kitten, found hungry and crying just a couple of hundred yards from home. We brought the little guy home after first offering him to another couple who walked past, and then deciding that we couldn't abandon him. We passed the other couple again after resuming our walk, and told them that we'd decided to adopt the kitten.
"Happy Fathers' Day, pal!" the guy said, with a wave of his hand.
So that's it. Happy Fathers' Day, pal.
I finally finished the photo gallery update. Enjoy.
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