Save Hawaii News

Aloha to all at SJ.com!

My name is Brad Sherman, and I work in the sports department at The Maui News while also serving as the Hawaii vice president of the Pacific Media Workers Guid.

I’m a longtime lister and first-time caller on the site, and am posting today, put simply, to ask for a favor. Specifically, I’m asking for support for workers at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

A campaign is underway in Honolulu, and it has two goals — one is to stop the gutting of the newsroom (25 layoffs or buyouts of Guild employees in the last year, and additional nonunion reductions as well), and the other is to obtain a fair contract.

Part of that campaign involves using social media. We’re on Facebook (PacificMediaWorkersHawaii), Instagram (@NewsGuildHawaii) and Twitter (@SaveHawaiiNews). We’re also asking people to use the hashtag #SaveHawaiiNews if they share or repost. We’d love to get some engagement with the people who frequent this site.

There’s an online petition at SaveHawaiiNews.com as well — we’d of course be appreciative if we got signatures, and would feel the same way if people opted to share info about the petition, be it online or by word of mouth.

Our social media numbers are small, and we want them to grow — but please don’t get the impression that I think of fellow sports journalists and others interested in the craft as just numbers to add to a list. Consider this corny, if you wish, but it is sincere: I would be grateful and humbled if we can get help from here. I see the passion for journalism displayed by people who post on SJ.com, and it would mean a great deal to find out that some of you are in our corner.

I know there can be skepticism about the value of a petition, and some people might wonder how important mainland voices of support would be for a Hawaii campaign. I can tell you, though, that executives in Honolulu care about their reputation, there’s a financial consideration to what people outside of the islands think — tourists, after all, make up a significant portion of the Star-Advertiser’s readers.

If you want to find out more beyond what’s on our various online posts, drop me a line at bsherman<at>mediaworkers<dot>org.

Mahalo,
Brad

 

Sounds like a good cause. But since that's your first post, I feel obligated to do this:

 

Corgis are not hounds!

 

First post, but good cause ... maybe releasing the corgis is a good compromise.

 

Lot of mighty fine Hawaiian beers out there.

 

And they needed to be fetched.

 

Brad,

Is Kauai's Garden Isle separate from your publishers on Maui and Honolulu?

Just curious.

Regards,
VB

 

All but one of the daily papers in Hawaii are published by Oahu Publications. Those papers are in Honolulu, on the Big Island in Hilo and Kona and on Kauai. Oahu Publications is in turn owned by Black Press, which is based in British Columbia. The Maui News is owned by Ogden. Honolulu, Hilo and Maui are union papers.

 

So there are actually two competing papers in Hilo? I guess these days, it's surprising there are competing papers in Honolulu.

 

There are two daily papers on the Big Island, one in Hilo and one in Kona. They of course cover some of the same stories (and share some content, since they share the same owner), but there is also a fair amount of distance between them, so there are also times when a Hilo story isn't really a Kona story, or a Kona story is't really a Hilo story. Honolulu, meanwhile, no longer has two daily papers -- it's just the Star-Advertiser.

 

Thanks Brad ... us "mainlanders" are a little fuzzy about the geography, especially on the Big Island. It's on the bucket list of places to visit, though.

And I appreciate you keeping us updated on your union's situation. You do have some online supporters here!

 

No problem at all -- the geography is certainly unusual compared to the rest of the United States. Also ... mahalo to you and to anyone who can lend their support. And, again, if anyone wants some more details, drop a line to bsherman<at>mediaworkers<dot>org and I'd be glad to provide whatever info is available.