Hawaii Loses a Newspaper
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hawaii will only have one newspaper following Gannett's sale of The Honolulu Advertiser to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Owner, David Black, of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin signed the paperwork this morning. This means the loss of at least 300 jobs for employees of The Honolulu Advertiser. Gannett said the poor economy in Hawaii has led to declines in readership and advertising.
Many people worry how the consolidation will impact the community with fewer news stories will be produced each year.
"It's a real tragedy," said Gerry Keir, who worked at The Advertiser for 27 years, rising to editor before leaving in 1995. "I don't think there's any question that the community is the loser."
Mark Platte, editor of The Honolulu Advertiser, will become the news director of Hawaii News Now. He starts in his new role May 10.
2 comments:
The loss of 300 jobs in this economy is bad enough, but the loss of another newspaper is a travesty. Competition in the news industry is vital to the public good. It challenges the reporters and keeps them on thier toes. Unfortunately, the quality of reporting and journalistic integrity will probably suffer as a small paper is swallowed up by a larger one.
Michelle I agree that this is terrible news. But it is news that is sounds like we need to get used to. According to John Nichols and Robert McChesney, this epidemic is spreading fast.
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