Aloha to The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Photo: State Capitol Media Room - The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin doors side-by-side on June 4, 2010

Come Monday, June 7th, Honolulu's two daily newspapers will be merged into one and renamed as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

"Meet the Media" 2008

I want to thank the reporters, writers and bloggers who took time from their schedules today to meet the freshman class of the House of Representatives, and to participate in a roundtable discussion on covering the legislature.

The media representatives were (in no particular order other than going around the table):

David Shapiro, a writer/blogger appearing in The Honolulu Advertiser; Stefanie Sakamoto, who writes a new blog for the Hawaii Credit Union League; Larry Geller, who writes a blog called Disappeared News; BJ Reyes, political reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin; Wayne Yoshioka, political reporter for Hawaii Public Radio; Derrick DePledge, political reporter for The Honolulu Advertiser; Don Ray, reporter/blogger for the Grassroot Institute; Pearl Hahn, writer/policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute; Adrienne LaFrance, managing editor for The Honolulu Weekly; Gina Mangieri, reporter for KHON; Malia Zimmerman, writer/publisher of the Hawaii Reporter; and Colette Fox, producer, Hawaii Public Television.

The House representatives were Clift Tsuji, Kyle Yamashita, Joey Manahan, Karl Rhoads, Cindy Evans, Denny Coffman, Henry Aquino, Jessica Wooley, Isaac Choy, Chris Lee, and Blake Oshiro.

We discussed a broad range of subjects over about an hour and a half, including:

*The media may not be your "friend", but it is not your enemy either.  It is not the role of the media to be your friend, and when being interviewed, you should take responsibility for what you say and how you say it.  

*The importance of access and transparency.  The issue of posting amendments to bills so that the public has greater opportunity to review changes.

*Whether the House should change the scheduling of the "A" bracket committees to the morning so that television can cover them more readily.  Should the legislature make scheduling decisions around the needs of the legislature anyway?  

*Giving members adequate time to respond to an interview request before stating that they were "unavailable".  Conversely, members should be aware of reporters' deadlines and return calls in a timely manner if they want to be included in the story.

*Why media cover the legislature less and less.  Better communicating the "why should we care?" factor.

*What recourse do lawmakers have when media gets it wrong?

*How both government and media are using social media (Twitter, Facebook) to reach audiences. 

*How and why media choose to cover the stories that they do on any given day.

*How more lawmakers should start blogging and commenting on others' blogs as another way to get their message out.

I'm sure I've missed other points of discussion and invite people who were there to add and comment. Perhaps they will on their own blogs or commentaries.  In my opinion, it was a valuable exchange of information.  We all know that the media landscape is changing, and that we are no longer reaching the audiences that we'd like about the work being done at the legislature.  It's important work that affects our daily lives, our future, and the direction of our state.  Regardless of one's comfort with communications, it's critical to get out an accurate and fair picture of what is being accomplished, or not accomplished, at the taxpayers' expense.  The premise of today's meeting is that in order to build a stronger working relationship between the media and the legislature, we need to better understand what the other does, and how the other works.  

Meet the Press

Lawmakers, journalists and *GASP* bloggers sharing a chuckle here and a chortle there. That's what happened today at the House's Meet the Media Workshop for the members of the 2009 Legislature after Georgette Deemer, House communications director and blogger, quipped about following Al Gore on Twitter while commenting on the wavering boundaries between social media and news. I'm not saying the casual gathering of politicians and watchdogs was a dance of lilies and butterflies on a warm summer day; that would be far from the truth. But it did prove to be an excellent opportunity for each of the three groups, who have at times factious relationships, to understand the jobs and concerns of the other. And that, my friend, is what counts.

Discussion topics ranged from cynicism of media by lawmakers who feel that they are often misrepresented in the news to the insistence by reporters/bloggers that the media isn't out to get anyone and only seeks the truth.

And, of course, what would a powwow with bloggers be without a recommendation to lawmakers from Tweeterers to join social media networks or start a blog? The discussion was a good one and opened some doors for better communication between everyone, even, as one reporter put it to a lawmaker, "we're not your friends."

Meet the Media Workshop

The House Majority will be holding a Media Workshop on Wednesday, December 17, 2008, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, at the State Capitol, Room 325.

The purpose of the workshop is to introduce our freshmen members to local media representatives who cover the state capitol and the legislature. We are also inviting all majority members, including leadership, who are interested in establishing a good working relationship with media.

The freshmen members, by district, are Representatives Mark Nakashima (District 1 – North Kohala, South Kohala, Hamakua, North Hilo, South Hilo); Denny Coffman (District 6 – North Kona, Keauhou, Kailua-Kona, Honokohau); Isaac Choy (District 24 – Manoa, Manoa Valley, University); Henry Aquino (District 35 – Pearl City, Waipahu); Jessica Wooley (District 47 – Laie, Hauula, Punaluu, Kahana, Kaaawa, Waikane, Kahaluu, Ahuimanu, Kaneohe); and Chris Lee (District 51 – Lanikai, Waimanalo).

We are putting together an informal panel of political news reporters (print, television, radio) and political bloggers who cover the legislature. Members would like to know what kinds of stories media is interested in covering, any tips they might have on how best to work with media, and any info that they might not know about such as various news cycles and internal deadlines, etc.

We held a similar session with mainstream media after the 2006 election, and members appreciated meeting reporters, many for the first time, prior to the start of session, and without the stress of being interviewed. This time, we have expanded the invitee list to include bloggers and online websites that cover politics in Hawaii.

Oregon attempts to define "journalists" for executive sessions

Continuing the discussion on developing a media access policy for state legislatures, the city of Lake Oswego, Oregon had some problems earlier in the year and have come up with this solution. Political blogger Mark Bunster was thrown out of one of the city's executive sessions as a precaution because the city councillors did not have a media policy, and they weren't sure what to do with him. Read the Oregonian story here.

What I found particularly interesting is that Oregon even allows media into their executive sessions. Here, when a committee goes into executive session, the session is closed, usually due to private and/or sensitive matters being discussed. Oregon's policy is that "representatives of the news media are allowed to attend most executive sessions in order to act as 'watchdogs', ensuring that the governing body does not conduct an executive session for a purpose not permitted under the law. While the statu[t]es allow the governing body to 'require' that executive session information not be disclosed (ORS 192.660(4)) they are silent as to what, if any, remedy the governing body has if news media violate this requirement."

Media are not allowed to attend executive sessions that involve labor negotiations.

Now Lake Oswego has proposed the following media policy, still in draft form, that may have other government and legislative bodies within the state following suit. You can read the entire draft policy here. Or, take a look at the following highlights and see if this sounds reasonable to you:

The Oregonian and The Lake Oswego Review are recognized as media organizations without further proof because of their established history.

Other organizations must provide evidence that they are established, such as:

*They are organized and operated to publish, broadcast or disseminate news to the public.
*They ordinarily and regularly report on matters of a nature typically considered and acted upon by the Lake Oswego City Council.
*They are insitutionalized, with multiple personnel with defined roles in an organizational structure.

*They are accountable, meaning...
+They are registered with the Secretary of State's Office,
+Names, addresses and telephone numbers readily available,
+News reports include true name of staff reporter,
+Identifies any outside news source,
+Has established process for any allegation that news staff has violated policy,
+Practices are consistent with SPJ Code of Ethics.

*They are well-established and reports news continuously, at least weekly, and permanently.
*Entity contains at least 25% news content
*They distinguish news contect from advocacy (analysis, commentary and advertising clearly labeled as such.)

Veto override debate ménage à trois

On Friday, the Star Bulletin printed an opinion piece that criticized the Legislature's reasoning behind overriding 13 of the Governor's veto, asserting that the move was more about power than the public good. On Saturday, Ian Lind questioned in a blog post whether the writer of the editorial read any of the bills in their entirety, and also mentioned several bills he deemed quite pressing and important to the public. Then, today, the Star Bulletin printed a letter to the editor from Rep. Kirk Caldwell, who was quoted in the editorial as saying the overrides were limited to "pressing needs". Caldwell notes that many constituents would disagree with the editorials suggestion that the bills overridden by the Legislature were not pressing issues.

Here is a brief synopsis of a few of their arguments (just in case you don't feel like browsing through the three links).

State regulation of interisland air carriers

SB : Why would the Legislature override a veto of a bill to re-regulate interisland air carrier when state regulation of airlines is prohibited by federal law?

IL: The bill contains a key proviso - which the SB fails to mention - limiting the law to take effect once federal legislation permits implementation.

"What the bill accomplishes is to provide a regulatory structure that can be used to show the state's intent while lobbying Congress for the power to take control of our vital interisland transportation system…the S-B editorial made it sound like legislators were just unaware of the limits of state authority," wrote Lind.

Operation of the University of Hawaii

SB: Differences in opinion on how UH should be operated prompted lawmakers to override two bills, however urgency played no role in the decision.

IL: Requiring the UH Board of Regents to make public administrative salaries and expenditures is already mandated by the Sunshine Law, which the the Board refuses to provide promptly.

Permanent absentee voting

SB: The new law could botch the legitimacy of voting in Hawaii. It will be difficult to verify in all cases if the person registered to vote is actually submitting the absentee ballot. In situations where an individual relocates or dies, ballots could be used by others.

Caldwell: Providing residents with access to voting booths is important, especially to the elderly who support making absentee voting easier.

Caldwell vs. Smith on 'Island Insights'

House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell faces off with Governor Lingle's Senior Policy Advisor Linda Smith on the next "Island Insights". The show airs on PBS Hawaii, Monday, June 4th at 7:30 p.m. Dan Boylan moderates the panel, which also includes the Star-Bulletin's Richard Borreca. According to producer Colette Fox, "Island Insights" will soon expand to a one-hour live broadcast.

An Open Letter to the Honolulu Weekly

By Georgette Deemer
Director of Communications

In the May 23-29 issue of the Honolulu Weekly, editor Chris Haire wrote an article entitled "Holy Cowards" that was, in my opinion, a low-point for Hawaii journalism. As a staff person at the Legislature, I have seen lawmakers and leadership take hits from the media, and while we may not always agree with their position, most are professional, most write of issues and not personal attacks, and most are, at the very least, civil.

Mr. Haire insulted individual legislators at a very personal level, called them names, and got downright crude with his descriptors. In the aftermath, I hope advertisers will question their association with this publication and ask themselves if this is the kind of newspaper they want to support. If a newspaper is going to go on the attack, at least let it be for the purpose of making things in Honolulu better, not nastier.

In this week's issue, there is a letter from Senator Jill Tokuda which responds to a number of inaccurate statements made about the Senate. On the House side, Mr. Haire did not even speak to either Tommy Waters or Jon Riki Karamatsu prior to his ranting, nor has he ever covered first hand the issues of civil unions or the back story of the state jet bill.

It is our belief that Honolulu benefits from an alternative newspaper--the more voices out there the better. However, The Honolulu Weekly lacks political credibility when it repeatedly gets the facts wrong, and it brings everyone down when it stoops to personal attacks in order to get attention.

Education Committee to hold info session on UH Athletics

The House Higher Education Committee and Senate Education Committee will hold an informational briefing tomorrow on the state of the University of Hawaii Athletics Department with Athletics Director Herman Frazier, UH-Manoa administrators, and coaches in their respective sports.

WHEN: Monday, May 21, 2007
2:00 PM

WHERE: Hawaii State Capitol, Room 309
Honolulu, HI 96813

Lawmakers will request Athletics Director Herman Frazier, University of Hawaii at Manoa's administrators, and coaches in their respective sports to update committee members on the state of the Athletics Department, including but not limited to its athletic programs, facilities and operations, sources of revenues and the use and distribution of such revenues, as well as, issues or concerns for improvements that the Legislature could address.