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Honolulu Lite
ABOUT the time the Star-Bulletin's "Stayin' Alive" party was getting under way at Murphy's on Friday, I was still sitting in the dentist's chair enjoying the sweet smell of tooth enamel being drilled away and that soothing whiny whirl of the drill. Cheers to healthy
competition
Instead of being awash in champagne, my mouth felt as if it were occupied by the contents of a typical kitchen drawer, along with a garden hose, ice tongs and a couple of work boots.
It was a hell of a way to celebrate news that Canadian publisher David Black had reached a deal to buy the Star-Bulletin more than a year after we were supposed to die.
When the heavy construction was done and all the implements, apparatus and accouterments were extracted from my head, I did get to toast privately our new lease on life but, thanks to the fact that half of my face was still numb, as much champagne dribbled down my shirt as into my gullet.
What a year it's been. While it was rough for many staffers not knowing whether we would still have jobs in 2001, it's also been an incredibly encouraging time. I don't know how many times people have come up and expressed concern and hope for the paper and for our jobs. The Star-Bulletin's been around for 118 years and it was clear that many people want it to continue.
It's been a long time in Hawaii since two daily papers have competed head to head. This isn't to say that the papers haven't been good under the joint operating agreement. That agreement served its purpose, allowing both papers to weather hard financial times by combining advertising, circulation, printing and distribution. But it also caused some problems.
Because the two newspapers were so closely related, to the point of occupying the same building, many people were confused. Some thought we were owned by the same company. I don't know how many times I've been introduced at speaking functions as a writer for the other paper, I'm sure to the other paper's dismay.
WHEN the sale is completed, sometime early next year, we should be in a different building, with our own advertising department, delivery trucks and the use of a separate printing press. That should help take care of the identity problem. But readers are also going to see a difference in the way news is covered. Not that we've done that bad a job up to now. But true competition creates a better product, whether it's a radial tire or a newspaper.
They say that afternoon newspapers are going the way of the dodo bird. The conventional wisdom is that people like to have their coffee and paper in the morning and their beer and television in the evenings. I don't buy that. I like to have my coffee, beer, newspaper and television all day long, preferably while lying in bed. A fulfilled life should have long bouts of sleep, punctuated by naps. But I digress.
When it comes to afternoon newspapers, Hawaii is different from the rest of the country. For one thing, we're not even connected to the rest of the country. We're way out here while the rest of the country is way over there. That's why an afternoon newspaper will work in Hawaii. All that stuff that happens on the East Coast happens just in time to get into the afternoon newspaper here. The stock market is nice enough to close on our time, for instance.
So, with a click and drool, let's toast to the new frontier of newspapering in Hawaii. This is one of those rare deals in life where there are no losers.
Bulletin closing archive
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to cmemminger@starbulletin.com.
The Honolulu Lite online archive is at:
https://archives.starbulletin.com/lite
