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MEDIATORAND ADVOCATE: THE HISTORY OF THE HONOLULU COMMUNITY-MEDIA COUNCIL A DISSERTATIONSUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OFHAWAI'IINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FORTHE DEGREE OF DOCTOROF PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICAN STUDIES MAY 2005 By Ralph Thomas Kam DissertationCommittee: FloydW. Matson, Chairperson Dennis M. Ogawa DavidE. Stannard BeverlyKeever RichardRapson iii ©Copyright 2005 by Ralph Thomas Kam IV To Kathy, Emalani and Joshua v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Iwould liketo extendmy gratitudeto the members ofthe Honolulu Community MediaCouncil,past andpresent, for theircandor and availability. I also owe a debt of gratitudeto the librarians and archivists at theUniversityofHawaii, especiallyJames Cartwright, JoanHori andDore Minatodani, for suggestions ofand access to the documentarymaterials. The staffofthe LegislativeReference Bureau also provided valuable assistance. Thanks, too, goes to Anne Harpham, readerrepresentativeofthe Honolulu Advertiser, for access to the newspaper's clippingmorgue. Myappreciation also goes to the Teaching and Learning Centerat Hawaii Pacific University. Thanks also to Doug andPaulaAnderson fortheirassistance intranscription ofinterviews. Mostimportantly, Iwouldliketo thankmywife and children for theirlove and supportofthis endeavor, andmyparents for instillinginme a love oflearning. VI ABSTRACT This dissertationtakes the first comprehensive look at the political and intellectualhistory ofthe Honolulu Community-MediaCouncil. Since 1970the council has played a significantrole in shapingthepolitical landscape ofHawaii. This studydescribes the council's dualrole as mediawatchdog and as mediachampion. As mediawatchdogithas served as mediatorbetweenthe mostpowerful individuals andorganizations inHawaii. Governors, mayors, andmediaconglomerateshave beenparties to its more thanone hundredmediations. The councilhas also resisted increasingmediaconsolidation, and promoted fair and accurate coverage ofindividuals and organizations. As media championthe councilhas opposed government secrecyand censorship and lobbies for increased access to governmentalproceedings. Using archival materials and interviews, this studyexploresthe council's impact onmediapolicyand law. This studylooks at factors contributingto the continuingviabilityofthe organization and its implications for othercommunities interestedin forming press councils. Vll TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS V ABSTRACT VI TABLEOFCONTENTS VII CHAPTER1:INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER2:PROLOGUE 16 CHAPTER3:LETITBE 43 CHAPTER4:DEJAVU 74 CHAPTER5:LETTHESUNSHINEIN 95 CHAPTER6:LIGHTS,ACTION,CAMERA 121 CHAPTER7:LIBERTYORLICENSE 128 CHAPTER8:PUBLICVERSUSTHEMEDIA 140 CHAPTER9:JUSTPOLITICS 149 CHAPTER10:BATTLEOFTHETITANS 160 CHAPTER11:STATEOFJOURNALISMINHAWAII 170 CHAPTER12:POLITICIANSVERSUSTHEMEDIA 187 CHAPTER13:PRESERVINGDIVERSEEDITORIALVOICES 203 CHAPTER14:COMBATINGA"CULTUREOFSECRECY" 221 CHAPTER15:FUTUREOFTHEHONOLULUCOMMUNITY-MEDIACOUNCIL. 240 APPENDIXA:HONOLULUCOMMUNITY-MEDIACOUNCILCHAIRSANDEXECUTIVE DIRECTORS 257 APPENDIXB:CHRONOLOGY 259 APPENDIXC:FOUNDINGMEMBERSOFTHEHONOLULUCOMMUNITY-MEDIACOUNCIL ................................................................................................................................................................263 APPENDIXD:AWARDWINNERS 265 WORKSCITED 266 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION "Iinferthat [thepress'] security [... ]must altogether depend onpublic opinion, andon the general spiritofthepeople andofthegovernment." -AlexanderHamilton, The FederalistPapers, No. 84 This dissertation looks at the historyofthe Honolulu Community-Media Council, a private, nonprofit voluntaryassociationthat"seeksto promote accurate and fair journalisminHawaii, broadenpublic understanding ofthe role ofthe media, foster discussionofmediaissues, strengthenpublic support for FirstAmendmentrights and freedoms, and improvepublic access to information."! Formore thanthree decades the councilhasplayed a significantrole in shapingthe political landscape ofHawaii through its dual function as mediawatchdog and as mediachampion. As mediawatchdog, ithas served as mediatorbetweenthe mostpowerful individuals andorganizations inHawaii. Governors, mayors, and mediaconglomerateshavebeenparties to its more than one hundredmediations. Inperformingthewatchdog function, the council also resists increasingmediaconsolidation, andpromotes fair and accurate coverage ofindividuals and organizations. As mediachampionthe council opposes government secrecyand censorship and lobbies for increasedaccess to governmentalproceedings andrecords. In doing so the council also has influencedissues centralto avibrantdemocracy-freedom ofthepress, open government, mediaresponsibility, equal time, fair trials, andprivacy. 2 TheHonoluluCommunity-MediaCouncilperforms these roles inthe common ground betweenthe public, media, and government. FormercouncilmemberWilbur Schramm, the founding directorofthe East-West Center's Communications Institute, described in 1977the model ofthe Honolulu Community-MediaCouncil as "situatedin the middle of atriangle, between government, the media, and thepeople."z Althoughwriting about a proposednational news council, the modelpresentedbyRalph Lowenstein ofthe UniversityofMissouri School ofJournalism could apply also to local councils. He wrote inPress Councils: Idea andReality: "Wemustpicture inourmind's eye powerful national mediaonone side, powerful centralizedgovernment onthe other side, andnow a powerfulnational press council inthe middle.,,3 Called"unique,,4byone ofits founders, the councilhas survivedlongerthan dozens ofitskind, and evenwitnessed the birth and deathofits national counterpart. As earlyas 1946thepublisherin Littleton, Colorado, had hosted a group ofcitizens to "roast"his newspapers at an annual gathering. The CommissiononFreedom ofthe Press, also known as the Hutchins Commission afterits chairman, UniversityofChicago PresidentRobert M. Hutchins, recommended anorganization like apress council in 1947. The commission, initsreport titledA Free andResponsiblePress, called for "the establishmentofanew and independent agencyto appraise andreport annuallyupon the 1FactSheet: HonoluluCommunity-MediaCouncil,HonoluluCommunity-MediaCouncil,Available: http://ilind.net/mediacouncillimages/factSheet.pdf,27December2003. 2"SchrammFindsFaultwithMediaPanel,"HonoluluAdvertiser13 April 1977. 3RalphLynLowenstein,PressCouncils:IdeaandReality(Columbia,Mo.: FreedomofInformation Foundation, 1973). 4JimA. Richstad, "Community-MediaPanelHereUnique," HonoluluAdvertiser 17November 1970. 3 performance ofthepress."s Therecommendationwas one ofthree items listedunderthe heading"WhatCanBeDone Bythe Public." Just three years afterthe Hutchinsreport the first press council appearedinthe United States albeit at a localratherthan national level. Formedin SantaRosa, California, nearlytwo decades beforeHonolulu's, thepress council lastedonlythree years.6Between 1967 and 1969 the MellettFund sponsored six experimentalcouncils inRedwood City, California; Bend, Oregon; Cairo, Illinois; Sparta, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Seattle, Washington. Startingin 1970thePeoria Journal-Starpaidthe 21 members ofits Women's Advisory Boardto solicit feedback concerningthenewspaper.? Thus, severalpress councilsprecededthe Honolulu effort; all butthe latterone, however, ended operationsbeforethe start ofthe Honolulu Community-MediaCouncil. So, althoughnot apioneer, the Honolulucouncilhas demonstratedits stayingpower. TheMinnesotaNews Council startedin 1971,just months afterits Honolulu counterpart.8In the next couple years three more press councils formed in IowaFalls, Iowa; Greenville, Mississippi; and Riverside, California; but all threehad closedby 1976.9 The lattercouncil sharedwithits Honolulucounterpartthe commitmentonthepart ofThe (Riverside) Press andDailyEnterprise to publishthe council's findings but also the recognitionthat: "The editors in no sensewillbeboundby SCommissiononFreedomofthePress.,AFreeandResponsiblePress: AGeneralReportonMass Communication;Newspapers. Radio. MotionPictures.Magazines. andBooks(Chicago,IL: TheUniversity ofChicagoPress, 1947). 6ClaudeJeanBertrand,AnArsenalforDemocracy: MediaAccountabilitySystems,HamptonPress CommunicationSeries. CommunicationAlternatives(Creskill,N.J.: HamptonPress, 2003) 150. 7Bertrand,AnArsenalforDemocracy:MediaAccountabilitySystems 156. 8WashingtonNews Council: History, WashingtonNewsCouncil,Available: http://www.wanewscounci1.org/History.htm. 3January2003. 9Bertrand,AnArsenalforDemocracy: MediaAccountabilitySystems 157. 4 the council's findings; theyretain absolute discretion indetermining the content ofthe newspaperaswell as ultimateresponsibilityfor what appears inprintinthe news and editorial columns."l0 More thantwo decades later, a 1998 split ofthe six-year-old NorthwestNews Council resultedinthe establishment ofthe WashingtonNews Counci1.!! Today, Honolulu, MinnesotaandWashingtonhave the onlyremainingmedia councils intheUnited States, though dozens ofnational andprovincialnews councils exist inothercountries. Internationally, press councilshave ahistoryfar exceedingthe half-centuryof U.S. experience. Press councilshave a lineage that dates backto 1916when Sweden establishedthe first national press counci1. Finland andNorwayestablishedtheircouncils around adecade later.!2 In the years following World WarII, various organizations expressedincreasedinterestin freedom ofexpression. TheRoyal Commissionofthe Press in GreatBritainproposed establishingapress council there as early as 1943, though the actual entitywould onlyform adecade later-the first English-languagenational counci1. Eventoday, the onlydefinitionof"press council" inEnglish language dictionaries is one containedinthe OxfordEnglish Dictionary, and itrefers not to a general ideabutto the specificbodyestablishedin GreatBritain. Anotherpost-war effort, the UniversalDeclarationofHumanRights, adoptedbythe United Nations in 1948, includes inArticle 19: "Everyonehas the rightto freedom ofopinion and expression; this 10RiversidePressCouncil,n.d., n.p. HonoluluCommunity-MediaCouncilArchives, SpecialCollections, HamiltonLibrary,UniversityofHawaii. 11AbouttheMinnesotaNewsCouncil,2002,MinnesotaNews Council,Available:http://www.news council.org/about.html, 12September2004. 12Bertrand,AnArsenalforDemocracy: MediaAccountabilitySystems 131.

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Women Voters and Common Cause have teamed up with the council to press for open government .. Anderson in the 1968 mayoral race in an editorial titled "Cause for Concern.,,50 Now at. 48, Fasi .. Claude DuTeil and Dr. James Richstad ofthe University ofHawaii . "With a lisp," Kernell recalled.
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