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Veteran Public Media Journalist Sandee Oshiro Joins HPR as News Editor

Hawai?i Public Radio, a statewide, community-supported radio network, announces that Sandee Oshiro has joined its newsroom as the station's first news editor. Oshiro is an award-winning veteran journalist whose media experience spans multiple platforms, and who has managed teams and projects that have drawn national recognition. Raised on the island of O?ahu, her career has included positions at West Hawaii Today, The Honolulu Advertiser, AOL?s Patch, the Poynter Institute, and, most recently, the leading National Public Radio affiliate in Southern California, KPCC.

In her position as HPR news editor, Oshiro will help shape story coverage and organize planning and news content. She’ll also be involved in special projects. HPR News Director and Vice President Bill Dorman said, “We’re excited to welcome Sandee to the HPR newsroom as a veteran public radio journalist who has a deep understanding of our community. She immediately adds strength and depth to our news team and we look forward to her contributions.”

Oshiro grew up in the working class community of Kalihi, the daughter of Nisei (second-generation Japanese immigrant) parents. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawai?i before attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

Her journalism career began in Kona on Hawai'i island where she covered police, politics, and natural disasters for the daily West Hawaii Today. After a stint at the all-news radio station KHVH in Honolulu, she joined The Honolulu Advertiser as a general assignment reporter and later covered labor, business, and government. She was promoted to the newspaper's business editor and tasked with the launch of the paper's first website, HonoluluAdvertiser.com. The online news site, consistently ranked as the state’s largest, went on to win multiple journalism awards.
 
With the closing of the Advertiser and recognizing the industry's shift to digital, Oshiro joined AOL’s Patch, a national network of local news websites. She launched several Patch sites on the U.S. Mainland and served as a regional editor managing teams of journalists in Northern and Southern California.
 
She next joined the Poynter Institute, the Florida-based organization that teaches journalism skills and convenes conversations across the country about the media industry. There she managed Poynter’s news website and supported its educational work.
 
In 2014, Oshiro moved to public radio station KPCC in Los Angeles, which operates a multi-platform newsroom (radio, online, events). She managed reporters covering education, politics, immigration, and transportation, and directed the station’s elections coverage in 2016 and 2018. The station’s award-winning Human Voter Guide project has been nationally recognized for engaging the electorate and guiding voters through the complexities of local and national balloting.
 
Of her return to Hawai?i, Oshiro said, “I’m thrilled to be returning home and eager to help HPR as it takes ambitious steps to enhance its news coverage and raise its profile as a hub of civic discussion."

Oshiro is married to University of Hawai?i School of Communications Chair Gerald Kato. They have a daughter, Lauren.

Read original press release.

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