Retired University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa journalism professor Gerald Kato talked with HPR's Catherine Cruz about the recent changes in Hawaiʻi journalism. Kato is now part of the Media Council Hawaiʻi, a nonprofit that focuses on media accountability and freedom of the press.
Interview Highlights
On the Honolulu Star-Advertiserʻs change in ownership
GERALD KATO: I don't think the people in the newsroom at the Star-Advertiser really know or fully understand the dimensions of the change in ownership, what that means and what that holds for the future. As I understand it, I don't think the new management has really talked in the newsroom about what the future holds.
On the connection between journalism and an engaged community
KATO: The local connection has been lost. Newspapers, media are owned by people outside of Hawaiʻi, and they have little or no connection to Hawaiʻi. There are a lot less resources devoted to covering the community. That community connection, I think, gets lost. And it's not surprising to me that I think there is a relationship with that loss of connection between newspapers and news organizations in the community, and it's kind of this engagement you see in the community as reflected in people running for office. There was a report about how the number of competitive seats in Hawaiʻi is the lowest in 10 years. Many important offices just go about any kind of challenges — City Council — I think the mayor has nominal opposition. I'm sure for the incumbents, they love that, but it's not really healthy for democracy. And I think part of that is due to this lack of community engagement. I think when there were two thriving newspapers or a lot of competitive media in Hawaiʻi, there was a lot more engagement with what was going on in the community, politically, commercially. You know, the people were a lot more involved with what was going on. They weren't retreating to their computers.
On giving tax credits to organizations to boost journalism
KATO: I think it's a viable strategy, a limited strategy. I think one of the reasons independent journalism thrived was that there was a business model that provided support independent from government, and provided that kind of free press that we needed and wanted. But public needs to realize that the old cliché of free press is not free. You got to be willing to pay for quality journalism. It's not cheap, and a recent study showed that a lot of people don't like paying — they think that they should access the news for free. You know, none of these paywalls or anything like that. And arguably, I can see the idea that, well, you know, people should have greater access to news and information, but it's an expensive process. I mean, somebody has to pay for it. And I think that the public really wants quality journalists, they ought to be willing to pay for quality work, whether it's in newspapers, online, the radio, television, people ought to be able to support good journalism. When I say good journalism, by the way, I mean reporters who go out and look for facts, verifiable facts, not alternative facts, but verifiable information. That's what good journalism is all about, and it doesn't matter whether it's newspapers or radio or online, but good, reliable facts. Unfortunately, the most popular national television programs tend to be on Fox and MSNBC, both of which are not shy about sharing their opinions. And there's a place for opinions. But opinions are cheap. Fact-based journalism is expensive.
On how to save journalism in Hawaiʻi
KATO: Not sure. I'm often befuddled by this, by what to do next. It looks pretty dire out there for newspapers, for one thing, and I'm sad about that. You know, I started my career as a newspaperman. I love newspapers, but it's pretty clear that newspapers are not going to survive. There was a study once about 20 years ago by Phil Meyer, a professor in North Carolina, and he predicted that newspapers will die out completely in the first quarter of 2043. I suspect that that timeline is maybe too far out, that by the end of the decade, we probably won't see a newspaper here in Hawaiʻi anyway. I think maybe The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and some of the bigger newspapers, will still publish, but a lot of the smaller newspapers won't be around. And I'm concerned about communities, not only here in Oʻahu, but what about Kauaʻi? What about Maui? What about the Big Island, you know? What and how will they get news and information about their community? There needs to be some new models. I guess there's some talk about starting up an online news operation on Maui. I hope it works. But again, you know, people have to want reliable, verifiable information. They have to support it. If all they want is opinions, opinion is cheap. You could get anybody's opinion for nothing.
On where local journalism is at — and where we need to go
KATO: We certainly are in a time when we need more and better information. We have truckloads of information, not always reliable information, a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there by the way. We need to demand better of our news organizations. We need to demand better of our schools in terms of media literacy, news literacy, having a better understanding of why news and information is so important to a thriving democracy.
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 12, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. Tori DeJournett adapted this story for the web.
