The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''

Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in the American state of Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and Int ...

''). The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'', along with a sister publication called ''

MidWeek ''MidWeek'' is a weekly United States tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical published in Honolulu, Hawaii and distributed throughout the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. It is owned by Black Press and is a sister publication of the ''Honolulu ...

'', was owned by

Black Press Black Press Group Ltd. is a Canadian publisher of prominent daily newspapers in Hawaii and Alaska and numerous non-daily newspapers in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, and (via Sound Publishing) the U.S. state of Washington. Black Press M ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

, Canada and administered by a council of local Hawaii investors. The daily merged with the ''Advertiser'' on June 7, 2010, to form the ''

Honolulu Star-Advertiser The ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'' is the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, formed in 2010 with the merger of ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' and the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' after the acquisition of the former by Black Press, which already owned the ...

'', after Black Press's attempts to find a buyer fell through.

History

Farrington Era

The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' traces its roots to the Feb. 1, 1882, founding of the ''Evening Bulletin'' by J. W. Robertson and Company. In 1912, it merged with the ''Hawaiian Star'' to become the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin''.

Wallace Rider Farrington Wallace Rider Farrington (May 3, 1871 – October 6, 1933) was an American journalist who served as the sixth Governor of Hawaii, Territorial Governor of Hawaii, serving from 1921 to 1929. Prior to his term, he was editor of ''The Honolulu A ...

, who later became territorial

governor of Hawaii The governor of Hawaii ( haw, Ke Kiaʻaina o Hawaiʻi) is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a direct ...

, was the editor of the newspaper from 1898 and the president and publisher from 1912 until his death. His son Joseph Rider Farrington succeeded him and served as president and publisher until his own death in 1954. From 1962 it was owned by a local group of investors led by

Elizabeth P. Farrington Mary Elizabeth Pruett Farrington (May 30, 1898 – July 21, 1984), more commonly known as Elizabeth P. Farrington, was publisher of the '' Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' and an American politician who served as delegate to the United States Congre ...

and operated under a

joint operating agreement The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Richard Nixon, authorizing the formation of joint operating agreements among competing newspaper operations within the same media market area. It ...

with the ''Honolulu Advertiser'' that allowed the two papers to use the same printing facilities and sales personnel (the Hawaii Newspaper Agency) while maintaining separate fully competitive editorial staffs and providing Honolulu with two distinct editorial "voices."

Gannett Era

Gannett Pacific Corporation, a subsidiary of

Gannett Corporation Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Honolulu Harbor. The newspaper was printed in

Kaneohe Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and located in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an a ...

, on the presses of the ''Star-Bulletin's'' sister publication, ''

''. (Black had purchased ''MidWeek'' shortly before the ''Star-Bulletin'' deal was closed—and at a time when no one in the local business community was aware that it was for sale.) On April 13, 2009, ''The Star-Bulletin'' made the conversion from a broadsheet to a tabloid format in an effort to retain its readership base, even though the move resulted in the layoff of 17 editorial staffers (about 20% of its unionized workforce). This was done to save costs. However, the format did not help as it continued to lose both money and readership. At the same time, Gannett was looking into selling the Advertiser as the company decided that it did not fit in with Gannett's long-term strategy. This move would lead to Black Press pursuing a deal that would result in buying the Advertiser, a more profitable paper with a daily circulation of 115,000, even though the ''Star-Bulletin'' itself was losing money and had a daily circulation of 37,000.

Merger

On February 25, 2010, Black Press purchased only the "physical assets" of ''The Honolulu Advertiser''. As part of the deal to acquire the ''Advertiser'', Black Press agreed to place the ''Star-Bulletin'' on the selling block. If no buyer came forward by March 29, 2010, Black Press would start making preparations to operate both papers through a transitional management team and then combine the two dailies into one. On March 30, 2010, three parties came forward with offers to buy the ''Star-Bulletin'', but a month later on April 27, 2010, the bids were rejected because their bid for the ''Star-Bulletin'' was below the minimum, liquidation price, resulting in Black Press cancelling any sale and proceeding with transition plans, which came on the same day that they were approved to take over the ''Advertiser'' by the Department of Justice. On May 3, 2010, a new company set by Black Press, HA Management, took over the operations of ''Advertiser'' while also overseeing the Star-Bulletin during a 30- to 60-day transition period, in which both papers merged into one daily, ''The Honolulu Star-Advertiser''. The merger took place on June 7, 2010. Existing Advertiser employment ceased. The ''Star-Bulletin'' published its final issue as a tabloid on June 6, 2010 before returning to a broadsheet paper under the merger.

Key dates

*February 1, 1882: Henry Martyn Whitney, who had founded the ''Pacific Commercial Advertiser'' in 1856, began placing a "Daily Bulletin" in the window of James Robertson's Honolulu waterfront stationery store. Robertson bought the concept from Whitney and hired him as editor. *March 28, 1893: Two months after Queen Liliuokalani was overthrown, businessman Joseph Ballard Atherton founded the ''Hawaiian Star'' as a mouthpiece for the provisional government. *July 4, 1894: The

Republic of Hawaii The Republic of Hawaii ( Hawaiian: ''Lepupalika o Hawaii'') was a short-lived one-party state in Hawaii between July 4, 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii had ended, and August 12, 1898, when it became annexed by the United State ...

was established, and Whitney's successor as ''Advertiser'' editor was New Englander Wallace Rider Farrington. While Farrington edited the ''Advertiser'', it was purchased by Lorrin Thurston. Disagreeing with ''Advertiser'' policies, Farrington became editor of the competing ''Daily Bulletin''. *July 1, 1912: The ''Hawaiian Star'' and ''Evening Bulletin'' merged to form the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin''. Riley Allen became editor. Joseph Ballard Atherton and sons Charles H. and Frank Cooke became owners of the ''Star-Bulletin'', the latter becoming the first president. Wallace Farrington became vice president and general business manager. *1925: The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' bought the ''Tribune-Herald'' in Hilo, operating it from afar until the Big Island paper was divested to Donrey Media in 1964. *July 6, 1929: After Wallace Farrington completed eight years as territorial governor, Frank Cooke Atherton turned control of the ''Star-Bulletin'' over to Farrington, who was named president and publisher. Honolulu Star-Bulletin December 7th 1941

Honolulu Star-Bulletin December 7th 1941

*December 7, 1941: On the day of the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

, the ''Star-Bulletin'' published its most famous extra, as Editor Riley Allen and staff scrambled to print the first paper in the world with news of the assault. Extras were being sold on the street within three hours. *November 3, 1942: Joseph Farrington, ''Star-Bulletin'' president and general manager, was elected nonvoting Hawaii delegate to Congress. He was re-elected in 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950 and 1952. *Bill Ewing, a ''Star-Bulletin'' editor, was credited with creating the slang term "SeaBee" for the U.S. Navy's construction battalions. *October 24, 1944: Wartime

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

ended in Hawaii. The ''Star-Bulletin'' strongly opposed martial law from its inception shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. *December 1, 1952: The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' partnered with radio man J. Howard Worrell to open KGMB-TV, Hawaii's first television station, airing for the first time. *April 17, 1953: In response to a statement by Mississippi's Sen. James Eastland that Hawaii was dominated by

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...

and would, if granted statehood, send representatives of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to Congress, the ''Star-Bulletin'' devoted most of its front page, all of page 2 and part of page 3 to listing the names of Hawaii's dead, wounded, missing and prisoners in the 1950–53

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. *March 9, 1957: ''Star-Bulletin'' reporter Sarah Park, 29, died when a small plane piloted by Hawaii advertising executive Paul Beam crashed into the sea just off Laie Point while covering the tsunami arrival following the 1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake. Beam, 42, died less than 24 hours later. ''Star-Bulletin'' photographer Jack Matsumoto survived the crash with injuries, eventually returning to work. *1959: The ''Star-Bulletin'' publishes its statehood editions. The picture of Chester Kahapea hawking statehood editions two days before his 13th birthday appears March 13. The picture, snapped by Murray Befeler of Photo Hawaii, is picked up by such newspapers as the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

''. *July 22, 1960: Riley Allen steps down as editor after 48 years. ''Star-Bulletin'' circulation during his career rose from about 4,000 in 1912 to 104,000 in 1960. He had overseen coverage of two of Hawaii's biggest stories – the Pearl Harbor attack and statehood. *1961: A "hui" including Chinn Ho, Joseph Ballard Atherton, Alexander Atherton, William H. Hill and John T. Waterhouse forms to buy the ''Star-Bulletin'' from the Farrington Estate. *June 1, 1962: The ''Star-Bulletin'' and its morning rival, the ''Honolulu Advertiser'', set up a third company, the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, under a

to handle non-newsroom functions of both papers. The Sunday editions of both papers are combined. * Jim Lovell newspaper

Aug. 2, 1971: Gannett Co. Inc. announces it is purchasing the Star-Bulletin, which now has a circulation of 128,000. *Jan. 7, 1993: Gannett announces it has reached an agreement to sell the ''Star-Bulletin'' to Rupert Phillips' Liberty Newspapers Limited Partnership in a move that will allow Gannett to complete its acquisition of the ''Honolulu Advertiser''. ''Star-Bulletin'' circulation is 88,000. *August 9, 1997: The ''Star-Bulletin'' publishes the "Broken Trust" essay by five community leaders critical of Bishop Estate trustees. This leads to investigations, court actions and statewide soul-searching to bring about corrective action. The $1 million-a-year Bishop Estate trustees are eventually toppled and reforms are set in motion. *September 16, 1999: Liberty Newspapers announces it will shut down the ''Star-Bulletin'' on October 30 because of better investment opportunities on the mainland. Circulation is 67,124. A group of community members called "Save Our Star-Bulletin" bands together in an effort to keep the paper alive. *October 13, 1999: District Judge

Alan Cooke Kay Alan Cooke Kay (born July 5, 1932) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. Education and career Born on July 5, 1932, in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kay attended Princeton University, where ...

issues a preliminary injunction in federal court keeping Gannett Co. and Liberty Newspapers from taking further steps to close the Star-Bulletin. On November 9 the court approves Black Press Ltd.'s purchase of the ''Star-Bulletin''. In December Black Press owner David Black announces he is purchasing RFD Publications, which owns ''MidWeek''. *November 9, 2000: The federal court approved Black Press Ltd.'s purchase of the ''Star-Bulletin''. The order comes after Black Press reached agreement with Liberty and Gannett over the terms of the ''Star-Bulletin'' takeover. *March 15, 2001: The ''Star-Bulletin'' moves to Waterfront Plaza offices, launching its inaugural edition and new morning issue under Oahu Publications, a new local company formed by David Black. Don Kendall is named publisher. The paper is published on the MidWeek press in Kaneohe. *June 3, 2004: Dennis Francis was named president of Oahu Publications Inc. and publisher of the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' and Glenn Zuehls was named vice president of advertising. *February 25, 2010: An agreement for Oahu Publications Inc., which owns the ''Star-Bulletin'' and ''MidWeek'', to acquire its longtime rival, ''The Honolulu Advertiser'', is announced in simultaneous meetings in both newsrooms. *June 6, 2010: At the conclusion of the transition, Oahu Publications merges both newspapers into the ''

'', under publisher Dennis Francis.

Notable reporters

Ah Jook Ku Ah Jook Ku (April 24, 1910 – August 6, 2007) was an American journalist, writer, media advocate and public relations practitioner. She was the first Asian American reporter for the Associated Press, and the first Asian American female reporter fo ...

* Peggy Hull

References

External links

''Honolulu Star-Bulletin''

''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' issues from July 1, 1912 to April 10, 1916
on Chronicling America
Issues of ''The Hawaiian Star'' (from March 28, 1893 to June 29, 1912)
a predecessor of the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin,'' on Chronicling America
Issues of the ''Evening Bulletin'' (from May 16, 1895 to June 29, 1912)
a predecessor of the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin,'' on Chronicling America
Issues of the ''Independent'' (from May 1, 1895 to June 15, 1895)
which merged with the ''Evening Bulletin''.
Issues of the ''Daily Bulletin'' (from February 1, 1882 to May 15, 1895)
which became the ''Evening Bulletin''. {{Authority control Defunct newspapers published in Hawaii Mass media in Honolulu Black Press Publications established in 1882 Publications disestablished in 2010 1882 establishments in Hawaii 2010 disestablishments in Hawaii