Honolulu Star-Bulletin

The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, 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 Star-Bulletin'', along with a sister publication called ''MidWeek'', was owned by Black Press of Victoria, British Columbia, 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'', 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, who later became territorial governor of Hawaii, 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 and operated under a joint operating agreement 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, purchased the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' in 1971 under the terms of the existing joint operating agreement. The terms of the joint operating agreement did not allow one company to own both newspapers, so in 1992, Gannett sold the Honolulu Star-Bulletin to Liberty Newspapers so that it could purchase the ''Honolulu Advertiser.'' The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin's'' circulation was allowed to decline thereafter and staffing reduced.

On September 16, 1999, Liberty Newspapers announced that it planned to close the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' the following month. The decision was met with fierce resistance in the community and lawsuits were filed against Liberty and Gannett by the state and by concerned citizens' groups. The shutdown was postponed with an injunction by a federal district judge two weeks before the scheduled date of closure.

Black era

In April 2000, Liberty Newspapers offered the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' for sale. The action once again threatened the closure of the publication, but in November of that year, Canadian publishing magnate David Black announced his intent to purchase the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin''. When the purchase was finalized in 2001, the joint operating agreement came to an end and Black moved the paper's administration and editorial offices to new headquarters in Restaurant Row near Honolulu Harbor. The newspaper was printed in Kaneohe, on the presses of the ''Star-Bulletin's'' sister publication, ''MidWeek''. (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 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.

*December 7, 1941: On the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, 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 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 and would, if granted statehood, send representatives of Moscow 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.
*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'' and ''New York Daily News''.
*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 joint operating agreement to handle non-newsroom functions of both papers. The Sunday editions of both papers are combined.
*Aug. 2, 1971: Gannett 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 ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'', under publisher Dennis Francis.

Notable reporters

* Ah Jook Ku
*Peggy Hull

References

Further reading

*

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