''Honolulu Civil Beat'' is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

online news organization covering the U.S. state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. It specializes in

investigative reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

watchdog journalism Watchdog journalism is a form of investigative journalism where journalists, authors or publishers of a News, news publication fact-checking, fact-check and Interviewing, interview political figure, political and Public figure, public figures t ...

and in-depth enterprise coverage.

History

Pierre Omidyar launched ''Civil Beat'' in May 2010 with a subscription

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

. Its founding editor was

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winning journalist John Temple, former editor and publisher of the '' Rocky Mountain News''. When Temple left to take a position at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' in 2012, journalist Patti Epler was promoted to executive editor. In 2012, as part of an investigation of municipal law enforcement, ''Civil Beat'' sued the City and County of Honolulu for access to public records. In 2013, ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' launched a Hawaii issues and travel-oriented site in partnership with ''Civil Beat''. HuffPost Hawaii staff share office space with the ''Civil Beat'' staff. In 2016, the publication became a non-profit and its paywall was dropped.

Operation

''Civil Beat'' has a board of directors that has included publisher

Pierre Omidyar Pierre Morad Omidyar (born Parviz Morad Omidyar, June 21, 1967) is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire and the grandson of General Mahmud Mir-Djalali. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist, he is the foun ...

. ''Civil Beat'' gets revenue from subscriptions along with funding from Omidyar. Other sponsorships have come from local businesses and nonprofits, such as the law firm of Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, Appleseed Center and

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. It has one of the largest single co ...

which together provided underwriting for a reporting project in Micronesia, and D.R. Horton, which provided underwriting for a series on Hawaii's high cost of living. Besides the partnership with ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', ''Civil Beat'' has media partnerships with Hawaii Public Radio, KITV and Clear Channel/KHVH. ''Civil Beat'' provides content and analysis for other news organizations including

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. ''Civil Beat'' is headquartered in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, on the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. Articles written by ''Civil Beat'' journalists have been featured in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and are often referenced and quoted in other news sources. ''Civil Beat'' staff contribute to local talk radio programs. As of 2011, ''Civil Beat''s competitors include the state's major newspaper, 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 ...

''. ''Honolulu Civil Beat'' is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Awards

The Greater Oregon and the Indiana chapters of the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

(SPJ) gave its award for "best overall news site" in Hawaii to ''Honolulu Civil Beat'' in 2011 and 2012. In 2017, editor Richard Wiens announced it had won best online newsite (the Louisville chapter judged 2016), marking 7 years in a row the paper had won the title. In May 2024, the publication was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting, for its coverage of the

2023 Hawaii wildfires The 2023 Hawaii wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out in early August 2023 in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations and caused widespread damage, killing at least ...

References

{{reflist

External links

''Honolulu Civil Beat'' website
Companies based in Honolulu Internet properties established in 2010 Mass media in Honolulu American news websites 2010 establishments in Hawaii