Final Days? A newsroom diary by Ian Lind, Investigative Reporter, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

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It took a week for the shock to wear off after the sudden announcement that the Star-Bulletin would be shut down. At that point I started regularly recording observations of conditions and issues in the newsroom and, later, of the experience grappling with the issues attendent to the death of a newspaper.

I have to admit that this initially seemed a short-term project, but court imposed delays have given the newspaper a bit of wiggle room and have lengthened this journal substantially. As a result, I've divided the entries by date, and encourage you to start where you like, beginning, middle, or end.

Two months into this project, I made another small but symbolic change by adding the question mark in title of this page (from the affirmative, "Final Days" to "Final Days?"). This reflects the growing sense that there could be something other than a tragic end to this adventure. But, please, read on, friends, for my modest contribution.

September 15, Wednesday

My first day back after a week-long trip to Chicago. The normal first day routine: clearing all that stacked up email, then the snail mail, then returning calls, getting reoriented to the stories in progress.

Routine, until mid-afternoon, probably around 4 pm, a wave of worry. Unexplained management meetings. No answers forthcoming about the subject. Finally word that "an announcement" will be made Thursday morning. We've been through rumors before. A month ago, some Advertiser staffers were supposedly asked to submit lists of who they would hire from the Star-Bulletin, but as far as I know this was never confirmed. But by 6 pm, all television stations are reporting the Star-Bulletin's imminent closure.

Reporters who start early in the day were gone before the flutter started, and many hear the news for the first time when it's broadcast.

September 16, Thursday

Rupert Phillips makes his announcement in our newsroom about 8 am. I'm not there. I decided to arrive fashionably late. If the news is what we expect, then I don't need to rush in. And if there's some unexpected announcement, I'll have the pleasure of a surprise. Of course, the news is as expected. Bad.

There's confusion about basis things. Severance pay, unused vacation, we're in shock and focusing on details. The big picture is overwhelming. Oh--if you didn't already--check out the pictures I took around the newsroom after the official announcement.

September 22

Star-Bulletin staffers have been lining up for interviews across the hall at the Advertiser since the beginning of the week. The Advertiser expects to pick up about 20 of our approximately 100 staffers, leaving the remaining 80 or so to fend for themselves.

I was interviewed yesterday by Advertiser editor Jim Gatti and managing editor Jim Kelly. It wasn't much like a job interview, although friendly. My impression is that they already knew what they are going to do in my case, one way or the other, and so the interview didn't have to waste time with questions that might inform the decision. Instead, they were interested in how the Star-Bulletin newsroom works, in who edits my stories, in the differences between the cultures of the two newsrooms. They extended an invitation to visit the Advertiser newsroom, something I have not done since joining the Star-Bulletin.

Several other reporters confirmed similarly vague interviews. Each of us hopes for the best. Some were offered a cookie or donut. Not I.

September 23

The interview process is painful. No one really wants to work for the newspaper which we have competed with. Its hard to maintain a professional attitude when we've tried so hard to kick their butts and produce a better newspaper, a battle we were winning. And most of us believe that Gannett set up the Star-Bulletin for failure and finally orchestrated the pulling of the plug. But they're covered by the same Newspaper Guild contract and salary scale, which is far above any other competing local media. And money speaks with a certain terrible clarity.

Of course, we also have heard persistent anecdotal evidence that reporters at the Advertiser have been very unhappy with a heavy handed management style. What are we getting into?

A fiery two-page anonymous letter goes up on the bulletin board in the newsroom, an impassioned plea to fight to the end for the Star-Bulletin's survival. It immediately draws a crowd of readers, and continues to attract attention for several days. Reactions differ. I can see head shaking, some expressions of support. One person wonders aloud if the writer is in danger of "going postal"--it's the first mention (and so far the only mention) of workplace violence as a risk.

September 24

The Christmas party has been rescheduled and transformed into a "The Last Wave" party after our last edition on October 30. Won't that be a scene? The lucky few who have jobs at that point will be caught between relief and survivors' guilt. The rest will rely on the free booze to survive the night.

September 25

Disturbing rumor that some Star-Bulletin staffers have tried to gain an advantage by dropping negative information about other writers during interviews at the Advertiser. You don't want to believe such tales. The situation is grim enough without turning on each other.

September 27

The day started with the "green flash" at sunrise during our walk on the beach in Kaaawa. A good omen?

Several people have been to meet with a Gannett recruiter who is here for a couple of days. Few people really want to leave Hawaii, and I would guess fewer really savor the idea of working for another Gannett newspaper.

But the days are rapidly being crossed off the calendar. Just five weeks of publication remain for us, and everyone is worried about what happens next. Clumps of people periodically stop to talk in the halls of the newsroom, sharing news about the Advertiser interviews or advice about possible openings elsewhere.

Daysog heard they are looking to establish a labor beat and may not hire an investigative reporter. Does that explain Gatti's opening question about how long I have been the labor reporter (for the Star-Bulletin)? Of course, I had to explain that I don't cover the labor beat. So it goes.

September 28

Another green flash this morning despite the heavy clouds.These little miracles of nature boost the spirit, however subtly.

September 30

We saw the green flash for the third time this week during our sunrise walks in Kaaawa. That might be a record for us. On omen of what?

As one former Advertiser reporter, who left unhappy with the Gannett management style, commented to me: "It would be good if they offered you a position. But it would be really good for you if they didn't." Who knows what to think?

 

Continued...

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