The Honolulu Star-Bulletin's Crusading Culture
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THE HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN'S CRUSADING CULTURE THROUGH TOUGH TIMES AND SALAD DAYS: A HISTORICALLY INFORMED ANALYSIS OF CULTURE AND IDENTITY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE DECEMBER 2004 By AnnE. Auman Dissertation Committee: James Dator, Chairperson Kathy Ferguson Kathleen Kane Andrew Arno Elaine Bailey iii © 2004 Ann Elizabeth Auman IV Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the following people for their invaluable support: Dr. James Dator, my committee chairman, for his patience and conscientious ushering along of this project; committee members Dr. Andrew Arno, for his thoughtful input; Dr. Elaine Bailey, for her understanding of my interdisciplinary study; Dr. Kathy Ferguson, for her guidance, insights and critical evaluation; and Dr. Kathleen Kane, for her helpful suggestions. I also wish to thank my colleague Dr. Beverly Keever, for her encouragement and access to some of her records, and the University of Hawai'i for its support. I also want to thank Dr. Fred Fedler, my friend and colleague from the University of Central Florida, who encouraged me to start my Ph.D. and who has patiently followed my progress over the years. Former Star-Bulletin editors David Shapiro and John Simonds gave me much of their valuable time in interviewing and checking details in my many conversations with them. My family gave me the gift of time and emotional support for this project, which spanned the early years of the lives of my children, Aliya and James. We all learned a lot about persistence. And, I wish to thank my husband, Steven Petranik, whose encouragement enabled me to take on this project. His helpful insights on the Star Bulletin and his careful editing of countless drafts of the manuscript were invaluable and beyond the call. Mary King Auman, my mother, had faith in me that inspired me to carry on with my Ph.D. after her death in 1999. I also want to thank my father, Harvey, who has helped me and my family during this time, as well as my friend and mentor at UH, v Dr. Carol Anne Dickson. There were many others who I may have failed to recognize at this time but who kept me on track with their interest in the project. I dedicate this to the newsroom staff of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, whose trust and support were critical to the success of this study. Their passion for their work and their loyalty to the values of good journalism were exemplary. VI ABSTRACT In 1999, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin survived an attempt by Gannett Co. and Liberty Newspapers to close the paper after a citizen's group stepped forward and forced the paper to be put up for sale. It was an unprecedented move in America, and 18 months later a Canadian purchased the paper. What was so special about this newspaper that enabled it to survive? This dissertation analyzes the influences that shaped the culture and identity of the newspaper in an attempt to determine whether these contributed to its survival. I take an integrated cultural approach to the study of the Star-Bulletin as an organization and analyze expressions of culture as revealed in interviews of 23 newsroom staff members. Shared meanings as well as ambiguity are examined. Key attributes of culture and identity emerged that staff members believed contributed to the paper's survival. These include a crusading, competitive culture, and a belief by the staff that the paper is the "local" paper, which helped ensure the loyalty of readers who resisted the influence of big U.S. mainland companies on Hawai'i. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Abstract. vi Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Background 1 Overview: Why Study the Star-Bulletin? 3 Purpose of the Study 7 Method 7 Finding My Way: Weaving Strands of Theory into Coherency 8 Issues in Organizational Culture Research 11 Approaches in Newspaper Studies 11 The Cultural Studies Trend and My Position 18 Definitions of Organizational Culture 25 Organizational Identity 31 Chapter 2: Research Design, Method and Reflection 36 The Tension of the Reflexive Researcher: Issues in Conducting Research 36 Trust and Gaining Access 37 Method 40 Use of Stories and Narratives 43 Authenticity vs Accuracy 46 Interview Questions 48 Interviewees 51 Time Frame 53 Story Analysis 54 Chapter 3: Analysis ofInterviews: Influence of Values, Ownership and Economics on Star-Bulletin Culture 57 Professional and Occupational Culture and Values of Journalism: Newspapers as an Institution 58 Influence of ownership and Economics on the Star-Bulletin: 1882-1993. 64 Early History of the Star-Bulletin: Founding to Farrington family 65 Farrington Era 71 Post-Statehood: Chinn Ho and the Gannett Company 91 The Establishment of the Joint Operating Agreement 92 Ownership and Economics 1993 to 2004: Liberation and Uncertainty 106 David Black and Save Our Star-Bulletin Crisis 116 Change as a Manifestation of Culture 145 Chapter 4: Leadership and Newsroom Management at the Star-Bulletin: A Cultural Approach 152 Riley Allen: A Crusading Newspaper and a Family Culture 153 Ewing's All-Girl Newspaper and the "Paper of the Pacific" 161 viii Bud Smyser: Vision for Hawai'i. 163 Hobe Duncan and Star-Bulletin Design 169 John Simonds and the Gannett Era 175 David Shapiro: The Heart and Soul of the Star-Bulletin 190 Frank Bridgewater and the Black years 206 Heroes 208 Chapter 5: Impact of Local Culture and News Values on Star-Bulletin Culture And Identity 215 Local identity 228 Chapter 6: Organizational Structure and Routines at the Star-Bulletin: Influence on Culture 247 Workflow and Structural Patterns 247 Subcultures 250 Physical Space and Location 254 Age, Ethnicity and Gender 264 Routines and Workflow 265 Managers and Unionization 273 Technology 275 Chapter 7: Culture, Identity and the Survival of the Star-Bulletin 281 The Star-Bulletin and Change 301 Future of the Star-Bulletin 303 Reflection 305 Appendix A: Consent Form and Questions for Interviewees 310 References 313 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background When Canadian publisher David Black announced he wanted to buy the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, some employees at the paper called him their "savior." The paper's owner, Rupert Phillips, had announced in September 1999 that he was shutting down the afternoon paper. But the newsroom staff cheered when a year later Black said he would keep it alive. A soloist praised him to the tune of "0 Canada" at a celebration at Murphy's Bar and Grill in downtown Honolulu where staff held Christmas parties. Two large flags - one Canadian and one Hawaiian - went up on the wall near the Star-Bulletin's copy desk. Smaller Canadian flags and lapel pins appeared all over the newsroom. But much of the elation had dissipated soon after he actually took ownership on March 15,2001. Anxieties about job security turned into concerns about editorial quality and about everyone working harder for less in a brutal head-to-head competition with The Honolulu Advertiser, owned by Gannett Corp., America's largest newspaper company. It was Gannett that had tried to eliminate the Star-Bulletin by offering its previous owner $26.5 million to shut it down. Phillips accepted the offer but the Star-Bulletin was kept alive because of an anti-trust lawsuit filed by a union-backed citizens' group that persuaded Judge Alan Kay to require that the paper be put up for sale. The involvement by a judge and a citizens' group in preventing a paper from closing was unprecedented in America, where readers have sat back and watched one newspaper after another close, 2 with owners citing declining circulation as the reason for the newspapers' demise. l In most cities in the United States, major newspaper chains have a monopoly. Where there are two newspapers, there is usually a Joint Operating Agreement (lOA) that allows the two newspapers to share presses and advertising sales and circulation, while keeping the news and editorial departments separate and competitive. That is how the two daily newspapers operated for nearly four decades in Honolulu. So, when David Black made the Star-Bulletin an independent newspaper, it was the first time since 1962 when the JOA was established that there was business competition as well as news and editorial competition among daily newspapers on O'ahu. Black also bought MidWeek because he needed a press to print the Star-Bulletin, and subsequently formed O'ahu Publications to oversee the two. The news and editorial staff moved from the stately News Building that they shared with the Advertiser on Kapi'olani Boulevard to new offices at Restaurant Row, and began printing at MidWeek's presses in Kane'ohe. 1 A citizens group, the Committee for a Two-Newspaper Town, was formed in Seattle during the 2003 negotiations involving the Joint Operating Agreement between the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post Intelligencer to keep both newspapers operating. The Post-Intelligencer did not have printing presses and stood to lose if the JOA were dissolved; the Times said it was also losing money. Times Publisher Frank Blethen called for an end to the JOA, but later said he would prefer to readjust the JOA profit split back to its pre-1999 division to benefit the Times. See Bill Richards, "Blethen: Profit shift could end JOA fight," seattletimes.com, Friday, Sept. 5, 2003. 3 Overview: Why Study the Star-Bulletin? The near death of the afternoon Star-Bulletin and its subsequent sale was a watershed in its 118-year life, and prompted my interest in doing this study. What was so special about this newspaper that key individuals in the state of Hawai 'i wanted it to survive? This study attempts to go beyond the surface explanations and events about why the Star-Bulletin survived: to save union jobs or for anti-trust reasons.