The Honolulu Advertiser
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Black Press |
| Founded | 1856 (as thePacific Commercial Advertiser) |
| Ceased publication | June 6, 2010 (Merged intoHonolulu Star-Advertiser) |
| Headquarters | 605 Kapiʻolani Blvd. Honolulu,Hawaii96813 United States |
| Circulation | 141,934 Morning 155,932 Sunday (as of 2007)[1] |
| ISSN | 1072-7191 |
| OCLCnumber | 8807414 |
| Website | honoluluadvertiser.com |
The Honolulu Advertiserwas a dailynewspaperpublished inHonolulu,Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest dailynewspaperinHawaii.It published daily with special Sunday andInterneteditions.
The Honolulu Advertiserwas the parent publisher ofIsland Weekly,Navy News,Army Weekly,Ka Nupepa People,West Oahu People,Leeward People,East Oahu People,Windward People,Metro Honolulu People,andHonolulu Peoplesmall, community-based newspapers for the public.
The Honolulu Advertiserhas had a succession of owners since it began publishing in 1856 under the name thePacific Commercial Advertiser.On February 25, 2010,Black Press,which owned theHonolulu Star-Bulletin,purchasedThe Honolulu AdvertiserfromGannett Pacific Corporation,which acquired theAdvertiserin 1992 after it had sold theStar-Bulletinto another publisher that later sold it to Black Press in 2000. On May 3, 2010, a new company set up by Black Press, HA Management, took over operations of theAdvertiserand merged it with theStar-Bulletinon June 7, 2010, to form theHonolulu Star-Advertiser.
History[edit]
Henry M. Whitney[edit]
Businessman and son ofCongregationalmissionaries, Henry M. Whitney founded thePacific Commercial Advertiserin 1856, a weekly newspaper that was circulated primarily in thewhalingport of Honolulu. The inaugural edition was published on July 2 of that year with this statement from Whitney:
Thank Heaven, the day at length has dawned when the Hawaiian nation can boast a free press, untrammeled by government patronage or party pledges, unbiased by ministerial frowns or favors.[2]
The biggest story in the first edition was a report on the wedding ofKamehameha IVandQueen Emma.However, the front page was devoted almost exclusively toadvertisements.Throughout the paper, Whitney posted fifty-two advertisements for sailing ships in port at Honolulu Harbor with three hundred vessel timetables. In 1870, Whitney went broke and was forced to sell theCommercial Advertiserto James Black and William Auld, local printers. Whitney stayed on as the newspaper's editor.
Claus Spreckels[edit]
In 1880, Black and Auld sold thePacific Commercial Advertiserto cabinet ministerWalter M. Gibson,who was generally under financial control ofClaus Spreckels.[3]John Edward Bush,who was minister of the interior at the time, arranged for a government loan, and a guarantee of all government printing contracts.[4]: 221 Vehemently opposed to Spreckels's conservative and pro-monarchy political stance, Whitney, as a devout annexationist, resigned as editor. In his place,Wallace Rider Farrington,futureGovernorof theTerritory of Hawaii,arrived fromMaineto become the new editor. Spreckels's royalist slant in his editorial articles were deplored by many of the American businessmen residing in Hawaiʻi at the time. Revenue suffered as a result, forcing Spreckels to eventually sell thePacific Commercial Advertiser.
Lorrin A. Thurston and Son[edit]
In 1888, Spreckels sold his newspaper to the Hawaiian Gazette Company. It in turn sold the newspaper in 1898 toLorrin A. Thurston.Thurston was organizer of theHawaiian League,which had forcedKing Kalākauato agree to the "Bayonet Constitution"of 1887 backed by theHonolulu Riflesarmedmilitia,and make Thurston a cabinet minister. The 1887 constitution stripped the monarchy of most authority, took away many rights ofnative Hawaiiansto vote in elections, and granted voting rights to American residents, even those who did not have citizenship in the kingdom. Thurston had been instrumental to the overthrow of the monarchy and the end of the existence of theKingdom of Hawaiʻi.
In 1921, Thurston changed the name of thePacific Commercial AdvertisertoThe Honolulu Advertiser.The following year, Thurston hired Raymond S. Coll to be the newspaper editor. Coll served in that capacity until his retirement in 1959.
In 1931, Lorrin P. Thurston took over his father's position as editor and president ofThe Honolulu Advertiser.He would later become chairman of the Hawaii Statehood Commission. Upon Raymond Coll's retirement, Thurston hired George Chaplin, former editor of the military newspaperPacific Stars and Stripes,as the editor ofThe Honolulu Advertiser.He would serve in this capacity for 28 years.
Thurston Twigg-Smith and George Chaplin[edit]
In 1961,Thurston Twigg-Smithcontinued family ownership as he inheritedThe Honolulu Advertiserfrom his uncle. He remained publisher and president until 1986. With the coupling of Chaplin and Twigg-Smith,The Honolulu Advertisershifted its political slant from a staunchlyconservativepro-Big Fivenewspaper to become a more moderate, racially progressive newspaper. Both were enormously influenced by the rising localChinese American,Filipino AmericanandJapanese Americanreadership and worked to cater to these communities' news interests. In 1967, Twigg-Smith formed the Persis Corporation (known as Asa Hawaii Corporation until 1978) as theAdvertiser's parent company.
Gannett Pacific Corporation[edit]
In 1992,The Honolulu Advertiserwas purchased by the Gannett Pacific Corporation, a subsidiary of Gannett Company Incorporated.[5]It became the first morning edition publication in Gannett's corporate history. The company had already owned Honolulu's other major newspaper, theHonolulu Star-Bulletin,since 1973. From 1962 to 2001, both dueling newspapers were administered under ajoint operating agreementunder which they shared printing and advertising operations but kept separate editorial staff and printing functions. The agreement ended when theHonolulu Star-Bulletinwas sold to a separate company.
Acquisition by Black Press and merger[edit]
On February 25, 2010,Black Press,which owned theHonolulu Star-Bulletin,purchasedThe Honolulu Advertiser.As part of the deal to acquire theAdvertiser,Black Press agreed to place theStar-Bulletinon the selling block. If no buyer came forward by March 29, 2010, Black Press started 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 theStar-Bulletin,but a month later on April 27, 2010, the bids were rejected because their bids for theStar-Bulletinwas below the minimum liquidation price. Black Press canceled the sale as a result and proceeded with transition plans, which came on the same day that they were approved to take over theAdvertiserby the Department of Justice.[6][7]
On May 3, 2010, a new company set up by Black Press, HA Management, took over the operations of the paper while Black Press continued overseeing the Star-Bulletin during a 30- to 60-day transition period, in which both papers merged into one daily,The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.TheAdvertiserpublished its final edition at 12:01 AM on June 6, 2010,[8][9][10]and Black Press officially launched theHonolulu Star-Advertiseras a broadsheet morning daily on June 7, 2010.
The newspaper will be based out of the formerStar-Bulletinoffices at Restaurant Row and published at the formerAdvertiserprinting facilities in Kapolei. A total of 474 staffers are employed at the daily, 265 from theAdvertiserand 209 fromStar-Bulletin.The fonts still use the "Star-Bulletin" masthead but with "Advertiser" replacing the "Bulletin" name.
Advertiser Building[edit]
The Honolulu Advertiserstaff occupied the Advertiser Building on 605 Kapiʻolani Boulevard indowntown Honoluluup until its last day of business on June 4, 2010, and the final pressing of its June 6, 2010, issue. It was built in 1929 by the architectural firm Emory & Webb in thebeaux artsstyle. From the 1930s through the 1950s the building's roof sported two radio towers with the transmitting antenna ofAM radiostation KGU strung between them.
Although Gannett sold the Advertiser in May 2010, the building that housed the newspaper was not immediately offered for sale as it was expected to be sold to a different party in the future. Employees and staff moved over to the "Star-Advertiser" offices at Restaurant Row and to the Kapolei facility, leaving the building vacant except for a small crew to remove most of the equipment and items in preparation for its sale.
The Advertiser Building has been used as a soundstage and housed small studios forHawaii Five-0.
References[edit]
- ^"2007 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation"(PDF).BurrellesLuce. March 31, 2007.RetrievedMay 31,2007.
- ^Whitney, Henry(June 6, 2010)."The Advertiser's first editorial".The Honolulu Advertiser.RetrievedMarch 1,2011.
- ^Krauss, Bob (August 22, 2004)."Advertiser boasts a storied history: Original publisher Whitney preached getting 'story first'".The Honolulu Advertiser.Archived fromthe originalon October 21, 2013.
- ^Kuykendall, Ralph Simpson(1967).Hawaiian Kingdom 1874-1893, the Kalakaua Dynasty.Vol. 3. University of Hawaii Press.ISBN978-0-87022-433-1.
- ^Gannett Co., Inc."About Gannett: The Honolulu Advertiser".Archived fromthe originalon October 22, 2006.RetrievedOctober 16,2006.
- ^"Star-Bulletin owner gets green light to purchase Honolulu Advertiser".The Honolulu Advertiser.April 27, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon May 25, 2010.
- ^Ako, Diane (April 29, 2010)."Bye, Bulletin".The Honolulu Advertiser.Archived fromthe originalon May 5, 2010.
- ^Schaefers, Allison (May 2, 2010)."Newspaper giant leaves the islands".Honolulu Star-Bulletin.Archived fromthe originalon May 6, 2010.
- ^"Press Run Ends for Gannett in Isles".Honolulu Advertiser.May 3, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon May 6, 2010.
- ^Kerr, Keoki (May 12, 2010)."Merged Honolulu Star-Advertiser Begins June 7".KITV.Archived fromthe originalon January 21, 2012.
Further reading[edit]
- Chaplin, George (1998).Presstime in Paradise: The Life and Times of The Honolulu Advertiser, 1856-1995.University of Hawaii Press.ISBN978-0-8248-2032-9.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Issues ofThe Pacific Commercial Advertiser(from July 2, 1856 to December 29, 1883),predecessor ofThe Honolulu Advertiser,onChronicling America