Week 50: News You Won’t Find Anywhere Else
You’ve heard the phrase, “500 channels and nothing to watch.”
Well, the same idea can sometimes seem to be true of news.
A danger is that every organization in a city will report the same stories — the obvious stories, the easy stories — on the same day. Which would essentially mean there’d be nothing to watch, read, listen to — except the same thing on every outlet.
At Civil Beat, we try to march to our own drummer, to keep our focus on topics that we believe really matter. Here are a few examples of stories from Civil Beat this week that illustrate what I’m talking about, stories that you wouldn’t have found anywhere else.
Mayor, Oh Mayor
Honolulu reporter Adrienne LaFrance evaluated Mayor Peter Carlisle‘s record at the six month mark of his first term vs. what he promised during the election campaign. She examined the substance of his efforts and his style. And then she conducted an in-depth interview with the mayor. We published the entire transcript. One of the benefits of being an online publication is we have unlimited space.
- Carlisle the Candidate vs. Carlisle the Mayor
- Peter Carlisle a Leader Learning to be a Mayor
- Carlisle: I’m Not An ‘Arrogant SOB’
The Governor and His Appointees
Reporters Chad Blair and Michael Levine examined Gov. Neil Abercrombie‘s appointees. They took all the names the governor had sent the Senate and compared them against the list of donors to his election campaign. (Next week they’ll tell you how Abercrombie’s record in this area compares with that of his predecessor, Linda Lingle.)
- My Candidate, My Boss
- Half of Cabinet Gave to Abercrombie Campaign
- Abercrombie Appointees: Who Donated What?
Those stories led to a related article: Sixteen Abercrombie Nominees Have Withdrawn.
Fact Checks
At Civil Beat, we’ve become known for checking out whether what community leaders tell us is accurate. We’ve found this approach is a way to go much further in our reporting on what oftentimes might seem like difficult issues.
- FACT CHECK — Board of Water Supply Says Honolulu Has Fewer Water Main Breaks Than Average
- FACT CHECK — Aila: FTA Required Phased-In Approach For Rail
- FACT CHECK — Carlisle: Ansaldo’s Copenhagen Line One of World’s Best
Money Makes the World Go Round
We believe in following the money. That’s where the story often lies.
Public Records A Key Source
Civil Beat asks a lot of questions and relies on primary source materials for its reporting. That means we use the state’s open records law to obtain all kinds of public documents. This can take a long time and be a painful process, but we believe it’s worth it. A good example came this week in Education reporter Katherine Poythress‘ article on how many teachers Hawaii has fired for misconduct over the past two years.
- Hawaii Fires 10 Teachers for Misconduct in 2 Years
- Complete List of Teachers Fired or Suspended for Misconduct in Hawaii
We also published official state photos of the near-catastrophe at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill obtained using the open records law.
A Beach, Teachers and God
This week we took our readers to Hawaii’s dirtiest beach on the Big Island, shared what the new Board of Education members think about their new jobs and got behind the conflict between the mayor and the chair of the city’s transportation committee.
- Trash Covers Hawaii Beach, and More’s Coming
- Getting Personal With Board Of Ed Appointees
- Harimoto: ‘God Intervened’ In Dispute with Mayor
I hope a picture has emerged of the range of topics and approaches we take at Civil Beat — and of how differently we report the news from other organizations in Hawaii.
