After Deadline
Help shape our editorials
By Saundra Keyes
Editor
If you've ever wondered how The Advertiser arrives at its editorial opinions, this invitation is for you.
We're looking for people from the community to sit with us on our editorial board.
The time commitment involved is small — no more than four weekly meetings that will last an hour or so.
The payoff to volunteers will be stimulating conversations and a chance to contribute to the editorial agenda of Hawai'i's largest daily newspaper.
The payoff to us will be bigger — a chance to more fully reflect community viewpoints on Hawai'i's most significant issues.
That has always been our goal, and we're fortunate to have an editorial board that draws on deep Hawai'i roots to help us achieve it. Editorial page editor Jerry Burris, a University of Hawai'i graduate, has spent 32 years at The Advertiser in assignments that included political reporter and city editor. Editorial writer David Polhemus, a 23-year veteran, also worked as an editor on the city desk. Editorial cartoonist Dick Adair, who covered the Vietnam War as an accredited artist-correspondent for Stars & Stripes, marked his 20th anniversary in our newsroom earlier this year.
Former news editor John Strobel, who edits letters to the editor as well as editorials and op/ed columns, will mark his 25th anniversary at The Advertiser in August. I became the board's newest member when I was named editor late last year.
Ex-officio members who join our discussions on major issues such as political endorsements are senior editor Anne Harpham, whose 28 years at The Advertiser have included editorial writing, and assistant managing editor Sandee Oshiro, a 24-year veteran who also worked for a time on the editorial board.
Mike Fisch, our publisher since 1998, also joins in discussions on endorsements and other major issues.
As that list shows, long history in Hawai'i and in this newsroom is one of our board's primary strengths. But that strength can become a weakness if we're not careful. If we talked only to each other year after year, the scope of our editorial opinions would become too narrow.
We guard against that possibility in numerous ways, attending community events and briefings, inviting advocacy groups to meet with us, and taking advantage of educational opportunities.
For example, this month Dave Polhemus will return from the East-West Center's Jefferson Fellows program, through which he has traveled in Asia and participated in seminars with U.S. and international journalists. Jerry Burris is an alumnus of the same program, which has been invaluable in broadening our expertise on Asia-Pacific issues.
In the same sprit that prompts us to get out to seminars, briefings and community meetings, we're looking for a rotating group of readers to join us at the weekly meetings where we plan for major editorials. If you're interested, instructions on how to get involved appear below.
Our board is smaller and less formal than many. We pick some topics from the news of the day and others from a longer-term agenda. As I write this Wednesday evening, for example, Jerry has completed two editorials based on stories from the Wednesday morning Advertiser — one regarding an apparent hate crime against participants in a gay pride celebration and one on the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding disabled golfer Casey Martin's right to ride a cart during competition.
But earlier in May, we published an editorial on a topic the board had debated for months — the Army's decision to resume live-fire training at Makua . Given that issue's complexity, we didn't want to develop our position in the heat of deadline. We therefore attended various briefings, as a group and as individuals. We discussed our reactions and concerns during the board's weekly meetings, identifying key questions we would have to answer before taking our stand. (Do we accept the need for live-fire training? Do we agree that conducting it elsewhere would be impractical? Are we convinced the Army has adequately addressed environmental and cultural concerns? And so on.)
Meanwhile, we had solicited and published several pieces in our Focus section that outlined the arguments of proponents and opponents of the Army's plan.
As a result, we felt well prepared to articulate our position on Makua. But that doesn't mean it was easy.
Like so many important issues, this one involves legitimate pro and con arguments. But an editorial board's challenge is to acknowledge complexity without being paralyzed by it. After fairly weighing competing arguments, whether on a public policy issue such as Makua or in a closely contested election, we have the responsibility of taking a stand.
Our editorials are unsigned because they represent the position of the newspaper, not the individual writer. That writer, in fact, may not fully agree with every aspect of the editorial (though Jerry wisely does not require anyone to articulate a position he or she strongly opposes).
We don't take votes on our editorial positions. We discuss our options and look for common ground, aiming for the position that seems best for the community, rather than for any board member's strongly held personal views.
So what are we looking for in adding community members?
Our primary goal is to broaden our perspectives. We're deeply conscious of the blinders that can go up when we carry on debates mostly with each other.
We're not looking for community members who serve as publicity chairs for particular organizations, or who want to sway the board to specific positions advanced by advocacy groups.
And that's no different than the standard we use in our newsroom. We don't assign (or allow) the writing of a story or editorial by a staff member intimately connected with the issue involved.
We're looking for citizens who are interested, involved and willing to bring their life experiences to bear on the issues as we debate them.
We won't expect you to write editorials, but rather, to participate in outlining the issues involved and the questions that must be addressed before we take our stands.
We have those discussions at hour-long meetings held at 10:30 a.m. each Wednesday here at the News Building, 605 Kapi'olani Blvd. We're asking community members to join us for month-long rotations.
If you'd like to participate, please drop Jerry Burris or me a note by U.S. mail or e-mail. Please write "community editorial board" in the message field if you send e-mail or on the envelope if you send regular mail. Then tell us briefly about your interest in participating and identify the months for which you'd be available this year.
We hope to hear from lots of readers, and we're confident we can provide an interesting experience for those who volunteer. We're also sure that our editorial pages will be even stronger as a result of your input.
Editorial page editor Jerry Burris can be reached at jburris@honoluluadvertiser.com and Editor Saundra Keyes can be reached at skeyes@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Both can also be reached at 605 Kapi'olani Blvd., Honolulu , HI 96813.
