After Deadline
Our editorial board is getting new life
By Saundra Keyes
Editor
Earlier this month we invited readers to sit in on a rotating basis with our editorial board — the group that defines The Honolulu Advertiser's stands on local, national and world issues.
The response was exhilarating evidence of our readers' breadth of interests and civic involvement.
"I would like to join and contribute to a conversation that would lead to greater clarity about what unites and divides us," wrote a longtime resident who described Hawai'i as "an extraordinary community of immense cultural richness, complexity and frustration."
Another reader, who tutors dyslexic students, said she was volunteering "because I'm just naturally opinionated and snoopy."
"Right now, I'm hoping your editorial writers pursue the question raised in a recent editorial," she wrote. "Where are all the cruise ships dumping their waste?"
Fascinating backgrounds
Given the time commitment involved in meeting with the board, we expected retirees to be well represented among the volunteers. Indeed they are, and their backgrounds are fascinating. For example, we heard from a brigadier general, several engineers, and number of businesspeople and educators.
Other volunteers — a Kailua surgeon, a counter-terrorism analyst, a fifth-grade teacher and a destroyer squadron officer — hope to integrate board rotations with their jobs.
Along with serious suggestions, the letters revealed both a sense of humor and personality.
"My forte is basic math — and in three terms I took all students from white-knuckle to ready for calculus!!" wrote a retired engineer who has taught on military bases.
"I have a couple of advanced degrees (M.A., Ph.D.), both of which undoubtedly detract from my ability to express myself clearly," wrote another volunteer. "If invited to participate, I would try harder."
Mixed feelings about us
Another said he wrote "as a result of years of yearning, after reading certain of your editorials, to explain to your editorial board either that some of their opinions were hare-brained or to give them a pat on the back for being right on the mark."
He wasn't the only volunteer to share mixed feelings about us.
"I am far left of center and wish the Honolulu Weekly was the main voice of Honolulu news," one reader wrote. "Having said that, and before you proceed to shun me, I strongly believe that with your prominent position, you have the potential to be a very positive, progressive, and perhaps most significantly, independent voice."
Along with their political views, readers shared significant biographical information.
They get involved
Their professional accomplishments are energizing. And their community service is inspiring.
For example, one reader has volunteered at the Suicide and Crisis Center, at a hospice and as a domestic violence facilitator. He also donates blood and serves as a deacon in his church. Another does pro bono legal work and has served on civic committees. Another tutors in a literacy program.
And that's just a sampling of what readers are contributing to Hawai'i.
After reading all the letters and e-mails, our only regret is that we can't invite all the writers to join us in the next few months. That would make the board too large to allow for meaningful volunteer input.
New outlets coming
To take advantage of the expertise readers have offered, we're looking for other ways to involve the volunteers in editorial discussions. Watch this space for an announcement as plans develop.
Meanwhile, we anticipate lively meetings as readers begin rotations on our board next month.
Remember that "far left of center" volunteer who expected us to shun him because he enjoys Honolulu Weekly?
We plan to invite him to sit in with another reader who says he is a "registered Republican with conservative views" who identifies "closely" with the Wall Street Journal's editorials "and occasionally with the views expressed by The Ho-nolulu Advertiser." Should be fun.
