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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 4, 2002

AFTER DEADLINE
Proximity, photos play roles in story treatment

By Jim Kelly
Advertiser Executive Editor

Everyone cheered the story of the incredible rescue of the nine men trapped in a flooded mine in Pennsylvania. In a summer filled with child abductions, devastating wildfires and terrorism jitters, the sight of the miners being pulled to safety was just the kind of story to affirm that good things still do happen to good people.

So why didn't The Advertiser play the rescue story more prominently on its front page last Sunday? Even though it was played at the top of the page, several callers thought it deserved more than a one-column headline and one photo displayed inside.

The rescue story had strong local competition: the new lava flow from Kilauea, which drew thousands of spectators to the Big Island last weekend. The Kilauea story also had terrific photography of glowing lava flowing into the sea, something that hasn't been so clearly visible in some time.

Editors engaged in a running debate for several hours about how to display the stories. Ultimately, the lava flow got the nod because of the powerful photographs as well as the proximity of the event — something happening in our community. While the story of the rescue was a compelling one that deserved to start on the front page, the only photograph we received from The Associated Press that showed one of the rescued miners wasn't particularly strong, so we decided to play it inside.

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One of the features of our political campaign coverage is Ad Watch, in which a reporter reviews the candidates' ads to analyze their messages and, occasionally, to offer background or clarify some facts that may have been added or omitted. A reader wrote last week that capitol bureau chief Kevin Dayton's Ad Watch on a TV ad by Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono was his opinion and belonged on the editorial page, not the cover of the Hawai'i section. Dayton's piece made the point that Hirono's ad about her efforts to kill a cumbersome state law on medical privacy failed to mention she was the one who signed the bill into law in the first place.

Dayton, who had saved the original 1999 press release in which Hirono praised the bill, laid out the facts in a dispassionate, objective manner and gave Hirono all the space she needed to explain herself. I believe that the Ad Watch is a valuable component of our election coverage and that it's helpful to readers who don't have the time to research legislative history or review old newspaper clips. And I also believe that when candidates know their ads are going to be fact-checked, they're careful to play them straight. But the reader's question made me think that we may have to add a brief explanation to our Ad Watch to make clear that it's based on news reporting, not opinion.

• • •

On Thursday we started a new feature called Bureaucracy Buster. It will appear on Page B1 every week and will be written by a couple of veterans at navigating government bureaucracy, Robbie Dingeman and Lynda Arakawa, both of whom work out of our capitol bureau. The column's purpose is to provide you with a road map if you get lost trying to find the answer to a question about barking dogs, abandoned cars, trash, taxes or anything else handled by state and local government. We're not going to fight city hall for you, but we will at least show you how to get in the door. You can call 535-2454, e-mail buster@honoluluadvertiser.com or send a note to Bureaucracy Buster, The Advertiser, 605 Kapi'olani Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96813.