KHON tops in Hawai'i TV news, study says

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

KHON delivers the state's best TV news, according to a nationwide study released yesterday by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The study, tracking TV news from 53 stations in 17 cities, labeled KHON's 10 p.m. newscast No. 1 in Hawai'i, and placed the Fox affiliate at No. 8 in the survey.

KGMB was second in Hawai'i, also earning an "A," followed by KHNL and KITV which earned "B" grades.

The 10 p.m. newscasts were monitored by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a media think tank affiliated with the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The findings reflect the station's viewership; in the May sweeps, KHON was No. 1 at 10 p.m., followed by KHNL, KGMB and KITV.

Hawai'i's news ranked sixth in overall excellence, according to criteria developed by local news professionals.

KHON's wide range of coverage and a variety of expert sources and viewpoints gave it the edge over sister station KGMB, the study said. Judges liked the watchdog stories that focused on examples of public malfeasance and said the station was the most likely to air stories focusing on local events, and least likely to present stories targeted at specific demographics.

KGMB ranked ninth out of the 53 stations surveyed, KHNL 24th and KITV 32nd.

Full details will be published in the November/December issue of the Columbia Journalism Review.