Visitors bureau pays for KITV's trip to Japan
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
In an unusual arrangement, the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau is covering the airfare and hotel bills of the television reporting team that is accompanying Gov. Linda Lingle to Japan.
The HVCB, which receives about 90 percent of its money from state taxpayers, has budgeted $200,000 for the trip, including travel expenses for a reporter and cameraman from KITV-4, the ABC affiliate.
Russell Pang, Lingle's press secretary, said the trip is important to Hawai'i, so it is important for Hawai'i residents to see what the governor's delegation is doing. He said Lingle had not requested that HVCB pay for the TV contingent, but agreed to the arrangement.
"KITV called us originally," Pang said. "Everybody talked about it and decided this would be a great thing, to let people here know what the delegation in Japan was doing."
The arrangement is considered unusual because it essentially involves government officials arranging for news coverage of themselves. To avoid the appearance of conflict, news organizations usually pay their own way, especially when covering stories involving politicians and government officials.
Gerald Kato, a former newspaper and television reporter who is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Hawai'i, said the deal raises many questions.
"If someone has a direct interest in getting coverage for the trip, that raises all kinds of concerns about media independence," he said.
The Society of Professional Journalists has a code of ethics that strongly discourages reporters and news agencies from accepting gifts, trips or anything of value that could undermine their credibility. The Radio-Television News Directors Association code of professional conduct says broadcast journalists should not "accept favors, gifts or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage."
Lingle is in Japan for the week to encourage travel to Hawai'i. She is accompanied by about two dozen other government officials, tourism marketing leaders and Hawai'i celebrities.
KITV general manager Mike Rosenberg said his station's deal with HVCB would not compromise its objectivity. He said the station could not have afforded to go to Japan unless the trip was sponsored.
"I have no money to do it myself," he said. "We were talking with the governor's office and heard they were going, so we asked the question, if we could accompany."
He said the arrangement was an example of aggressive reporting.
"I look at it the same way as when we hitch a ride with the feds to go to Bosnia or something," Rosenberg said.
HVCB is a private entity funded almost entirely by exclusive contracts with the state to promote Hawai'i's tourism industry. The agency has been under scrutiny since an audit raised questions about the management of the agency and found that HVCB officials improperly used state money to pay for employees' personal expenses.
"HVCB is obviously trying desperately to make itself look good, and this trip is part of its campaign, and KITV is participating in it," Kato said. "Given all the problems HVCB has had ... you would think from a news organization's perspective that it would be best to stay away from a potential conflict of interest involving the spending of state money."
Pang and HVCB vice president Gail Chu said another Honolulu TV station, KHNL-8, asked to go on the trip three days before the group left. But by then it was too late to make arrangements, Chu said.
KHNL assistant news director Randy Ennis said his station made a general inquiry about the governor's trip. There was no offer to cover the station's expenses, but Ennis said it is unlikely the station would have accepted such an invitation because of the ethical issues involved.
Pang said there had been no invitation to other media outlets, but that KITV was aggressive in asking to be included.
The trip is unrelated to KITV's agreement to air a speech by Lingle on June 25 regarding the state's budget problems and Lingle's disagreements with the Legislature, Pang said. The half-hour program included interviews with the governor by KITV reporters.
The governor's office asked other stations to air the speech, but KITV was the only one that could schedule it, he said. The state did not pay for the airtime, he said.
KITV yesterday aired a brief taped telephone interview with its reporter, Mahealani Richardson, who reviewed the governor's schedule, but no video has been broadcast yet. The station said it would air a special "Promoting Paradise" segment later this week.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
