AFTER DEADLINE
Community offered valuable insight in critique of our education coverage

By Anne Harpham

The Honolulu Advertiser is participating in a national project to help newspapers assess the credibility of their coverage of topics important in their communities.

We chose education, one of the most important issues facing our state, as the topic for our participation in the National Credibility Roundtables project.

This past week, we asked some 16 members of the community — parents, students, community leaders and educators — to assess our coverage of education and discuss with us how they would frame our obligation to our readers.

The two-hour discussion in a downtown conference room ranged across many subtopics, but underlying it all was the general theme of participants' expectations of The Honolulu Advertiser.

We weren't looking for pats on the back, but an honest analysis of how we can better cover education.

All we asked of these community leaders and citizens was a thoughtful, inclusive and lively discussion. We hoped for new insights, and the participants came through.

Publisher Mike Fisch, Editor Saundra Keyes, other editors and our K-12 education reporter, Derrick DePledge, were there to listen.

Our roundtable was part of a national conversation that has been going on across the country since 2001. The National Credibility Roundtables is sponsored by the Associated Press Managing Editors with money from the Ford Foundation.

The project's mission is to examine the public's trust in journalism. The Ford Foundation has paid for a number of projects to promote communication between the public and media and to encourage journalists to use what they learn to build better news practices. Since the credibility program began, more than 100 news organizations across the country have sponsored roundtables.

What did we hear at our roundtable?

Participants told us:

• Credibility is accuracy, getting the facts and figures right.

• It's balanced coverage — not just getting both sides, but all sides.

• It's in-depth analysis of complex issues. "Are you reporting the symptom, or are you reporting the problem?" one person asked.

• And we were asked to follow up on issues. "Where do you go from the problem that is brought up?" asked one.

• They want us to make sure the right questions are asked.

• People want to understand specific issues in their community.

One of the two students who attended urged us to be truthful but also write about the positive things happening in schools. It's not going to make schools any better if you give them unrelenting negative coverage, one student said.

We heard that newspapers should be a public forum in which the community can discuss real problems in a way that can improve the school system.

I hope all the participants left with a sense of our gratitude for sharing of time and opinions with us. I hope they also left with a sense that what they said will make a difference. It will.

Our latest community board members:

In a session that stretched, with interruptions, over the holiday season, the latest Advertiser Community Editorial Board met to talk over issues ranging from education and the upcoming Legislature to the good and the bad of Hawai'i's business climate.

		• Annabel Chotzen Hartzell, a motivational speaker and professor at Hawai'i Pacific University.
		• Folly Hofer, a retired hospital executive and public health specialist who is active in issues such as aging, long-term care, and death with dignity.
		• Jan Loose, a writer, marketing specialist and active member of the Outdoor Circle.
		• Scott Melander, a graduate of the University of Hawai'i social work program who currently works as a sailing coach with the Hawai'i Yacht Club.
		• J. D. Watumull, CEO of his family company, which is active in the wholesale apparel and real-estate development areas.