Posted on: Sunday, January 30, 2005

AFTER DEADLINE

By Anne Harpham
Advertiser Senior Editor

Covering the business of government is one of the most important things we do. And each year's legislative session brings an intense, concentrated focus on the business of passing laws that lasts from mid-January to early May.

Thousands of bills will be debated and voted on, issues will rise and fall.

And each year, reporters and editors engage in a balancing act in covering the issues that are the most important, spark the interest of the community or affect the most people.

Capitol Bureau reporters Gordon Pang and Derrick DePledge will lead our legislative coverage this year under the direction of city editor Fernando Pizarro.

As a story by Pang and DePledge noted two weeks ago, quality-of-life issues that affect the middle class, including affordable housing and traffic, are emerging as major concerns this session.

Pizarro said the goal in coverage this year will be to focus greater attention on how legislative developments affect residents' lives. "Our reporting will go beyond the Capitol building and look more closely at how issues such as traffic and affordable housing are playing out in our communities," he said. "From that perspective, we will attempt to show the connections between politics and 'real life.' "

And going beyond the current session, we are focusing our general government coverage to include:

• Legislative action and action by the governor's office that address important issues in readers' lives. We will de-emphasize coverage of political gamesmanship and maneuvering.

• Actions by state departments that directly affect readers lives or address issues of importance to them.

• Expenditure of public money with an eye toward explaining the effectiveness of the departments, programs or groups that receive the funds.

Editors also have stressed to reporters the importance of getting readers involved in our government coverage.

A standard way of doing that is to approach people on the street, at bus stops and at shopping centers to ask their views. But we often catch people who don't have a specific view on the issue we're asking about and, to be fair, that method gives people little time to think through a response.

Why not find the people who care about a certain issue and ask them what they think? asked reporter Pang.

It was a good question and as a result, we have started a periodic feature encouraging readers to tell us their views on specific issues. So far, we've asked about affordable housing, tax increases to fix traffic problems and a proposal to require drivers 75 or older to pass a road test before having their licenses renewed.

"What better way to solicit people than by asking those reading a story to comment on them?" asks Pang. "The side benefit is we can build a reservoir of 'regular folks' we can build a dialogue with that will last through the life of an issue."

The idea of asking people to either call us or e-mail us comes from Pang's days as a "Bureaucracy Buster" reporter.

Look for more such questions and give us your input. It's your chance to get your voice heard by legislators.

Senior editor Anne Harpham is The Advertiser's reader representative. Reach her at aharpham@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8033.