Recently we began running stories and photos from the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in Hilo and West Hawaii Today in Kona, allowing the Big Island papers to take our stories for print or online while we do the same with theirs. The stories must run in the originating publication before they can be shared.

We have had a similar arrangement with the Maui News since October 2007 and have run dozens of its stories and briefs since then. It uses ours as well.

Sharing news in this manner would never have occurred when newspapers were more fully staffed, but with fewer resources, it makes sense for us to pool our newsgathering efforts.

The Washington Post shares stories with the Baltimore Sun. The Philadelphia Inquirer swaps with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. And Florida's fiercest competitors — the Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post are free to grab each other's stories. It is also going on in Texas between the Fort Worth and Dallas papers, in Ohio with eight news organizations sharing content, and in New York and New Jersey, with the New York Daily News, Buffalo News and Albany Times Union taking part along with New Jersey newspapers in Newark and Hackensack.

This makes sense in areas where the news organizations are not directly competing and can use a little extra local news.

In our case, we still have bureaus established on Maui and Kaua'i, with an unfilled position in Hilo. The Tribune-Herald and West Hawaii Today keep us covered on the Big Island while the Maui News helps supplement bureau chief Christie Wilson's reporting on the Valley Isle. We have solid local coverage on Kaua'i with Diane Leone's stories and those that appear in Kaua'i People.

With more than 100 reporters, editors and photographers, The Advertiser still maintains the largest reporting team in Hawai'i, but we have to be more selective about where we place our resources. We have partnered with KGMB9 on video and projects, we have documentary filmmaker Edgy Lee doing a video blog and we have freelance arrangements with well-known writers Charles Memminger, Jerry Burris, Wayne Harada and Dave Shapiro to give our readers the greatest range of voices in the state.

We continue to be committed to being the most comprehensive daily local source of news and to provide the most in-depth investigative and enterprise reporting, such as our national award-winning series on domestic violence, "Crossing the Line: Abuse in Hawai'i Homes." If other fine news organizations can help us fill in the gaps, freeing us to do more watchdog work, we are happy to work together.