Making Waves
By Lucinda Fleeson
Lucinda Fleeson, a former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is
curator of the Hubert Humphrey Fellows journalism program at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.
THE HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN began as a handwritten notice of ship arrivals and departures, posted in the stationery shop of editor and book merchant Henry M. Whitney. Its first printed one-page edition appeared on February 1, 1882, and it was renamed the Evening Bulletin 13 years later.
The Evening Bulletin and the Hawaiian Star--founded in 1893--were consolidated to form the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1912. During the early 20th century, two generations of the Farrington family published the Star-Bulletin, often taking a crusading role that had a liberalizing effect on the conservative, closed plantation oligarchy that ran Hawaii. It was a stark contrast to the competing Advertiser, owned by Lorrin A. Thurston, an active conspirator in the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.
In those years and into the 20th century, the Advertiser editorialized against bringing in immigrant labor groups and railed against a "yellow peril," stirring fears against growing numbers of Chinese and Japanese on the islands.
"The Advertiser's relations with Hawaii's many ethnic groups went from bad to worse as the years went on. Through racist stands the paper would gain a much-deserved reputation for serving haole [white] elitist interests and ignoring or denigrating the local community," wrote Tom Brislin, professor of journalism at the University of Hawaii, in a chronicle of journalism in the state.
"Farrington, on the other hand, showed more compassion and with legendary editor Riley Allen urged the integration of the new ethnic populations into Hawaii's social fabric," wrote Brislin.
During World War II, Publisher Walter R. Farrington and Allen prohibited the use of the abbreviated word for "Japanese." The Star-Bulletin took the lead in urging the lifting of military censorship and martial law after the Battle of Midway in June 1942.
Publisher Joseph Farrington was one of the state's most passionate advocates of statehood, which was achieved in 1959.
In the 1970s, the paper fought for legalized abortion, battled against an oil refinery planned for Sand Island adjacent to Honolulu Harbor, and damned the policy of confining patients in the Hansen's disease colony of Kalaupapa on Molokai after new medications were found to control leprosy.
In recent years the Star-Bulletin has published award-winning series on a variety of subjects.
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