Hawaii Island Journal

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The Hawaii Island Journal is a free biweekly newspaper published on the Big Island of Hawaii. Based in the Kona town of Captain Cook and founded in 1999, the Journal focuses on political, environmental, and cultural news.

[edit] History

The Hawaii Island Journal grew out of the Big Island news and opinion magazine Ka'u Landing, which had been publishing since 1992. Both publications were established and edited by Michael Gibson. Ka'u Landing was noted for its glossy covers featuring works by local artists (the inside pages were newsprint). After seeing a marked decline in Ka'u Landing's circulation over the past several years, Gibson decided to start an islandwide community newspaper. The content was eclectic, ranging from reprints of a contributor's grandmother's letters to lengthy articles on environmental issues. In 2001 Gibson sold the newspaper to Lane Wick and Karen Valentine, who shifted the Journal 's focus to local politics and environmental news. Honolulu Weekly acquired the Journal in the spring of 2005. [1] Wick was replaced as editor by Peter Serafin.

[edit] Competition

Hawaii Island Journal has an indirect rival in Hawaii Free Press, launched in early 2005, which focuses mainly on politics from a conservative perspective.

In a letter published in the July 19, 2006 issue of Honolulu Weekly, publisher Laurie V. Carlson noted the Stephens Media Group has offered to buy the Journal, but Honolulu Weekly refused its offer. She added, "Apparently Stephens sees the Journal as a threat to their printing and daily newspaper monopoly because they are launching what they refer to as an alternative (to what, one might ask?) publication. We suspect that whatever they come up with will be entertainment heavy and will avoid the serious issues that can draw criticism and cancelled advertising orders from the advertising community." [2]

In December 2006 the aforementioned Stephens publication made its debut as Big Island Weekly [3].