- The Honolulu Advertiser
Infobox Newspaper
name = The Honolulu Advertiser
caption = TheOctober 16 ,2006 front page of
"The Honolulu Advertiser"
type = Dailynewspaper
format =Broadsheet
foundation =1856 (as the "Pacific Commercial Advertiser")
ceased publication =
price =
owners =Gannett Company
publisher = Lee Webber
editor = Mark Platte
circulation = 141,934 Morning
155,932 Sunday [cite web | title=2007 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation |publisher=Burrelles"Luce" |url=http://www.burrellesluce.com/top100/2007_Top_100List.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2007-05-31 |date=2007-03-31]
headquarters = 605 Kapiokinaolani Blvd.
Honolulu,Hawaii 96813
USA
ISSN =
website = [http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com honoluluadvertiser.com]"The Honolulu Advertiser" is the largest daily
newspaper in the American state of Hawaiokinai. It publishes daily with special Sunday andInternet editions. Owned by Gannett Pacific Corporation since 1992, "The Honolulu Advertiser" is the parent publisher of "Island Weekly", "Navy News", "Army Weekly", "Ka Nupepa People", "West Oahu People", "Leeward People", "East Oahu People", "Windward People", "Metro Honolulu People", and "Honolulu People" small, community-based newspapers for the public.Henry M. Whitney
Businessman and son of Congregational missionaries, Henry M. Whitney founded the "Pacific Commercial Advertiser" in 1856, a weekly newspaper that was circulated primarily in the
whaling port of Honolulu. The inaugural edition was published onJuly 2 of that year with this statement from Whitney: :"Thank Heaven, the day at length has dawned when the Hawaiian nation can boast a free press, untrammeled by government patronage or party pledges, unbiased by ministerial frowns or favors."The biggest story in the first edition was a report on the wedding of Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma. However, the front page was devoted almost exclusively toadvertisement s. Throughout the paper, Whitney posted fifty-two advertisements for sailing ships in port at Honolulu Harbor with three hundred vessel timetables. In 1870, Whitney went broke and was forced to sell the "Commercial Advertiser" to James Black and William Auld, local printers. Whitney stayed on as the newspaper's editor.Claus Spreckles
In 1880, Black and Auld sold the "Pacific Commercial Advertiser" to
Claus Spreckles . Vehemently opposed to Spreckles' conservative and pro-monarchy political stance, Whitney, as a devout annexationist, resigned as editor. In his place,Wallace Rider Farrington , future Governor of theTerritory of Hawaii , arrived fromMaine to become the new editor. Spreckles' royalist slant in his editorial articles were deplored by most of the American businessmen residing in Hawaiokinai at the time. Revenue suffered as a result, forcing Spreckles to eventually sell the "Pacific Commercial Advertiser".Lorrin A. Thurston and Son
In 1888, Spreckles sold his newspaper to the Hawaiian Gazette Company. It in turn sold the newspaper in 1895 to
Lorrin A. Thurston , a former cabinet minister in the administration of King Kalākaua. Thurston had been instrumental to the overthrow of the monarchy and the end of the existence of the Kingdom of Hawaiokinai. Thurston was also the author of the "Bayonet Constitution " of 1887 which he forced King Kalakāua to sign, backed by an armedmilitia . The constitution stripped the monarchy of all authority, took away many rights ofnative Hawaiians to vote in elections, and granted voting rights to American residents, even those who did not have citizenship in the kingdom.In 1921, Thurston changed the name of the "Pacific Commercial Advertiser" to "The Honolulu Advertiser". The following year, Thurston hired Raymond S. Coll to be the newspaper editor. Coll served in that capacity until his retirement in 1959.
In 1931, Lorrin P. Thurston took over his father's position as editor and president of "The Honolulu Advertiser". He would later become chairman of the Hawaii Statehood Commission. Upon Raymond Coll's retirement, Thurston hired George Chaplin, former editor of the military newspaper "Pacific Stars and Stripes", as the editor of "The Honolulu Advertiser". He would serve in this capacity for 28 years.
Thurston Twigg-Smith and George Chaplin
In 1961,
Thurston Twigg-Smith continued family ownership as he inherited "The Honolulu Advertiser" from his uncle. He remained publisher and president until 1986. With the coupling of Chaplin and Twigg-Smith, "The Honolulu Advertiser" shifted its political slant from a staunchly conservative pro-Big Five newspaper to become a more moderate, racially progressive newspaper. Both were enormously influenced by the rising localChinese American , Filipino American andJapanese American readership and worked to cater to these communities' news interests. In 1967, Twigg-Smith formed the Persis Corporation (known as Asa Hawaii Corporation until 1978) as the "Advertiser"'s parent company.Gannett Pacific Corporation
In 1992, "The Honolulu Advertiser" was purchased by the Gannett Pacific Corporation, a subsidiary of Gannett Company Incorporated.cite web|url=http://www.gannett.com/about/map/ataglance/honolul.htm|title=About Gannett: The Honolulu Advertiser|author=Gannett Co., Inc.|accessdate=2006-10-16] It became the first morning edition publication in Ganett's corporate history. The company had already owned Honolulu's other major newspaper, the "Star-Bulletin", since 1973. From 1962 to 2001, both dueling newspapers were administered under a
joint operating agreement under which they shared printing and advertising operations but kept separate editorial staff and printing functions. The agreement ended when the "Honolulu Star-Bulletin" was sold to a separate company.Advertiser Building
"The Honolulu Advertiser" staff occupies the Advertiser Building on 605 Kapiokinaolani Boulevard in
downtown Honolulu . Built in 1929 by the architectural firm Emory & Webb in the beaux arts style, the Advertiser Building is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places . From the 1930s through the 1950s the building's roof sported two radio towers with the transmitting antenna of AM radio station KGU strung between them.References
External links
* [http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com Official website]
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