Yes, it’s true, I’ve started a news site. Hawaii247.com This is just the beginning and I hope it can serve the community with the news and information it needs.
In this day and age of the internet it just doesn’t make sense to ship in tons of paper and ink to Hawaii, truck it around to sell, transport it to the dump or recycle center and possibly ship it off again to make maybe more newspapers or maybe toilet paper which the internet can’t replace. That’s a lot of fuel burned and time for people to spend dealing with it.
Even as an employee of a newspaper I saw the writing on the wall (the virtual wall) and the publishing industry needs to change. Newsroom employees are being laid-off from their jobs across the country. News coverage is shrinking and the community is the loser.
News isn’t wine, it doesn’t get better with time. Hopefully the site can provide the news you need in a timely manner, something paper news can’t do. We’re still working out the bugs, still churning up sawdust as we build the site. Many I’ve talked to are excited for it. Hawaii247.com is getting mentioned in the blogosphere:
The Kona Blog by Aaron Stene
A Darker View by Andrew Cooper
Damon Tucker’s Weblog by Damon Tucker
iLind.net by Ian Lind
HunterBishop.com by Hunter Bishop
Friend and photojournalist Mark Hancock says that this is the time for renaissance journalism. I too think this is a time of revival for a profession that has been absorbed by just a few big corporations, in the case of the Big Island, mostly one big corporation.
Things are just starting and I hope we can support the community and in return it can help to support us in our effort. The economy has made things difficult for all of us and we wish the best for others who have also made the Big Island their home. We’re in the same canoe, let’s paddle together. imua
