ABOUT MCH
Media Council of Hawaiʻi (MCH), formerly Honolulu Community Media Council, has stood as a touchstone for half a century in a world striving for media accountability and freedom of the press.
In response to the banning from Honolulu Hale a Star-Bulletin reporter by then-Mayor Frank F. Fasi, the Reverend Claude DeTeil approached the editors of Honoluluʻs two major dailies and a representative from the Mayorʻs Office to resolve the situation. Each in turn suggested the idea that had been taking root on an experimental basis in six mainland cities -- a press council.
After gaining support from Jim Richstad, a University of Hawaii journalism professor, and Harlan Cleveland, the Universityʻs President, DeTeil brought together more than a hundred community members and media representatives of the local news media conference to discuss the idea. After a successful event, 33 men and women joined in pushing for a press council for Honolulu.
Following months of planning, on November 16, 1970, the fledgling organization took form. Heading the Council was a man who gave instant credibility to the new organization -- Judge Robert Corbett, considered the father of Hawaiʻiʻs family court system. Jim Richstad served as the Council's first Executive Director. Almost immediately, the new group took a stand calling for Hawaii's Governor to conduct more regularly scheduled press conferences.
MCH's push for greater press freedom would again focus on the ban of yet another Star-Bulletin report by Mayor Fasi. Despite the availability of the Media Council as a mediation resource, the newspaper and the Mayor instead resorted to the courts to settle their differences. When Mayor Fasi subsequently banned a reporter from the Honolulu Advertiser, yet another suit was filed. Though its attempt to file a friend of the court brief in the latter case failed, the MCH language regarding standards for news conferences found its way into the final decision.
MCH also worked to keep bias out of the media. As the reporting of political polls became more crucial in local races, MCH created standards for the methodology underlying political reporting and for the reporting of results.
In response to a complaint by a journalist that the University of Hawaiʻi's Board of Regents was making key decisions behind closed doors, MCH called for more access for the media in its decision-making meetings. Rebuffed by the Regents on its recommendation for more openness, MCH would later take an active role in the 1974 passage of Hawaii's "Sunshine Law,"
which mandates open meetings for government proceedings. MCH would also make a commitment to track legislative attempts to limit media access.
In 1975, Jim Richstad resigned as the Executive Director and was replaced by Ah Jook Ku, 65, who would serve in the position for the next quarter-century.
MCH was less crucial to the efforts to open up access to judicial proceedings through cameras in the courtroom. Supported by the Chief Justice of the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, the effort advanced with MCH's efforts relegated primarily to the role of sponsor of community forums on the topic.
Media Council Hawaiʻi would also play a prominent role in the passage of open records legislation in 1988. For MCH, the open records legislation proceeded logically from its efforts to secure open meetings. The resulting law established the Office of Information Practices, which over the years has opened government records to the new media, helping to keep the public informed.
With more than 100 mediations in our history, the Council has helped arbitrate complaints by and against politicians. Not surprisingly, Mayor Fasi would play prominently in the mediations, including one against him filed by the City Council Chair, and later one filed by him over newspaper coverage during a failed attempt to get elected Governor.
MCH did not shy away from disputes between the powerful, looking in 1988 at a dispute between Kamehameha Schools, supported by the state's most powerful private land owner, and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, then owned by Gannet, the nation's largest newspaper chain. Unlike the actions supporting media access, the findings of newspaper shortcomings would cause friction between the media and MCH.