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THE SENATE                           S.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                    SENATE  RESOLUTION
  URGING LIBERTY NEWSPAPERS TO CONTINUE PUBLICATION OF THE
    HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN AND TO ACTIVELY SEEK A BUYER TO
    PRESERVE TWO INDEPENDENT DAILY NEWSPAPERS IN THE
    COMMUNITY.



 1        WHEREAS, on September 16, 1999, Liberty Newspapers Limited
 2   Partnership, owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, announced
 3   that it would cease publication of the newspaper on October 30,
 4   1999; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, the Star-Bulletin has been a distinguished
 7   independent daily newspaper and editorial voice in Hawaii for
 8   one hundred seventeen years; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, the Star-Bulletin reporters, columnists,
11   cartoonists, editorial writers, and photographers have won
12   numerous awards for incisive reporting, thought-provoking
13   commentary, and delightful satire; and
14   
15        WHEREAS, the Star-Bulletin is one of only two major-city
16   daily newspapers that ably reports on events statewide and
17   nationally, and is distributed statewide; and
18   
19        WHEREAS, closure of the Star-Bulletin will silence an
20   important competing reportorial and editorial voice in the
21   State of Hawaii and the City and County of Honolulu; and
22   
23        WHEREAS, closure of the Star-Bulletin will result in loss
24   of jobs for nearly one hundred talented newspaper staffers and
25   fifty or more employees of the Hawaii Newspaper Agency; and
26   
27        WHEREAS, in observance of the Newspaper Preservation Act,
28   15 U.S. Code §§1801-1804, Liberty Newspapers has published the
29   Star-Bulletin since 1993 under a joint operating agreement not
30   to expire until the year 2012; and
31   
32        WHEREAS, the intent of the Newspaper Preservation Act is
33   "to preserve the publication of newspapers"; now, therefore,
34   
35        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twentieth Legislature
36   of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2000, that Liberty
37   Newspapers is urged to continue publication of the Honolulu

 
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                                  S.R. NO.              
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1   Star-Bulletin, cease its efforts to terminate the current joint
 2   operating agreement with the Honolulu Advertiser, and actively
 3   seek a buyer for the Star-Bulletin in order to preserve
 4   publication of separate and independent daily newspapers in the
 5   community; and
 6   
 7        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 8   Resolution be transmitted to Liberty Newspapers Limited
 9   Partnership, owner of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Gannett
10   Pacific Corporation, owner of the Honolulu Advertiser, and the
11   United States Department of Justice.
12   
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16                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________