January 2023 Gleanings
Note from the Editor
BIPC jumped right into the New Year with its first Newsmaker Luncheon since the start of the COVID pandemic. Next in the series, we’re working on a presentation about media access and coverage during disasters. The presentation is likely to come in March. Also in March, we name our Torch of Light and Lava Tube winners. Get your nominations in now! Our Members’ Corner features job changes for three current and former BIPC members (including me!) Have something for Gleanings? Email me: nclauer@gmail.com.
Torch of Light and Lava Tube awards: Send in your nominations now!
Know of someone especially deserving of the meritorious Torch of Light or nefarious Lava Tube award?
The Torch of Light is given to an individual or entity for illuminating the public’s right to know, while the Lava Tube is given for a lack of communication and keeping the public in the dark. The awards are announced yearly on March 16, Freedom of Information Day, the birthday of James Madison, who was widely regarded as the father of the U.S. Constitution and the leading advocate of openness in government among our founding fathers.
Please send nominations to Nancy Cook Lauer at nclauer@gmail.com by Feb. 3, describing your nominee and the actions taken in 2022 to merit the award. Nominees can be any public figure, inside or outside government. Your name will be kept confidential.
Patricia Tummons enlightens sold-out crowd at Newsmaker Luncheon
Hilo journalist Pat Tummons offered a jaw-dropping presentation to a sold-out crowd Jan. 14 at BIPC’s first newsmaker event of the year, this one at Restaurant Kenichi in Hilo.
Tummons dug into questionable dealings in the county Office of Housing and Community Development and broke the news about a scheme that cost the county $10.9 million in affordable housing credits and ended with the indictments of a county employee and several others in the community.
In announcing the charges this past summer, U.S. Attorney Clare Connors praised the reporting by Tummons' nonprofit newsletter Environment Hawaii that first raised red flags about the scheme and, Connors said, led a county employee to alert the FBI.
Tummons, a BIPC president many years ago, came to Hawaii in 1985 on a Gannett Fellowship to do a year’s graduate work in Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. The full text of her speech can be found at:
Make a difference! Sponsor a student pursuing a career in communications
Each year, the BIPC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, awards thousands of dollars to students pursuing journalism and related degrees in higher education. But we need donations like yours to keep awarding scholarships.
The Springly platform makes it easy to donate to the Big Island Press Club Scholarship fund; both club members and non-members can contribute simply by hitting the “Give Now” button on our website at bigislandpressclub.org.
The website offers the ability to donate a one-time contribution or you can set up monthly, quarterly, or annual recurring donations. And because the foundation is a nonprofit, your contribution should be tax deductible. (Consult your tax professional for advice.) The website will also generate an emailed IRS-friendly receipt you can use for your records.
BIPC Scholarship success stories, l‐r, Lara Sonoda, John Burnett, Rosannah Gosser and Lichen Forster.
Join a committee
BIPC has a number of committees, all charged with enhancing the voice of media in various areas. You don’t have to be on the board to make your voice heard and ensure good representation of the public and the press in so many important areas. Please consider your time commitments and ask to become involved in these committees: Outreach, PR/Marketing, Events, Social, Newsmaker events, Education and Governance. Just reach out to one of the BIPC board members listed below for more information.
If you have the time and commitment to attend a monthly board meeting and participate in projects and lead committees in between, please contact a board member for consideration.
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Catch the latest news, updates and photos from BIPC members:
Facebook: The Big Island Press Club
http://www.bigislandpressclub.org
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Next BIPC Board meeting: 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb 4, via Zoom. If you’d like to attend, please contact President Michael Phillips at mphillips@weatherboy.com.
MEMBERS’ CORNER: Tracking the comings and goings, the kudos and events of all BIPC members. Please send contributions to nclauer@gmail.com
Brian Wild, a BIPC scholarship winner and one-time student member on the BIPC board of directors, is now an attorney and has returned to the Big Island to serve in the Hilo branch of the state’s Office of the Public Defender. Brian served as editor-in-chief of Ke Kalahea, UH Hilo’s student-run news publication; he subsequently served as chairman of UH Manoa’s Student Media Board while in law school. His journalism background is going to make him an awesome public defender. Welcome back, Brian!
BIPC member Patti Cook retired Dec. 31 after 20 years with Waimea Middle School, a public conversion charter school. Cook was active in fundraising, partnership building and also family and community outreach to support the students, teachers and staff. She's credited with raising more than $21 million (wow!) for the school over the years. That’s in addition to all the other work she does as past president of the Waimea Community Association and her work in local politics. Cook is a kindred spirit with a B.A. in journalism from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
BIPC member Nancy Cook Lauer (no known relation to Patti), currently serving as secretary on the board and your Gleanings editor, retired Dec. 31 from West Hawaii Today after more than 30 years as a newspaper journalist in two states. Lauer plans to spend more time improving her aggregate news blog, www.allhawaiinews.com, jumping into rewrites on her unpublished novel, Freedom Baby, and she has a few other irons in the fire as well.
Please send us more news, hints, tips and industry gossip! nclauer@gmail.com
Don’t forget your dues!
Dues are the lifeblood of our organization and are especially needed as we transition into the new year and beyond, improving our programming and better serving aspiring and working journalists. If you’ve not paid your 2023 dues yet, please use the Springly platform, or send a check to : P.O. Box 1920, Hilo, HI 96721. Mahalo for your support.
