Karleen C. Chinen
Commentary
Next month will mark two years since The Hawai‘i Herald began printing on the spiffy new TKS JETLEADER 1500. After 33 years of printing the Herald on the noisy, but reliable Goss press, which was limited in terms of printing color, we welcomed the change to the JET. Color on every page?! No ink smudges on our hands?! Shoot, let’s go! And on the JET we have been for the 46 issues since that change. That was an easy transition to make, and I’m sure all of you are glad we made the change.
With this issue, we have embarked on another big change — home delivery of the Herald by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Distribution Department. But it may not be as simple a change as moving from the Goss to the JET.
The agreement was worked out earlier this year between Hawaii Hochi, Ltd. president Taro Yoshida and Aaron Kotarek, Star-Advertiser’s vice president for circulation. Basically, with the exception of our first-class local mail subscribers, our 450-plus Mainland subscribers and our international subscribers, the Star-Advertiser will be responsible for delivering the Herald to all of our subscribers. When I started writing this commentary, I began running through the many “If you . . .” scenarios that our subscribers might encounter with this new undertaking. After awhile, it was mind-numbing.
So let’s do this: Let’s try it with this first Star-Advertiser-delivered edition of the Hawai‘i Herald and see how it goes.
If you do not receive your Feb. 5 edition on Friday, Feb. 5, or if it arrives in poor condition or in a difficult to access location, call the Hawaii Hochi office at (808) 845-2255. Over the weekend, you can leave a voicemail message in the general mailbox with your name and phone number or call Monday morning and tell the office staff about the problem you encountered. You can also email me: kchinen@thehawaiihochi.com. We will then pass this information on to Sharene Yoshizaki-Chun, print distribution manager for the Star-Advertiser, who will get her carriers out to fix the problem . . . quickly.
This is a new undertaking for all of us and there will likely be problems because it is new and untested. But let’s give it a try.
Over the past week, Sharene and I have gone back and forth by email. What if this . . . what if that. Here’s all you need to know — from Sharene’s email: “. . . the customers can request a specific delivery placement or for the paper to be delivered in a bag.” As long as the place you request that your Herald be placed is safe to access, the carrier will accommodate your request.
In the meantime, the office staff is continuing to accept responses to a letter that was sent out to subscribers whose Herald is sent to their P.O Box. Home delivery means delivering the paper to your home, so the S-A would like a physical address for our P.O. Box subscribers. You can call that information in to our office — (808) 845-2255, or email it to subscribe@thehawaiihochi.com.
Let me leave you with this final thought: We value your subscription to the Hawai‘i Herald. We really do. That you are willing to pay good money to read what we publish gives me chickenskin. When people stop me at events I cover or attend and tell me that they enjoy reading everything in the Herald and that they read everything, from cover to cover . . . I wish they could see my heart smile. If our stories inform and educate you . . . if they inspire you . . . if they make you smile or help you to realize how fortunate you are, you know that we will make this new delivery system work, or we will find another way. You are our subscriber and the Herald exists because of you. Mahalo nui loa.
