A foundation has come forward together with laid off reporters from the Hawaii Herald to save two Japanese American newspapers in Hawaii.
According to KITV, the Herald printed its last edition on Friday. It’s sister publication, the Hawaii Hochi, will do the same on December 7.
A California-based foundation is leading a fund drive to save both papers and enable them to resume publishing in January.
“Please help us morph these communication vehicles into something that can continue to connect the Japanese American community,” the Zentoku Foundation says on its website. “The glue that has connected the Japanese American community through the years, has been the Japanese American community newspapers. “We anticipate other JA community newspapers may receive the same sad news very soon.”
It’s unclear how much money needs to be resurrected to fund the papers. KITV reports the hope is both the Herald and the Hochi to merge with two other Japanese American papers on the West Coast. The plan is for the newly formed paper to tell hyper-local stories important to the Japanese American community.
Hawaii News Now reports the Herald has been around for 43 years printing in English. However, subscriptions have declined over the years and its editor says the decision to shut down was almost inevitable. The Hochi which is published daily in Japanese has been around for 111 years. It was started “to be a voice for Hawaii’s largest immigrant plantation workers,” editor Kristen Emoto Jay said.
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