Our numbers may be dwindling, but our passion for journalism is still strong. Many thanks to the Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter for honoring my stories with the top Excellence in Journalism Awards for radio news and feature reporting. Both aired nationally.

General News/Enterprise Reporting
First Place
Hawaii’s First Saint (Saint Damien of Molokai)
AARP Radio’s “Primetime Postscript,” January 12, 2010

A Belgian priest named Father Damien was declared a saint in Rome in 2009, but his legacy began back in 1873. That’s when he arrived on the Hawaiian island of Molokai to care for patients with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy. Thousands were exiled to the remote Kalaupapa peninsula and died there. Father Damien also eventually contracted and died from the disease. His legacy continues to inspire many around the world today.

Listen to the audio slideshow of Father Damien of Molokai | Hawaii’s First Saint:

Photo credits for the audio slideshow: FatherDamien.com, National Park Service, Pat Boland and Heidi Chang

Feature Reporting
First Place
Ukulele Festival
Public Radio International’s “The World,” Global Hit, January 12, 2010

Thousands of people from around the globe turned out to attend the 40th annual Ukulele Festival in Hawaii. The instrument has seen a resurgence thanks in part to musician Jake Shimabukuro. Reporter Heidi Chang attended the festival. She spoke to Shimabukuro and other musicians from France and Japan.

Listen to the Ukulele Festival story here:

[audio:https://heidichang.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ukulele-Fest-TheWorldwLead.mp3|titles=Hawaii Ukulele Festival 2010]

Watch Jake Shimabukuro play “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on video:

See photos from the Ukulele Festival here:

2010 Excellence in Journalism Awards Dinner | June 24, 2011

Hawaii’s journalism community turned out to celebrate some of its best work at its annual Excellence in Journalism Awards dinner held in Honolulu. Awards were handed out for work produced during 2010.

“It’s always good to promote the best reporting in the state to make sure the standards are kept high, as the number of jobs in journalism decline, and the number of traditional media outlets shrink,” says  Society of Professional Journalists Hawaii Chapter President, Stirling Morita, who’s also an assistant city editor at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

He added, “Standards are important. Because today, some journalists’ work days are stretched, they have less time to report  and have to do more stories because of the shrinking (size of) newsrooms.”

Like many other places nationwide, Hawaii is adapting to a changing media landscape. This was the first time the awards program has been held since The Honolulu Advertiser ceased publication. The Honolulu-Star Bulletin purchased The Honolulu Advertiser from the Gannett Co. to create the Honolulu Star- Advertiser, which debuted on July 7, 2010.

Morita says the Star-Advertiser did not enter any awards as an organization because they felt there was a lack of competition, since they’re now the only major daily newspaper in Honolulu. However, individuals who write for the paper did participate.

In October 2009, KHNL, K5 and KGMB entered a shared services agreement, combining three television stations under one roof. The merged KHNL and KGMB newsrooms now go by the slogan, Hawaii News Now.

As more and more people turn to the Web for news and information, the number of online only news sites continues to grow. Now there’s even an award for best news site produced by one person.

During the evening, former SPJ Hawaii President, Daryl Huff, described how he helped start the awards program in the 90s, but had never won any first-place awards until now. Huff won two first-place awards on his last night as a longtime reporter for KITV. He’s moving on to a new job in management at Alohacare, a nonprofit health care plan in Hawaii.

Congratulations to all the winners!

See a complete list of the 2010 Excellence in Journalism Award Winners here.