Let’s shift the focus to how emergency broadcasting can be improved and away from KSSK‘s marginal performance during Friday night’s island-wide power outage. Clear Channel’s apparent “entertainment first” philosophy – even during emergencies – poorly serves the public, as many are concluding. (See “comments” beneath stories in the daily papers and in Comments added to our Saturday and Sunday posts, below.) Update: Today's Honolulu Star-Bulletin editorial also criticizes KSSK for its performance during the outage. Would the public be better served if Hawaii Public Radio enjoyed that official status, too? We think so. HPR’s two stations – KHPR and KIPO, both FM stations – already are the state’s undisputed leaders in public affairs programming. Stepping up to emergency broadcaster status seems only logical. First Things First HPR’s leadership already has done a fine job upgrading its capabilities, including the recent increase in KIPO’s transmitting power. But the job i
CHORE was launched in 2006 after officials responding to an earthquake emergency obviously didn't measure up; see CHORE's earliest posts. Their performance left an opening for average citizens to weigh in with experience-based suggestions to improve crisis communications. The many deaths recorded after California's wildfires also revealed gaps in officials' ability to communicate effectively. Visitors are invited to comment with their own ideas.