Sensational Photography
Here They Go Again
A few months ago I complained about a photo on the front page of Pacific Business News showing an empty Honolulu Airport along with the shocking quote; “It’s worse than after 911.” The photo was obviously taken when the airport was closed.
Well, the front page of this week’s PBN shows an empty Waikiki Beach. The long shadows of the palm trees are a dead giveaway as to how early in the morning this photo was taken. It motivated me to go to that same spot this afternoon and shoot the one below:
A Different Spin
In this issue PBN reports that we have a 13% drop in visitors. What if the headline were to read:
87% Still Coming To Hawaii
And the subsequent article was to say something like;
“In spite of the doom and gloom projections about the mainland economy we are still enjoying a tourism count equal to 87% of last years record number of visitors to Hawaii. Even more exciting is the fact that these are people who are not concerned about the price of gasoline, hotel rooms or airline tikets. We are seeing the cream of the crop, and yes they are spending money.”
I say, “Knock off the negative sensationalism.” That’s how to make things better.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Hi Ron, I too have just about “Had it” with PBN and their negative photos and writing. The publisher Larry Fuller really should think about who he is “impressing” with these headlines? As a loyal advertsier in PBN for years, I have a specific tough time with their negativity….and have to wonder if we as a company want to be part of their nonsense…. I was in Waikiki last night with loyal visitors to Hawaii as well as friends from Hawaii Kai. Great time with great entertainment and LOTS of people around us. It was a “happening place to be”. Cheers, Peter
August 18th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Brilliant, Ron!
I have decided not to renew my PBN subscription. I already pay for one newspaper full of bad news. I don’t need another.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
I don’t understand the media’s fixation with bad news. I guess I must accept it as a fact that this is what people want, and thus bad news sells. That being said, there is a difference between stating the news as it is (Walter Cronkite style) and spinning the news as worse than it is.
As refreshing as it would be to see a story like the one Ron proposes, I think that will be the one about Hell freezing over.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
What a bunch of whiners; accept it; the economy is in the toilet, people are suffering, foreclosures are on the rise, and prices going up. It is what it is, it’s called “reality” with a capital R. Get your heads out of the sand and hunker down for tougher times ahead.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Ron-Maybe PBN also needs a letter to the editor from you.
PBN certainly has the talent and time (they publish once a week) to do some serious investivative reporting on important issues affecting business in Hawaii.
It seems that there are 87% of us who would like our side (yours, Peter, Pam & Daniel’s) of the story also represented on the front page of PBN.
August 19th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Ron Here:
When the photo of the empty airport was published, someone sent a great letter to the editor about how terrible it was. I was surprised that they published the letter, but not surprised that they repeated the offense.
“Tigers have stripes, leopards have spots; there are some things you can’t change.”
-Granville F. Martin (My Daddy)