Reporter James Gonser covered public safety issues for Honolulu Civil Beat from September to December 2022.

He began his journalism career at Pacific Business News as a reporter and photographer in 1988 and subsequently worked at the Sun Press weekly newspapers in Kaneohe covering crime and community news.

He also worked at The Honolulu Advertiser as a community news reporter and editor for a decade until the newspaper was absorbed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in 2010.

He then taught journalism at the University of Hawaii Manoa and Chaminade University and was the staff advisor for the UH student newspaper Ka Leo O Hawaii.

Most recently, he worked as a public information officer for the Hawaii Department of Health and as Assistant Director of Communications for the Hawaii House of Representatives.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Hawaii Manoa.

He moved from California to Hawaii in 1977 and made the islands his permanent home. He is a world traveler, plays American folk and blues on guitar, and loves animals. He lives in Honolulu with his wife Grace and her cats.