Civil Beat Staff

James Gonser

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.