Understanding The News

Behind The Story

May 2023

Wednesday, May 17

Here’s What You’ve Been Telling Us At Our Pop-Up Newsrooms

Friday, May 5

The Investigation Into Public Corruption In Hawaii Is Very Much Alive

February 2023

Tuesday, February 21

The Military’s Public Information Black Hole

January 2023

Tuesday, January 17

Vicky Cayetano Is No Longer A Civil Beat Columnist. Here’s Why

November 2022

Sunday, November 13

Ian Lind: My 5 Years Of Reporting On The Mike Miske Saga

August 2022

Tuesday, August 2

How A Messy Divorce Case Led To A Legal Battle Over Press Freedom In Hawaii

June 2022

Friday, June 17

Stop Or I’ll Shoot — Or Maybe Not. Media Training Shows Pressures Police Officers Face

February 2022

Sunday, February 6

Why We Removed A Recent Column About Kirk Caldwell

January 2022

Tuesday, January 25

8 Years Of Fighting The Police Union In Court And What Did We Get? Quite A Lot, It Turns Out

November 2021

Sunday, November 14

How A Faulty Assumption Led To Errors In A Civil Beat Story

February 2021

Friday, February 19

Civil Beat Is Ending Its Daily Virus Tracker. Here’s Why

Monday, February 1

The How And Why Behind Civil Beat’s Daily Virus Tracker

December 2020

Wednesday, December 2

The Sorry State Of Public Information In Hawaii – And Why You Should Care

June 2020

Wednesday, June 24

20 Years Of Honolulu Police Misconduct Summaries Document Serious Bad Behavior

May 2020

Monday, May 11

Sex Abuse Cases Pose Dilemma For Media: How Much To Disclose?

April 2020

Thursday, April 2

How We’re Covering The Coronavirus Crisis

November 2019

Tuesday, November 26

Why Civil Beat Fought For Teacher Discipline Records

Friday, November 15

My Slog To Find Rare Birds In A Remote Maui Rainforest

Friday, November 1

Why We Asked The Hawaii Supreme Court To Take Up The Case Of HPD Sgt. Darren Cachola

October 2019

Friday, October 25

Civil Beat Investigation Ripples Beyond Hawaii

Friday, October 4

What To Expect When You Submit A Community Voice

September 2019

Friday, September 27

You Think Your Job Is Stressful? At Least You’re Not Me

Friday, September 20

Fit To Print? State’s Mauna Kea Press Conferences Raise The Question Of What’s News

Monday, September 16

Why We Sent A Reporter To The Washington Woods To Find Tulsi Gabbard’s Consultant

May 2019

Friday, May 17

Here’s Why We Think Trisha Watson’s Kealoha Column Was Worth Publishing

April 2019

Friday, April 12

Honolulu Police Corruption: This Is Why We Rarely Rely On Anonymous Sources

March 2019

Friday, March 22

Political Mailers: Shamelessly Exploiting The News Media

Tuesday, March 5

Stripping Away The Stereotypes About People With Mental Illness

December 2018

Thursday, December 13

The Story Behind Our New Transportation Column

October 2018

Friday, October 12

We May Finally Get To See Honolulu Police Salary Information

September 2018

Monday, September 24

Why Talking About Anti-Micronesian Hate Is Important

Monday, September 17

Why Civil Beat Is Taking A Deep Dive Into Hawaii’s Mental Health System

July 2018

Tuesday, July 31

Are Political Attack Ads A Waste Of Money This Year?

May 2018

Wednesday, May 16

What It’s Like Spending Three Days Watching A Volcano

April 2018

Tuesday, April 3

Why We Published New Sexual Harassment Claims About Dan Inouye

March 2018

Monday, March 12

We’re Changing Around Some Things In Our Newsroom

February 2018

Monday, February 26

We’re Killing Comments — Here’s Why

Wednesday, February 14

Why We Publish Provocative Community Voices

Thursday, February 8

Why We Didn’t Name Hawaii’s ‘Button Pusher’

Here’s What You’ve Been Telling Us At Our Pop-Up Newsrooms Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2022

Here’s What You’ve Been Telling Us At Our Pop-Up Newsrooms

By /

Rural areas feel left out of conversations that many of you say are too Honolulu-centric.

The Investigation Into Public Corruption In Hawaii Is Very Much Alive Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2020

The Investigation Into Public Corruption In Hawaii Is Very Much Alive

By /

Here's why we think the public needs to know as much about what's going on as possible -- even if we can't tell you everything.

The Military’s Public Information Black Hole Navy Media Content Services

The Military’s Public Information Black Hole

By /

The military regularly fails to share what are supposed to be public records.

Vicky Cayetano Is No Longer A Civil Beat Columnist. Here’s Why Ronen Zilberman/Civil Beat/2022

Vicky Cayetano Is No Longer A Civil Beat Columnist. Here’s Why

By /
The finding of a state commission that the Cayetano campaign violated election law necessitates discontinuing her regular column.
Ian Lind: My 5 Years Of Reporting On The Mike Miske Saga John Pritchett/Civil Beat/2020

Ian Lind: My 5 Years Of Reporting On The Mike Miske Saga

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This still seems to be an important story, involving very visible local companies and people. It reveals a lot about how Hawaii works.
How A Messy Divorce Case Led To A Legal Battle Over Press Freedom In Hawaii Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2022

How A Messy Divorce Case Led To A Legal Battle Over Press Freedom In Hawaii

By /
Reporters should not be forced to reveal sources or turn over notes on a story. A state court judge agrees.
Stop Or I’ll Shoot — Or Maybe Not. Media Training Shows Pressures Police Officers Face Hawaii News Now/2022

Stop Or I’ll Shoot — Or Maybe Not. Media Training Shows Pressures Police Officers Face

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Our intrepid reporter learned a lot about what it's like to shoot a person and be shot at in an enlightening session put on by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Why We Removed A Recent Column About Kirk Caldwell Screenshot

Why We Removed A Recent Column About Kirk Caldwell

By /
Political connections are starting to be more of an issue as election season heats up.
8 Years Of Fighting The Police Union In Court And What Did We Get? Quite A Lot, It Turns Out Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021

8 Years Of Fighting The Police Union In Court And What Did We Get? Quite A Lot, It Turns Out

By /
Civil Beat's original lawsuit seeking police disciplinary files has finally come to an end.