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Outlet profile

Honolulu Star-Advertiser

U.S. center-left (Hawaii mainstream daily)

Owned byOwned by Carpenter Media Group, a U.S. newspaper chain. It acquired the paper's former parent, Canada-based Black Press, in March 2024. The paper is operated by Oahu Publications Inc. Carpenter Media Group shares ownership with Canadian financial partners Canso Investment Counsel and Deans Knight.
FundingMainly advertising, print and digital subscriptions, and related products such as the MidWeek weekly. It has also hosted Report for America reporters. Ownership is a commercial chain backed by investment partners, not a single billionaire or a nonprofit.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

The paper was formed on June 7, 2010, when the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (founded 1882) merged with the Honolulu Advertiser (founded 1856). Black Press of British Columbia had bought the Advertiser from Gannett for about $125 million in February 2010. It already owned the Star-Bulletin, and it could not find a buyer for one of the papers. The merger left Honolulu with a single major daily and reduced the number of competing newsroom voices in the state. Black Press went through creditor restructuring in early 2024. Carpenter Media Group then acquired it, and the sale was completed on March 22, 2024. Local publisher Dennis Francis stayed on and also became a Carpenter senior vice president. Civil Beat, a separate nonprofit news site funded by Pierre Omidyar, is the paper's main local competitor. Like many chain-owned papers, the Star-Advertiser has dealt with cost pressure and a smaller newsroom. Its editorial board generally favors institutional, moderate positions in a heavily Democratic state. In 2026 its editorials criticized the Trump administration's moves on mail voting, press freedom, Voice of America and EPA air-pollution rules. Its letters page carries views on both sides, including letters that criticize Hawaii's legal fights with the administration.

Sources

  1. Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Wikipedia)
  2. Carpenter Media completes purchase of Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Editor & Publisher)
  3. Hawaii's largest newspaper has a new owner (Hawaii News Now)
  4. Star-Advertiser owner restructuring, sale of company in the works
  5. Editorial: Independent press vital to democracy
  6. Editorial: EPA must police air emissions
  7. Editorial: Time for attention to 2026 elections

Profile compiled 2026-10-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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