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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2019
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Veteran Public Media Journalist Sandee Oshiro Joins HPR as News Editor
(HONOLULU) Hawaiʻi Public Radio, a statewide, community-supported radio network, announces that Sandee Oshiro has joined its newsroom as the station's first news editor. Oshiro is an award-winning veteran journalist whose media experience spans multiple platforms, and who has managed teams and projects that have drawn national recognition. Raised on the island of Oʻahu, her career has included positions at West Hawaii Today, The Honolulu Advertiser, AOLʻs Patch, the Poynter Institute, and, most recently, the leading National Public Radio affiliate in Southern California, KPCC.
In her position as HPR news editor, Oshiro will help shape story coverage and organize planning and news content. She’ll also be involved in special projects. HPR News Director and Vice President Bill Dorman said, “We’re excited to welcome Sandee to the HPR newsroom as a veteran public radio journalist who has a deep understanding of our community. She immediately adds strength and depth to our news team and we look forward to her contributions.”
Oshiro grew up in the working class community of Kalihi, the daughter of Nisei (second-generation Japanese immigrant) parents. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawaiʻi before attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
Her journalism career began in Kona on Hawai'i island where she covered police, politics, and natural disasters for the daily West Hawaii Today. After a stint at the all-news radio station KHVH in Honolulu, she joined The Honolulu Advertiser as a general assignment reporter and later covered labor, business, and government. She was promoted to the newspaper's business editor and tasked with the launch of the paper's first website, HonoluluAdvertiser.com. The online news site, consistently ranked as the state’s largest, went on to win multiple journalism awards.
With the closing of the Advertiser and recognizing the industry's shift to digital, Oshiro joined AOL’s Patch, a national network of local news websites. She launched several Patch sites on the U.S. Mainland and served as a regional editor managing teams of journalists in Northern and Southern California.
She next joined the Poynter Institute, the Florida-based organization that teaches journalism skills and convenes conversations across the country about the media industry. There she managed Poynter’s news website and supported its educational work.
In 2014, Oshiro moved to public radio station KPCC in Los Angeles, which operates a multi-platform newsroom (radio, online, events). She managed reporters covering education, politics, immigration, and transportation, and directed the station’s elections coverage in 2016 and 2018. The station’s award-winning Human Voter Guide project has been nationally recognized for engaging the electorate and guiding voters through the complexities of local and national balloting.
Of her return to Hawaiʻi, Oshiro said, “I’m thrilled to be returning home and eager to help HPR as it takes ambitious steps to enhance its news coverage and raise its profile as a hub of civic discussion."
Oshiro is married to University of Hawaiʻi School of Communications Chair Gerald Kato. They have a daughter, Lauren.
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About Hawai‘i Public Radio
HPR is a private, nonprofit organization which broadcasts classical, jazz, and international music; and in-depth news and informational programming from National Public Radio, American Public Media, Public Radio International, and other local, national, and international program sources, as well as programs produced by Hawai‘i Public Radio. In August 2018, Charity Navigator, the premier charity evaluator, awarded HPR its seventh consecutive four-star rating for exceptional fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency. HPR was named one of the 2015 Best Places to Work in Hawaii by Hawaii Business magazine and Best Places Group. In the same year, it was awarded the Cades Schutte - The Cades Foundation Nonprofit Leadership Award, administered by Pacific Business News. The station won two National Edward R. Murrow Awards for its news coverage of the 2014 Pāhoa lava flow, and a third National Murrow Award for its series on the Thirty Meter Telescope.
HPR’s mission is to serve the entire population of the state of Hawai‘i with two excellent program streams. HPR-1 broadcasts news, talk, entertainment, jazz, blues, and world music. Its FM frequencies on O‘ahu (KHPR 88.1, K203EL 88.5); Maui, Moloka‘i, and Lāna‘i (KKUA 90.7); Hawai‘i island (KANO 89.1, KHPH 88.7, KKUA 90.7, K235CN 94.9, K239BV 95.7); and Kauaʻi (KHPR 88.1 and KIPL/KIPL-FM 89.9). HPR-2, "your home for classical music" is found on Oʻahu (KIPO 89.3, K264BL 100.7); Maui, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i (KIPM 89.7, plus KIPH 88.3 in Hana); Hawai‘i island (KIPH 88.3, KIPM 89.7, KAHU 91.3, and K283CR 104.5) and Kaua‘i (KIPO 89.3; K269GD 101.7). HPR is online and streaming at hawaiipublicradio.org; as well as on Facebook (FB/hawaiipublicradio), Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms (@WeAreHPR™). Free iOS and Android™ apps for “Hawaii Public Radio” are available for download from the App Store or Google Play™. HPR-1 and HPR-2 may also be heard via cable broadcasts from Spectrum (channels 864 and 865) or Hawaiian Telcom TV (channels 661 and 662). Hawaiʻi Public Radio is also an Amazon Echo skill.
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CONTACT: Phyllis S.K. Look
HPR Director of Marketing
Direct: (808) 792-8220 / Mobile: (808) 492-8736
PIX (high resolution version available upon request): Sandee Oshiro, HPR news editor
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