{"id":179,"date":"2013-11-01T19:59:05","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T19:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro?page_id=179"},"modified":"2026-06-12T15:51:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T01:51:27","slug":"honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, November 1st, 2013<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/MW-OF-110613-DF-EP1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/MW-OF-110613-DF-EP1-226x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-332\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>HONOLULU \u2013 Editor &#038; Publisher (E&#038;P) magazine announced today that it has selected Dennis Francis, president and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as its Publisher of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEver since 2010, when Francis, 55, merged Hawaii\u2019s two rival and heretofore struggling newspapers \u2013 the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin \u2013 into one now thriving Honolulu Star-Advertiser, he has made himself and all those who work with him winners. For that, Editor &#038; Publisher selected Francis as Publisher of the Year,\u201d the industry\u2019s authoritative magazine said.<\/p>\n<p>Added Ed Zindel, managing editor of E&#038;P: \u201cNot only has Dennis made the Star-Advertiser a newspaper that is stronger than ever with innovation and a deep commitment to his employees and the readers they serve, but he has shown great leadership, community involvement and vision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said Francis was chosen from among 58 nominations received from around the world, including publishers from large, well-known papers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile I am honored to receive this award, it should really be referred to as the \u2018Newspaper of the Year\u2019,\u201d because it is the Star-Advertiser\u2019s talented management team and staff that has produced the strong results we have seen since the merger,\u201d Francis said.<\/p>\n<p>Francis was the general manager at the Honolulu Advertiser when David Black, who bought the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 2001, enticed him to take charge of the Star-Bulletin in 2004. In a move that E&#038;P said, \u201cwas considered incredibly daring,\u201d Star-Bulletin owner Oahu Publications, Inc. in 2010 acquired the Advertiser from Gannett Co. and merged the papers. The Star-Advertiser has since has grown substantially.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDennis has been very supportive of the newsroom,\u201d said Frank Bridgewater, Star-Advertiser vice president and editor. \u201cHe promotes a strong and independent voice, giving the newsroom the resources to do our job and taking legal action when we think it is in the best interest of the public to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under Francis, new magazines, a USA Today Hawaii Edition and a host of special sections and inserts were launched; The Garden Island daily newspaper on Kauai was purchased; and a paywall for staradvertiser.com was begun. All these initiatives have been successful and driven revenue, which in turn has strengthened news products.<\/p>\n<p>The Star-Advertiser\u2019s daily circulation (print and digital replica) grew 38.9 percent from December 2010 to December 2012, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, which tracks the newspaper industry. Based on the six months ending last March, the organization ranked the Star-Advertiser as the 21st largest paper in the country, up from No. 25 in September 2012 and No. 67 in March 2011.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a story about a risk-taking leader who was able to combine two failing newspapers into one profitable, growing newspaper,\u201d said Dave Kennedy, senior vice president of marketing. \u201cDennis Francis drew from his industry experience, business know-how and understanding of the community to assemble and motivate his team and succeed at a time when many said newspapers were dying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As part of his mission, Francis is active in many community organizations. He serves on the boards of numerous nonprofits and is chairman of the board for the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce. In addition, the Star-Advertiser in 2012 gave more than $1.6 million to charities, groups, organizations and the arts in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was obvious to us that Dennis\u2019 leadership in successfully spearheading the merging of the newspapers was a great trait,\u201d said E&#038;P\u2019s Zindel. \u201cBut we were also impressed with the deep support he has shown the Hawaii community over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is Oahu\u2019s leading provider of in-depth, consistent and credible local news and information. Its website, <a href=\"https:\/\/staradvertiser.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">staradvertiser.com<\/a>, receives more than 18 million monthly page views worldwide as measured by Google Analytics and is \u201cLiked\u201d by 200,000 Facebook users, ranking eighth in the nation among daily newspapers. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is the flagship publication of Oahu Publications, Inc., whose portfolio includes MidWeek, HILuxury, and a growing roster of community periodicals and in-room resort magazines.<\/p>\n<p># # # # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Friday, November 1st, 2013 HONOLULU \u2013 Editor &#038; Publisher (E&#038;P) magazine announced today that it has selected Dennis Francis, president and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as its Publisher of the Year. \u201cEver since 2010, when Francis, 55, merged Hawaii\u2019s two rival and heretofore struggling newspapers \u2013 the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin \u2013 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":379,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-179","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor - Oahu Publications, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor - Oahu Publications, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Friday, November 1st, 2013 HONOLULU \u2013 Editor &#038; Publisher (E&#038;P) magazine announced today that it has selected Dennis Francis, president and publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, as its Publisher of the Year. \u201cEver since 2010, when Francis, 55, merged Hawaii\u2019s two rival and heretofore struggling newspapers \u2013 the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin \u2013 [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oahu Publications, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-13T01:51:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/MW-OF-110613-DF-EP1-226x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/\",\"name\":\"Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor - Oahu Publications, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/MW-OF-110613-DF-EP1-226x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-01T19:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-13T01:51:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/MW-OF-110613-DF-EP1-226x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/11\\\/MW-OF-110613-DF-EP1-226x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/\",\"name\":\"Oahu Publications, Inc.\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\\\/opipro\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor - Oahu Publications, Inc.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaii.carpentermediagroup.com\/opipro\/honolulu-star-advertiser-publisher-wins-top-industry-honor\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Honolulu Star-Advertiser Publisher Wins Top Industry Honor - Oahu Publications, Inc.","og_description":"Friday, November 1st, 2013 HONOLULU \u2013 Editor &#038; 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