It could take months, the HPD said. The city prosecutor's spokesperson says it's generally up to police to initiate referrals, and many potential cases are pending. The suspicious reader deserves thanks for identifying another Bermuda Triangle of accountability, where information seems to fall through the journalistic-law enforcement cracks, also taking the explanation for its absence with it. People close to the system, aware of how the process works, recognize the difference between identifying those motorists whom authorities have charged and others who remain free and anonymous, despite also having caused death or injury. But readers away from the system may view it as a disparity.
Privacy is a key issue in Hawai'i, as is fairness.
The challenge of consistent coverage and balanced treatment has grown more acute as metropolitan newspapers have reduced their community record-keeping roles. Along with Hawai'i's upturn in traffic tragedies, dozens of public events and decisions occur each day, competing for limited print space and airtime, placing heavier dependence on the judgment of reporters and editors. On a lighter issue, a UH baseball fan asked why the Rainbows get more ink when they lose than when they win. She cited a big story on losing to Santa Barbara as an example and was not persuaded by daily Advertiser coverage of UH's recent four-game win streak and victory over Wichita State. Public education has provided another kind of strike zone for Hawai'i.