Hawaii Reporter

Hawaii Reporter is a networked news organization funded by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity that produces an online daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Franklin Center funds reporters in over 40 states. Despite their non-partisan description, many of the websites funded by the Franklin Center have received criticism for their conservative bias. It is described by co-founder, Jay McWilliams as having a focus on government, politics, business and education. Hawaii Reporter is a networked news organization of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. It is known for publishing articles directly from the discredited Talon News.

Cofounder Malia Zimmerman
Malia Zimmerman, the other co-founder, is also a co-founder of Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a conservative think tank. There are board of director ties between Pacific Business Hawaii and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Malia Zimmerman was reportedly fired from Pacific Business News for unspecified reasons and then founded Hawaii Reporter. 

Reporting awards from Small Business Hawaii, where Senator Sam Slom (R-HI) and Richard O. Rowland are on the board of directors, have been given to Hawaii Reporter. Note, that Richard O. Rowland is a co-founder with Malia Zimmerman of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. Additionally, Malia was/is purportedly the girlfriend of Senator Sam Slom.

According to Grassroot Institute's Board of Directors page:


 * "Malia Zimmerman, Wc.Ak. Vice President, is the president, editor and founder of the on-line business journal, Hawaii Reporter.com, which seven days a week features stories on issues pertaining to business, politics, business, government and republishes stories and studies from numerous free market think tanks and public policy institutes around the world. HawaiiReporter.com is distributed to more than 40,000 subscribers in Hawaii and throughout the world. Prior to founding HawaiiReporter.com in Feb. 2002, Malia wrote for local and national publications such as the Wall Street Journal Opinion Journal, The Washington Times, Liberty Magazine, Midweek, Small Business News, Trade Publications, Hawaii Parent and Pacific Business News."

Affiliations
Malia Zimmerman and Hawaii Reporter has been featured in numerous media outlets around the world including ABC 20/20, American Journalism Review, Associated Press in Tokyo, Associated Press U.S., Boston.com, Budget and Tax News, BusinessWeek.com, Clear Channel’s number one and two radio talk shows in Denver, Drudge Report, First Amendment Center, Forbes.com, Fox News Network, Freedom Forum, Gun Talk Radio, GunWeek Magazine, Hawaii Bulletin Board – K108 Sunday Mornings, Hawaii Business Magazine, Hawaii Parent magazine, Hawaii Public Radio, The Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Magazine, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HonoluluTraffic.com, Honolulu Weekly, Houston Chronicle, KCCN Radio, KGMB TV 9, KHNL News, KHON TV News 2, KITV News 4, KSSK with Perry & Price, Liberty Magazine, Midweek, MSNBC.com, National Review, News Behind the News, NRA Magazine, NRA Radio, Opinion Journal, Olelo Television, Orange County Register, Pacific Business News, PBS Hawaii, Rick Hamada Morning Show, Rush Limbaugh (web site), Samoa News, School Reform News, Small Business News, United Press International, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times foreign bureau, Watchdog.org, Women and Guns Magazine and WPAL Radio in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Fracklin Center Funding
The Franklin Center was launched by the Chicago-based Sam Adams Alliance (SAM), a 501(c)(3) devoted to pushing free-market ideals. SAM gets funding from the State Policy Network, which is partially funded by The Claude R. Lambe Foundation. Charles Koch, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of this foundation. SAM also receives funding from the Rodney Fund. The Franklin Center also receives funding from the Wisconsin-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a conservative grant-making organization.

Franklin Center Director of Communications Michael Moroney told the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) in 2013 that the source of the Franklin Center's funding "is 100 percent anonymous." But 95 percent of its 2011 funding came from DonorsTrust, a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable that functions as a large "donor-advised fund," cloaking the identity of donors to right-wing causes across the country (CPI did a review of Franklin's Internal Revenue Service records). Mother Jones called DonorsTrust "the dark-money ATM of the conservative movement" in a February 2013 article. Franklin received DonorTrust's second-largest donation in 2011.

Awards
• September 2006 and 2008, the Second Amendment Foundation Journalist of the Year, in Phoenix, Arizona • Society of Professional Journalists in 2000, 2003-2007 and 2008, including awards for best investigative reporting and best business reporting • March 2008, Best Business reporter for Small Business Hawaii • January 2005, best business publication for 2004, best business writer for that same year from Small Business Hawaii; In January 2003, Small Business Hawaii named Hawaii Reporter best newspaper. • 2000, outstanding media recognition award for “best investigative reporting” from Voter Integrity Project, Inc., in Washington, D.C. • 1999, “Best Investigative Business Reporter of the Year” by Small Business Hawaii. • Nation’s top Web Proficients, Virtuosi, and Masters and Hawaii’s new media thought leader by http://www.thewebstersdictionary.com

Contact
Hawaii Reporter Inc. 1314 S. King St. Suite 1163 Honolulu, HI 96814 Phone: (808) 524-4500 Fax: (808) 524-4594 URL: http://www.hawaiireporter.com

Articles & Commentary

 * "The Smear Makers", Honolulu Weekly, September 6, 2000. The controversy surrounding Malia Zimmerman and the Voter Integrity Project.
 * ""Island Ire: Reporter sues Hawaii governor after losing her job", American Journalism Review, January/February 2001.
 * John Fund, "Trouble in Paradise", Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2002. - John Fund discusses Hawaii Reporter, the related Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and the unseating of the Democratic party.
 * "Ian Lind online from Kaaawa, Hawaii", iLind.net, August 1, 2003. Reference to Malia Zimmerman as girlfriend of Senator Sam Slom (R-HI) and controversy surrounding Pacific Business News firing her over possible early disclosure of documents.
 * "Heroes of Democracy: How three citizens repelled a Republican assault on the integrity of our election process", Honolulu Weekly, September 17, 2003. Reference to Governor Linda Lingle election campaign.
 * Hawaii Real Estate Investors, "August Monthly Meeting", July 2004 - Hawaii Reporter background by co-founder Jay McWilliams.
 * "Small Business Awards Presented", Small Business Hawaii, February 4, 2005.