West Hawaii Today and the Hawaii Tribune-Herald took top awards at the annual Hawaii Publishers Association awards dinner at which they presented the Pa’i Awards, for excellence in print journalism.
The top award for spot news reporting went to West Hawaii Today, and the Hawaii Tribune-Herald took second place. West Hawaii Today also took first and second in Spot News Photography. “Spot News” is a category formerly identified in the Pulitzer Prizes as “breaking news,” and refers to immediate news updates. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald also took first in the Editorial Series category and second in Sports Reporting. West Hawaii Today also received recognition for its design.
The Hawaii Publishers Association is a nonprofit media organization that promotes the print publishing industry in Hawaii.
Neither the Honolulu Star Advertiser nor the Maui News submitted entries. Ed Lynch, editor of the Star Advertiser, said his organization made a conscious decision two years ago after the merger of the Honolulu Advertiser and the Star Bulletin not to submit entries because they had such a large circulation. He said the paper remains a strong supporter of the Hawaii Publishers Association. He said they made the same decision regarding awards given by the Society of Professional Journalists.
The awards were given Wednesday evening, May 16, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Oahu. All the winners are listed below.
| Spot News Reporting | |
| First | West Hawaii Today |
| Second | Hawaii Tribune-Herald |
| Editorial Feature | |
| First | Honolulu Magazine |
| Second | Honolulu Magazine |
| Editorial Enterprise Reporting | |
| First | The Garden Island |
| Second | The Garden Island |
| Editorial Series | |
| First | Hawaii Tribune-Herald |
| Second | The Garden Island |
| Editorial Opinion | |
| First | MidWeek |
| Second | Pacific Business News |
| Editorial Column | |
| First | Honolulu Magazine |
| Second | Honolulu Magazine |
| Investigative Reporting | |
| First | Honolulu Weekly |
| Second | The Garden Island |
| Sports Reporting | |
| First | Honolulu Magazine |
| Second | Hawaii Tribune-Herald |
| Business & Industry Reporting | |
| First | Hana Hou! |
| Second | Hana Hou! |
| Arts & Entertainment Reporting | |
| First | Honolulu Magazine |
| Second | Hana Hou! |
| Editorial Cartoon | |
| First | MidWeek |
| Second | Ka Leo O Hawai’i |
| Spot News Photography | |
| First | Hawaii Tribune-Herald |
| Second | West Hawaii Today |
| Feature Photography (Coated Stock) | |
| First | Honolulu Magazine |
| Second | Hana Hou! |
| Feature Photography (Newsprint) | |
| First | Pacific Business News |
| Second | Pacific Business News |
| Sports Photography | |
| First | Hana Hou! |
| Second | Hana Hou! |
| Essay Photography | |
| First | Honolulu Magazine |
| Second | HILuxury |
| Visitor Publication Photography | |
| First | Halekulani Living |
| Second | Wailea Magazine |
| Excellence in Design (Coated stock) | |
| First | Hana Hou! |
| Second | Honolulu Magazine |
| Excellence in Design (Newsprint) | |
| First | The Garden Island |
| Second | West Hawaii Today |
| Excellence in Illustration | |
| First | Huakai Magazine |
| Second | Hawaii Home & Remodeling |
| Excellence Cover Design (Coated stock) | |
| First | The Kahala |
| Second | Honolulu Magazine |
| Excellence Cover Design (Newsprint) | |
| First | West Hawaii Today |
| Second | West Hawaii Today |
| Directories | |
| First | Maui Wedding Planner |
| Second | Honolulu Magazine |
| Trade Magazine | |
| First | Hawaii Home & Remodeling |
| Second | Hawaii Hospitality |
| Special Section Excellence | |
| First | Hawaii Tribune-Herald |
| Second | Building Industry |
| Visitor Publication Excellence (over 500,000 per year) | |
| First | Hana Hou! |
| Second | Hawaii Magazine |
| Visitor Publication Excellence (under 500,000 per year) | |
| First | Ko Olina |
| Second | Aulani |
| Non-Daily Newspaper Excellence | |
| First | Pacific Business News |
| Second | Honolulu Weekly |
| School Newspaper Excellence | |
| First | Ka La |
| Second | Ka Leo O Hawai’ |
