FLUX Hawaii Partners with Google News Lab to Showcase Hawaiian-Language Storytelling

NMG Network has recruited the first dedicated Hawaiian-language editor currently working in the contemporary magazine space to produce ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i content.

Click to read the full press release in Hawaiian.

 

HONOLULU — Through an innovative collaboration with Google News Lab, NMG Network’s FLUX Hawaii has launched a dedicated section devoted to Hawaiian-language storytelling, and enlisted the first Hawaiian-language editor currently working in the contemporary media space to produce ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i content. 

FLUX Hawaii’s new Hawaiian-language reporting column will focus on original arts and culture pieces commissioned and produced in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language). Visit the section here.

The Honolulu-based media brand previously published several feature-length stories in the language, but with the help of Google News Lab, FLUX Hawaii is now furthering that effort to empower and promote Hawaiian culture.

The Google News Lab is a team within the Google News Initiative whose mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to drive innovation in news.

Through the partnership, FLUX Hawaii has recruited N. Ha‘alilio Solomon, an instructor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa at the Hālau ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi ʻo Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language and a translator with Awaiaulu and Hoʻopulapula, to be the first Hawaiian-language editor currently working in the contemporary magazine space.

Solomon will collaborate with native and local Hawaiian-language writers, historians, and organizations, as well as Hawaiian photographers, and FLUX Hawaii’s creative team to explore topics pertinent to the Native Hawaiian community that connects with today’s digital savvy audience who has Hawai‘i top of mind. 

The FLUX Hawaii team will commission stories that are conceptualized, reported, and edited in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i first, then translated into English second. The intent is to develop an editorial infrastructure that transforms Hawaiʻi media by centering and supporting Hawaiian-language speakers to report their own stories in their ancestral tongue.

“This is Hawaiian-language contemporary storytelling from inception all the way through to publication,” said Solomon. “I am thankful and thrilled that FLUX Hawaii has made space for the language to live in this domain, and that writers are bringing it there. The reclamation of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi has recently added in the normalization of the language as a critical piece of the Hawaiian language revitalization movement, so it’s opportune that FLUX Hawaii is doing this now, since media is so influential on a community’s linguistic landscape.”

FLUX Hawaii is one of ten NMG-owned media brands — Banyan, Chinatown, Elevate, Hale, Herein, Living, Palm, Waves, and Lei — that connect with audiences through authentic storytelling published and promoted across video, digital and print channels, as well as a growing number of popular email newsletters.

Despite the pandemic, FLUX Hawaii will end 2021 setting new traffic records, with the number of visitors to FluxHawaii.com increasing 273% over 2020.

“The creative team at FLUX couldn’t be more excited to launch this passion project,” said Marc Graser, VP, Global Content at NMG Network. “Hawai‘i is our home and identifying opportunities to help preserve the culture of Hawai‘i, including its language, is important to us. We look forward to making these stories available for anyone to access for years to come, and thank Google News Lab for supporting local journalism.”

About FLUX Hawaii

FLUX Hawaii is the definitive title for the intelligent reader who has Hawai‘i at top of mind. Cherished for its honest storytelling, timeless design, and insightful photography, this triannual digital, social and print publication informs discerning readers about where to go, what to see, and how to respond to a world in flux. For those intent to live well and live right, FLUX Hawaii offers a curated look at island arts, culture, style, travel, design, and innovation.

About NMG Network

NMG Network is the leading creator of custom media experiences for luxury and leisure travel, hospitality, and premium residential partners. Our highly targeted omnichannel approach to storytelling provides a unique opportunity to connect with the most sophisticated and sought after consumers where they prefer to engage with content that informs, inspires and entertains. In addition to its award-winning video, print and digital channels created for clients including Marriott Residences, The Little Nell, Shutters on the Beach, Hotel Casa del Mar, Halekulani Hotel, Park Lane Ala Moana, ‘Alohilani Resort, Ko Olina Resort, International Market Place and Marriott Resorts Hawaii, NMG operates consumer facing brands Lei, for the LGBTQ+ traveler; FLUX Hawaii, representing the current of Hawai’i; and Shore TV Hawaii, the most widely distributed network devoted to travel in Hawaii. View more at NMGnetwork.com.

Contacts:

NMG Network
Marc Graser
VP, Global Content
[email protected]

NMG Network
Matthew Dekneef
Editor-at-Large
[email protected]

 

###