TV Editorials Become a Book that Urges You to “Think About It”

Local TV executive and columnist John Fink has turned the best from 19 years of on-air editorials into a book with the same title he used back then, “Think About It.”

While Fink served as GM of the KHNL and KFVE TV stations, he broadcast more than 2,000 90-second editorials. They were commentaries on local issues such as politics, education, tourism and homelessness intended to generate discussion and help motivate everyone to make a positive impact.

For the book, he picked those that best stood the test of time and suggests readers take them in only one or a few at a time. “ ‘Think About It’ editorials were never intended to be considered as an all-consuming meal, but rather as a quick pūpū for the mind or soul, tidbits to be contemplated, acted upon or ignored,” he says.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano says, “ ‘Think About It’ says what so many think but never say.” The book from Watermark Publishing will be released April 15.

Fink has retired from TV and currently writes a column, “Think About It,” for MidWeek and will soon begin offering motivational seminars designed to inspire change and positive action.

Here are three editorials contained in the book.

May 15, 2002
Kaiser Kudos

There was a great Spike Lee movie called “Do the Right Thing” a number of years ago. Too often, we as a society tend to focus on things not being done right: people doing wrong, institutions being unfair, the world in a horrific spiral. “What is up with humanity?” we may ask in 2002 as we look around the troubled globe.

Well, three students at Kaiser High School did the right thing. They showed integrity. They called themselves on an error that adult math contest judges overlooked, and thus deprived themselves of winning the state math contest, after the three had been notified that they had finished in first place. Certainly it was the right thing to do. But that’s not obvious to some people.

It’s OK to celebrate when people do right, when people show virtues and principles – especially teenagers – in an era of stereotyping slackers and dropouts and pointing out youthful transgressions and imperfections. In this case, three teenagers decided that integrity and honesty were more important than winning a first place trophy. And that is truly the essence of winning. Think about it…

April 7, 2008
Aloha Means Goodbye

Aloha means goodbye. Goodbye to 61 years of service; goodbye to over 1,900 employees; goodbye to a reliable and viable option for local travelers; goodbye to an airline, which began, in part, to offer equal opportunities to minorities.

While the airline wars have been fierce and unfriendly of late, did you ever think that Aloha Airlines would join the list of defunct Hawai‘i air carriers, alongside MidPacific, Discovery, and Mahalo Airlines? The jet fuel prices, the cost of doing business, the questioned practices of a third player – it all added up to bankruptcy for the second time in the past four years, and this time it results in a complete shutdown of passenger service.

Last ditch efforts to find a financier or buyer failed, and certainly the nationwide credit crunch made the timing of this announcement even worse in terms of finding an eleventh-hour savior. The accusations of unfair competition will continue, as will the Aloha lawsuit against Go! Airlines, and 1,900 residents will hopefully find something real soon to allow them to move ahead with their lives, which they must. Aloha meant “hello” in our skies almost 62 years ago; aloha meant “love” to the many employees and passengers; and now, sadly, aloha truly does mean “goodbye.” Think about it…

December 17, 2018
Prison Wisdom

A guy walks out of a prison… Sounds like the beginning of a joke. Well, what transpired after this local and true story is a joke, but it’s not funny. Yet no individuals are apparently to blame. No one is going to feel further consequences. It took eight hours before the state hospital even called 911 to report that this murderer was missing, but no one is at fault. He had two fake IDs and about $6,000 in cash, got into a cab, got on a plane, and left town. And no one is at fault. At least that’s the ultimate conclusion – this incident simply happened. Institutional failure, perhaps. Human lethargy, inattentiveness, or misconduct? Nah…

The accused had also apparently engaged in past sexual relations with staff, he unlocked a combination lock during his escape, and he’d received contraband in the past. Ho hum. Granted, the Hawaii State Hospital is a treatment center, not a prison, but that doesn’t mean some of the inmates are any less dangerous than those locked behind bars elsewhere. So the fault lies in the system. And just like oftentimes when other things fail at state or city levels, we never go through the difficult, but necessary, procedures to assess responsibility on humans, to make people accountable, to ensure absolute understanding of roles…it’s always the system.

Like last January’s false missile alert, the driver’s license and ID cards snafu this year, the now biannual election office issues – always system failures. Like the 8,000 plus unauthorized vacation rentals that go unchecked, the system is simply overwhelmed. The list goes on and on. When systems fail, there is often an obvious lack of human accountability. But we don’t like to shame people. Granted, some procedures have changed at the state hospital since the murderer escaped, and that’s good. But are we always so afraid of legal repercussions that we rarely deal with the human component when blatant errors occur? How drastic a mistake has to be made before simple job accountability and responsibility comes into play? Think about it…