Many readers search for clues of bias each day in The Advertiser, especially during an election year. Phil Yasuhara, of Kapolei, believes he found some evidence in our Feb. 1 edition.

At the bottom of Page One, we had a story about the debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that jumped into nearly a half-page inside on Page A5. Yasuhara estimated its length at 39 column inches. Accompanying it was a box that examined the claims and facts raised during the debate. A shorter story — about 15 column inches — covered the news that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was endorsing John McCain as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani looked on.

"C'mon!" Yasuhara wrote. "We recognize the editor's right to endorse a candidate, but this amounts to campaigning on nearly a daily basis!! Dear editor, how about some less-biased political news coverage?"

We are extremely careful when it comes to balancing political stories — particularly during an election year — but when readers make what seem like valid points, I listen. So I asked Steve Petranik, the editor most responsible for placement of national and international stories, to go back and examine how we've covered the presidential campaign so far.

Petranik examined The Advertiser from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5 — the week leading to Super Tuesday — and looked at the number of stories and photos devoted to each political party as well as the placement of the stories.

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, our full page of campaign coverage featured three national stories, two about the GOP (Giuliani and Mike Huckabee) and the third about the Democrats (Ted Kennedy endorsing Obama). Petranik noted that the larger picture was of Kennedy and Obama, but the combined size of the Giuliani and Huckabee photos was equal to the Democrats' billing.

The following day, Jan. 30, the Page One story covered both parties but focused on the GOP Florida primary with a picture of McCain on the front because the Democratic primary had no delegates at stake. Pictures inside featured Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

Two campaign stories appeared on Page A10 on Jan. 31. The GOP story was played more prominently and slightly larger than the story on the Democrats. The front page of the Feb. 1 edition, which reader Yasuhara alluded to, did have far more space for the Clinton-Obama debate than the Schwarzenegger endorsement of McCain. The following day, on Feb. 2, the featured political story on Page One was Obama's raising $411,000 in Hawai'i — seven times what Clinton raised and five times what the leading Republican, Ron Paul, raised. Inside was a single story that covered both parties equally and carried a single picture of a voting booth.

The front page of the Feb. 3 paper featured equal-sized photos of Clinton, Obama, McCain and Romney campaign signs with Clinton's and Obama's on the top. Inside were four two-column photos of those same four candidates with Romney at the top. Underneath were McCain, Clinton and Obama. (See the layout above.)

On Feb. 4, we ran a Page One story on the Hawai'i caucus and another on polls showing Obama and Clinton tied, and McCain leading his opponents. Inside was a national story about candidates in both parties criticizing Clinton and four equal-sized pictures: Clinton and McCain in the top row; Obama and Romney in the second row.

On Feb. 5, one story about both parties appeared on an inside page accompanied by two pictures: a larger one of McCain with some supporters and the smaller an Obama sign.

Taken as a whole, one would be hard-pressed to say we were favoring one party over another on a daily basis. After the "Potomac Primary" on Tuesday, we ran same-sized pictures of Obama and McCain the following day, with smaller photos of Clinton and Huckabee inside.

Going forward, readers are likely to see more Page One coverage of the Democratic race because it is a closer contest, while the GOP race is all but over. And there is special interest locally in Obama, because he was born and raised in Honolulu, so there may be more personal, not political, coverage given to him in The Advertiser. We also need to be careful about giving Obama and Clinton similar play.

But our coverage of the general election will be, as Petranik says, "scrupulously balanced" and "obsessively fair." If not, you'll let us know.


Mark Platte is senior vice president/editor of The Honolulu Advertiser. Reach him at mplatte@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8080.