Noelle Fujii-Oride, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumna, has always been drawn to the impact journalism can have on a community. Now, as the editor of Overstory, she’s at the helm of a nonprofit publication designed to inform, inspire and drive meaningful change across Hawaiʻi.
Fujii-Oride, who previously covered issues such as affordable housing, climate change and education at Hawaiʻi Business Magazine, is no stranger to in-depth reporting. But with Overstory, she’s leading a different kind of storytelling—one that moves beyond breaking news and instead highlights solutions to Hawaiʻi’s most pressing challenges.
“We’re not just looking at the problems or the challenges that Hawaiʻi is facing,” Fujii-Oride said. “We really want to know how folks are responding to these issues.”
Under her leadership, Overstory aims to add depth and context to the conversation rather than contribute to the overwhelming flood of daily news.
“We look at responses to challenges, using data and evidence to see what’s working and what can be replicated,” she explained.
UH impact on career
Fujii-Oride’s journey to this role began at UH Mānoa, where she earned a degree in journalism in the College of Social Sciences. While in college, the Bay Area native gained hands-on experience writing for Ka Leo O Hawaiʻi, the student newspaper, an opportunity she said was instrumental in shaping her career.
“Working at Ka Leo complemented what I learned in the classroom,” she said. “It teaches you to be brave, be curious and ask the important questions, all while learning how to build meaningful relationships with the community.”
After interning at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Honolulu Civil Beat, she joined Hawaiʻi Business Magazine in 2017, where she became a key voice in coverage on social and economic issues. But after years in the industry, she saw the need for a different type of reporting—one that would connect communities with potential solutions to the issues that affect them.
At Overstory, Fujii-Oride is embracing that mission. The publication is an editorially independent program of The Kūpaʻa Network, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing civic engagement. She believes the nonprofit model provides an advantage, allowing journalism to remain a public service rather than a business.
“With nonprofit journalism, it puts public service at the forefront of what we do,” she said. “It allows us to be intentional in our reporting and really focus on what the community needs.”
As Overstory grows, Fujii-Oride hopes to continue filling gaps in coverage, particularly in solutions-based reporting and neighbor island issues. Living on Kauaʻi, she understands firsthand how different the challenges can be outside of Oʻahu.
“We’re not trying to replicate what other newsrooms are already doing,” she said. “We saw a gap for more solutions coverage and for neighbor island stories.”
For aspiring journalists, Fujii-Oride has one key piece of advice: explore new avenues and be willing to innovate.
“It’s a really cool time to be a journalist,” she said. “There are so many new journalism organizations popping up, and it shows that we don’t have to do journalism the way it’s always been done.”
