Probably the most knowledgeable political commentator in the state of Hawaii is the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Richard Borreca.

His thrice-weekly column, “On Politics,” has informed Hawaii residents about the inner workings of the Aloha State’s power brokers for years. He has been a trusted voice because his analyses are dispassionate and he never has an ax to grind.

Tuesday, all of us fans of Borreca were given a sad piece of news — because of the general decline in the newspaper business, his column will now appear only once a week.

To his credit, Borreca’s announcement was not a bitter one. Instead, he quoted Bonnie Wiley, the only female combat correspondent in the Pacific during World War II. She told a class that Borreca attended at UH-Manoa, “Newspapers are a business. It is their job to make money — don’t forget that.”

Borreca went on to explain the problem in detail to his readers in Tuesday’s column.

“Today’s debate about how information on the internet wants to be free is distinct from Wiley’s dictum that papers are a business.

“Free stuff on the internet is different from the product of dispassionate, professional journalists writing a daily chronicle on the important things that happened in your neighborhood, city and country.

“Newspapers pay reporters to sit in those City Council meetings, attend those legislative hearings and learn about tax policy, land use and labor laws. If the reporters are not there, the City Council and the school board will still meet, but you won’t know about it.

“Like other papers, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser is a business and it is changing and evolving. Part of that evolution is that I’m going from writing three columns a week, to writing one every Sunday — call it semi-retired.

“Those conversations with readers, voters and even those politicians have always been the best part of work — and I’m looking forward to it continuing.”

We’re looking forward to the conversation continuing also, Richard. We just wish it was going to be more frequent.

* Editorials reflect the opinion of the publisher.