Ah Jook Ku (April 24, 1910 – August 6, 2007) was an American journalist, writer, media advocate and public relations practitioner.
[2] She and her family grew up on the 'Ewa Plantation (Ewa Beach) in Hawaii, where her father worked as a luna (boss).
Ku was hired by the Associated Press in 1943 during World War II, becoming the AP's first Asian American reporter.
[4] Ku left Hawaii for China in 1948 aboard the Pacific maiden voyage of the SS President Cleveland.
[4] She took a job at the information office of the Nationalist Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek as an English language editor.
[4] She was based in Nanking, China, for just 18 months at the position before the 1949 Communist Revolution forced her to return to Hawaii.
[4] Upon her return to Hawaii from China, Ku began working in the growing field of public relations.
[1] Ah Jook Ku became executive director of the Honolulu Community Media Council in 1975, the same year that she retired from the Department of Education.
Its purpose was to promote accurate and ethical journalism within Hawaii, support First Amendment rights and seek transparent public access to government information.