- Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
- NSK News Bulletin
- NSK News Bulletin January 2013
NSK News Bulletin January 2013
Newspaper Circulation Dips 1.2% to 47.77 Million in 2012
The NSK annual circulation survey for 2012 says aggregate daily newspaper circulation was 47,777,913 (copies) as of October 2012, down 1.2 percent from a year earlier, in an eighth straight decline. The figure is 567,391 (copies) lower than the corresponding figure for 2011.
NSK’s “Circulation and Diffusion of Newspapers By Prefecture” survey said the 2012 margin of decline was smaller than the 2.0 percent drop of the year before.
The annual decline in circulation in the Tohoku region was a steep 8.3 percent in 2011 due to repercussions from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear crisis. But the slide for 2012 narrowed to 0.3 percent, according to the survey.
The latest survey was based on data from 118 NSK member newspapers.
By type of newspaper, the circulation of general-interest daily newspapers fell 0.8 percent to 43,723,161 in an eighth consecutive annual drop. Sports dailies dropped 4.7 percent to 4,054,752 in a 12th straight slide.
Average newspaper distribution per household stood at 0.88 copies, falling 0.02 from the year earlier, while average population per newspaper-copy issued was 2.65, up 0.04. The number of newspaper copies per a population of 1,000 was 478 (copies), down 9 (copies).
These figures were calculated by counting a “set” of morning and evening editions as one copy. If the morning and evening editions were to be counted separately, aggregate daily newspaper circulation would be 60,654,525 (copies).
Asahi to Issue Japanese Edition of Huffington Post by Spring
The Asahi Shimbun announced on Dec. 14 that it will launch a Japanese-language version of The Huffington Post, a U.S. website that combines news, blogging and social media.
Asahi and AOL Inc., the major U.S. internet service company that operates The Huffington Post, will set up a joint venture to run the Japanese version, which is to start service this spring.
Access to the news site will be free. According to the announcement, it is yet to be determined exactly when the joint venture will be created, and how much of an equity-stake ratio Asahi will have in the new venture. A limited number of Asahi staff members will be loaned to the new company, Asahi officials said.
The Huffington Post was launched in 2005 in the United States as a news and commentary website, featuring news blogs and opinions/comments posted by users. The participatory news website has become the largest news site in the U.S. with some 46 million users posting more than 8 million opinions/comments a month.
The Huffington Post has opened foreign versions in Britain, Canada, France, Spain and Italy. The Japanese version is expected to be the first in Asia.
TBS, Vietnam Television sign deal to co-produce drama, exchange news
Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. (TBS) and Vietnam Television (VTV), the national TV broadcaster in Vietnam, agreed on Dec. 14 to co-produce a drama and to cooperate in providing news content.
TBS and VTV are also studying the possibility of collaborating in marketing for commercials, according to TBS officials.
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam, the broadcasters are to co-produce a drama featuring friendship between Japanese and Vietnamese people. It is to air in Japan and Vietnam in the fall of 2013.
Under their news partnership agreement, TBS and VTV are to cooperate in providing news content and in the use of broadcasting facilities, as well as collaborating in other areas.
NSK Seeks Lower Tax Rate on Newspapers, Cites Survey Support
NSK issued a statement on Jan. 15 calling on the Japanese government to cut the consumption tax rate on newspapers.
The statement says that imposing high tax rates on “knowledge” is likely to weaken the nation, noting that there is a common understanding in Europe that newspapers and other print media should be exempt from taxation, as a means of promoting democracy in the public interest.
According to the statement, it is important to maintain an environment in which newspapers, which contribute to the sound development of a democratic society and to general well being, can be read anywhere and everywhere in the country.
At the same time, NSK also asserts in its statement that books, magazines and online media should be treated in the same way, crediting these media, like newspapers, for providing information and literacy to the public.
Under the previous government led by the Democratic Party of Japan, bills related to a comprehensive reform of social security and taxation were adopted by the Diet in August 2012. As a result, the consumption tax rate is due to be raised from the current 5 percent to 8 percent in 2014, and to 10 percent in 2015.
NSK, which has long sought a reduced tax rate for newspapers, adopted a resolution at its annual convention in October 2012 calling on the government to cut the rate. That resolution warned that raising taxation on information is detrimental to the maintenance and development of democracy.
Upon returning to power in a big win in the general election in December, the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito are now discussing possible reduced tax rates as part of a revision of the tax system for fiscal 2013.
In Europe, where the standard value-added tax is in the double-digits in many countries, taxation on newspapers is kept at lower levels. For instance, the rate is zero in Britain, Belgium, Denmark and Norway, while the corresponding tax rate is in single-digits such as 2.1 percent in France, 4 percent in Spain and Italy, and 7 percent in Germany.
In an NSK survey held last November of 4,000 Japanese male and female adults, 84 percent of the respondents favored introducing some reduced tax rates within the consumption-tax system. About three-quarters of the respondents said they would support lower tax rates for newspapers and books.
