The future of newspapers was the key issue in Seoul for four days starting on May 29, when the city served as the venue for the 58th World Newspaper Congress and the 12th World Editors Forum. There were 47 delegates from Japan among the over 1,300 newspaper publishers and editors attending from all around the world.

The formal theme for the congress of the World Association of Newspapers was “Exploiting Innovation and Seizing Opportunities: The Keys to Success.” The theme of the editors' forum was “Readers are changing; Let’s Change Newspapers.”

Both subjects were addressed in reports and debates. Shinichi Hakoshima, who was then the Asahi Shimbun president, (now a director and adviser), and six other Japanese delivered speeches during the conference.

In two sessions held on the topic of a “Newspaper Renaissance,” panel reports listed proposals for sweeping changes in the newspaper industry, such as the adoption of rapid diffusion technologies using the Internet and mobile phones. Participants also discussed the continuing decline in newspaper subscriptions among younger people and the growing competition posed by free newspapers.

The Asahi's Hakoshima spoke at a third session on the topic “Beyond Print -- the Next Generation of Media.” He outlined Web-related undertakings, including the “Asahi.com” Web site and its use of membership “clubs” and “societies” to provide news through mobile telephone services. He said the Asahi’s “Aspara Club” membership service is not profit-oriented, but is instead a move to bring younger people ? a core group in the ubiquitous networking society ? to newspapers.

The fourth session of the congress heard Nihon Keizai Shimbun President and CEO Ryoki Sugita speak on the subject of “Future Prospects” and the role of newspapers in the ubiquitous networking society. Sugita said the ever-growing Internet and its influence could pose a threat to newspapers. But he concluded that newspapers are more accountable as they provide readers the editors' views of the news at a glance, offering a functionality that will help them remain a principal element of the media.

Sugita said newspaper companies should use the real-time features of the Internet to achieve real-time news and information delivery. He also focused on the Internet as a two-way communications network to supplement printed media, as well as a tool to promote advertising and newspaper sales. The Internet and Web logs are already accustoming users to the process of selecting and reading information entirely at their own discretion, thereby enhancing the objectivity of the media, according to Sugita. “If we in newspapers, stick to objective reporting and to continuing to provide content that caters to readers' requirements, our future prospects are bright,” he concluded.

TV Cameras, equipment Found at Volcanic Eruption Site in Unzen

Burned TV-news reporting equipment was found on June 22 at the foot of Mount Unzen in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. The eruption there in 1991 killed 43 people, 16 of them members of the media.

The burned remains of equipment including telephoto lenses, two TV cameras and four tripod stands were retrieved from the site in June.

An anonymous tipster alerted the disaster-prevention office of Shimabara municipality about the presence of the equipment. The office put the items in secure storage in an off-limits area.

Staff from the Mainichi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun claimed two of the telephoto lenses while the Nihon Keizai Shimbun is checking to whom the third and final lens actually belongs.

The details of the retrieved TV equipment are still under study. One camera was so badly burned as to be useless. Fukuoka Broadcasting Co. in Fukuoka City. Nikkei staff say the TV camera might have been leased to Nippon Television Network Corp. to cover the volcanic eruption.

The 43 people who died at Mount Unzen in 1991 died under a wall of molten rock and gases in 1991.

The local disaster response office said the TV equipment will be returned to its owner companies as soon as it is positively identified.

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