NSK Announces 2005 Awards
Nihon Shinbun Kyokai (NSK) on Sept. 7 announced the awards that it will be presenting for special achievements on Oct. 18 at the 58th National Newspaper Convention, which is to be held in Kobe City.
NSK set up the awards in 1957 for remarkable contributions in the editorial, business/management and technology fields to enhance the authority and credibility of the newspaper industry (NSK now also includes wire services and broadcasters). This year's three awards in the technology division are the first in four years. There are also to be four awards for editorial writing. For a third straight year, there will be no awards in the business/management division.
There were 69 nominations from 48 member companies for the editorial awards, four nominations from four companies for the business/management awards, and three nominations from three companies for the technology division awards.
After preliminary recommendations by subcommittees for each division, the selection committee met on Oct. 7 to examine four finalists recommended for the editorial division and three for the technology division. The committee agreed to give awards to all seven finalists, approving the subcommittee recommendations. There were no committee recommendations, nor awards in the business/management field.
These are the winners:
(Editorial Division)
-- For scooping the engagement of Princess Nori
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(Recipient: The Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarters' city news division task force on the Imperial Household, represented by senior editor Katsumi Iwai)
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On the front page in the morning edition of Nov. 14, 2004, the Asahi Shimbun carried a scoop on the engagement of Princess Nori and Yoshiki Kuroda,an employee with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government . He was a classmate of Prince Akishino at Gakushuin University.
Word of the much-awaited engagement of the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko was news nationwide. Foreign media also immediately picked up the story. The Asahi further reported that an engagement announcement planned for early November had been postponed to the year-end out of concern over a string of deadly typhoons and earthquakes in central Niigata -- reflecting the worries of the couple and the Emperor and Empress.
The Asahi Shimbun reported the engagement first, in keeping with the media mission of delivering information of national concern as soon as possible. The scoop was a result of years of newsgathering and marked a coup for the Asahi.
・ Katsumi Iwai joined the Asahi Shimbun in 1971, and has served in his current position since April 1994, after earlier working at the Asahi's Kofu branch.
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-- For news photos of the JR West derailment disaster
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(Recipient: The Asahi Shimbun Osaka headquarters' photo center, represented by manager Yasuo Sakuma)
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After the April 25, 2005 derailment disaster on JR West's Takarazuka Line that killed 107 people, the Asahi Shimbun carried a steady flow of photographs right up until the line reopened 55 days later, covering the accident site, the grieving families and the public response.
The photos include images of the wrecked train cars crushed into an apartment building; a trapped passenger rescued 15 hours after the crash; relatives at the morgue; and people visiting a makeshift shrine at the accident site on Mother’s Day. Asahi photographers monitored the accident site and those involved with a sense of compassion. The photographs reflected the value of human life and gave force to calls for greater safety protections on railways.
・Yasuo Sakuma joined the Asahi in 1980 in the photo division at the Tokyo headquarters, also serving in the news section of the Hokkaido branch and the Seibu (Western Japan) branch. He has been in his current position since April 2004.
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-- For a special series on the 10th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake
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(Recipient: The Kobe Shimbun task force on the 10th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, represented by deputy managing editor and city news editor Kaoru Takashi)
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The Kobe Shimbun special series “Let’s Preserve Human Life” began in its Jan. 10, 2005, morning issue, marking the 10the anniversary of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which killed 6,433 people. The project focused on disaster prevention, response and follow-up.
Based on a decade of newsgathering, the Kobe Shimbun worked on its home turf, covering the mental anguish of those who lost kin in the quake. It also refocused attention on the fact that some victims remain unidentified to this day. The series re-examined disaster procedures from the viewpoints of Kobe residents and of survivors of last year's quake in central Chubu. The series dealt frankly with suicides and the unattended deaths of elderly lone survivors.
Covering the subsequent economic recovery in detail, the series did not omit the harsh reality still faced by many survivors even a full decade later, continually returning to the need for better responses.
・ Kaoru Takashi joined the Kobe Shimbun in 1975 and has been in his current position since March 2005, after serving in the Takasago branch, the Hanshin general bureau and the city news division.
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-- For a special supplement series on the Battle of Okinawa
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(Recipient: The Ryukyu Shimpo task force on the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, represented by editorial department city news editor Tsunekuni Tamaki)
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Marking the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa, the Ryukyu Shimpo issued 11 special supplements, titled “The Battle of Okinawa Newspaper,” from July 7, 2004 through June 23, 2005. The supplements re-examined the news reports of that time to reconstruct the battle in a modern context.
The supplements dealt with the massive mobilization of non-combatant civilians and major points in the battle, such as the U.S. landing, from various perspectives. New facts and testimony boosted the value of the supplements as reference materials. More importantly, the newspaper reported some things banned by wartime military censorship, giving a fuller picture of the battle. The newspaper also admitted its own negative legacy of playing an obedient role in cheering-on wartime morale and supporting national belligerency.
The supplements were a novel undertaking, reminding society of the cruelty of war and reaffirming newspapers' primary mission of factual reporting.
・Tsunekuni Tamaki joined the Ryukyu Shimpo in 1983. He has been city news editor since March 2005, after serving as a senior editor and sports editor.
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(Technology Division)
-- For practical application of FM-screening in printing
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(Recipient: The Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarters' production office, represented by Takehiko Murase, assistant to the production director)
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The Asahi Shimbun Tokyo headquarters introduced FM (Frequency Modulation) screening in printing newspaper color advertisements, enabling reproduction of gradation sequences through crude density halftone dots. This method is in wide use in commercial printing, but its use in newspapers had been thought to be technically impossible. Using the Computer-to-Plate (CTP) system that allows accurate reproduction of minute pixels, the Asahi Shimbun studied and discovered how to incorporate FM screening. The newspaper developed a conversion profile and correction curves that enhance the potential printing quality of newspaper advertising.
Compared to conventional printing, in which graduation is reproduced by differential dot sizes, FM screening enables brilliant color reproduction with subtle detail and smooth gradation. Another merit is reduced ink use.
Asahi put FM screening into practical use for the first time in Japan’s newspaper industry and made its system available for industry-wide use.
・ Takehiko Murase joined the Asahi in 1987 in the printing section of the Tokyo headquarters, also serving in the Hokkaido branch, the production division of the Tokyo headquarters' factory in Zama and the West Japan headquarters' factory in Fukuoka and elsewhere. He has been in his current job since April 2003.
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-- For developing and implementing automated printing of high-quality homogeneous color pages
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(Recipient: The Yomiuri Shimbun Tokyo headquarters' production department, represented by Koichi Takatsuki, a deputy manager in the 3rd Engineering Division)
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The Yomiuri Shimbun’s Tokyo headquarters developed an automated color-matching process for color-page printing that produces high-quality color pages on any rotary press. Conventional color matching had been dependent on operator skill.
The newspaper industry has struggled with high-quality color pages and eliminating differences in output between printing machines. The new system automatically controls color matching through density measurements obtained from an image sensing of actual pages, with target densities set through prepress data. It completely eliminates conventional color-matching using color samples and enables fully automated printing of high-quality color pages. Automated ink density adjustment stabilizes print quality soon after the start of printing, cutting costs for labor and reducing waste newsprint.
・ Koichi Takatsuki joined the Yomiuri in 1985 and has been in his current post since September 2004 after serving in the engineering division of the works department and the 2nd engineering division of the production department.
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-- For the new Cosmos III page composition system, utilizing NewsML
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(Recipient: The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, represented by engineering department general manager Hiroshi Misawa)
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The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun has developed a page composition system that uses the standard NewsML format for multipurpose conversion of news materials proposed by the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) and standardized by NSK for introduction in Japan. The paper adopted its system in March 2005, featuring “theme management,” using memos for upcoming news contents and a so-called “sketch composition” system.
With content management based on NewsML, the company developed integrated page composition, editorial compilation and database creation, enabling multi-purpose use of same-source of materials.
With theme management, page editors can predict the volume of upcoming editorial contents and confirm upcoming contents in advance, thus enhancing editing efficiency. Through “sketch composition”, page layout is completed prior to receiving contents, with updated contents reflected in prepared layout pages in real-time. The system speeds up page makeup.
・ Hiroshi Misawa joined the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun in 1973 as a makeup editor, later serving as a deputy managing editor, a deputy general manager in the production department and general manager in the production department. He has been in his current position since July.
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NSK Chairman Hakoshima Resigns Over Fake Election Reports in the Asahi
NSK Chairman Shinichi Hakoshima on Sept. 7 announced his resignation over fabricated election reports published in his newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun. Hakoshima, who is an executive adviser at the Asahi Shimbun, resigned at an NSK Board of Directors meeting.
Asahi Shimbun president and NSK director Kotaro Akiyama told the board that the incident had “tarnished public trust in not only the Asahi Shimbun but in Japanese journalism as a whole,” and deeply apologized (See September NSK Bulletin for details).
Hakoshima also apologized to the board in tendering his resignation as NSK chairman. “I am sorry not to be able to serve out my term. The newspaper industry faces issues on relations between news reporting and human rights, personal information protection, and the upcoming hike in the consumption tax. These matters require public receptiveness to the importance of newspapers. I feel deeply responsible for undermining the public trust that is the very foundation of newspapers,” he said.
Katsumi Sasaki, an NSK vice chairman and the president of the Sanyo Shimbun, told the board that the resignation was final and that the board had no choice but to accept it. He said the governing committee had asked Hakoshima to remain in office until the end of the Newspaper Week, which starts on Oct. 15 -- a request that he accepted.
■Asahi President Akiyama Apologizes Over Fabricated Stories
Asahi Shimbun President Kotaro Akiyama called a news conference on Sept. 7 to apologize for the careless use of a reporter's fabricated notes in Asahi articles published prior to the recent general elections.
He said an in-house committee is to report shortly. He admitted to “misjudgment” in not holding a news conference immediately after the scandal broke.
The Asahi report on the news conference, published on the morning of Sept. 8, quotes Akiyama as saying he was deeply sorry about the resulting loss of public faith in the Asahi and in newspapers in general.
“As someone responsible for the Asahi Shimbun, I feel deeply responsible for my failure to prevent this incident,” he said, promising sweeping reforms starting in the editorial section. He pledged reforms at the "very foundation of newspaper-making.”
Asked why he did not call a news conference earlier, Akiyama said Asahi reporters had confronted him with the same question. He said he had misjudged the issue and regretted his inaction.
■Asahi calls false reports a result of communication breakdown
A detailed Asahi Shimbun report in its Sept. 15 morning edition explained its August publication of false reports about the general election as the product of faked reporter's notes.
A deputy city news editor at the Tokyo headquarters and three reporters wrote the three-page report. It examined a “request” sent to the Nagano bureau by the political news section at Tokyo headquarters, seeking information about moves to form a new political party, details about the incident, and any repercussions for those politicians involved. The report also includes a record of discussions with the reporter who falsified the notes about the story.
The report says the articles based on the notes of the since-fired reporter were produced after an exchange of only two e-mails between the Tokyo political news section and the Nagano bureau, where the reporter worked.
“Multiple errors piled up, but the publication of the false articles was primarily caused by a lack of communication between reporters and editors,” the report concluded.
According to the Asahi Shimbun, the newspaper will solicit opinions and suggestions from readers and reflect them in an in-house report on recovering readers’ trust. Some of the corrective measures will be published in a special supplement during Newspaper Week in mid-October.
The report said that in “requesting” by e-mail that the Nagano bureau collect information, the political news section did not give a detailed explanation of the aim of the assignment. Eventually, the Nagano bureau chief gave a vague instruction to the reporter. The bureau chief then failed to review the reporter's notes, which were delivered to the Tokyo political news section without scrutiny at the Nagano bureau, according to the report.
The Tokyo political news section then prepared the articles based on the notes, without checking with the Nagano bureau about the accuracy of the notes or sending the Nagano bureau any advance drafts of the articles, the report said.
The reporter admitted never telling the bureau chief that he had fabricated the notes, simply because he was “… too busy and just wanted to get out of the hassle.” He did tell the investigation panel that he had expected to be asked about his notes by the Tokyo political news section. “I never expected my faked notes to be used for articles without any further discussion with the Tokyo head office,” he said.
“My went totally blank (when a final proof of the article was sent from Tokyo the night before publication). I became resigned to letting things take their course,” he said.
The reporter was initially said to have admitted faking the notes to get some kind of “recognition.” But the Sept. 15 report said he has since admitted that, “I thought that falling victim to temptation might not be a convincing excuse, so I created yet another false story (about my own motives).”
Topics.......Topics.......Topics........
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8 Asian-Bureau Staff Members Visit Japan on NSK Program
Eight local reporters at Japanese media bureaus in Asia took part in the NSK training program for 10 days in September.
The training program, called the Asian Program, aims to familiarize local-hired reporters with Japan -- its politics, economy, diplomacy and security issues.
Eight reporters working for Japanese media organizations in India, Pakistan, Iraq, China, Taiwan, Myanmar and Egypt participated in the Sept. 5-14 program. The last such program was held in March 2004.
The participants toured various institutions including the Foreign Ministry and the Bank of Japan. As the program coincided with the general election campaign, the Asian journalists visited a candidate’s election office and a polling station on voting day. Later, they visited Hiroshima and Kyoto, returning to their home bureaus after two-day training sessions at their respective media head offices in Japan.
One of the eight was an Iraqi journalist who is a specially assigned correspondent in Baghdad for the Yomiuri Shimbun. He said he had long dreamt about visiting Japan. “Iraq is in chaos, and I pray to see a restoration of stability and security,” he said.
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Media Ethics Convention Warns Against Over-Regulation
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The National Federation of Consultative Assemblies for the Enhancement of Mass Media Ethics held its 49th national convention in Hiroshima City on Sept. 29-30. More than 300 people attended from 128 companies and organizations in the newspaper, news agency, broadcasting, publishing and advertising fields.
Over 400 people, including about 350 members of the public, attended the federation's 19th symposium -- its largest so far. The federation gathers companies and organizations from the newspaper, broadcasting and advertising industries.
Following the opening session and a lecture, participants split into seven discussion groups, five on news reporting and two on advertising. The main assembly on the second day adopted a resolution of strong opposition to tighter regulation of the media, while also calling for enhanced media ethics.
The federation was set up in 1958 to develop mass media ethics and protect the freedom of speech and expression. Its membership includes NSK, as well as the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, and eight other associations in publishing, film, advertising and other media-related industries. It also includes 10 regional consultative groups on mass media ethics and is the only organization networking the various fields of Japan's media industry.
Each regional group holds a monthly meeting or an extraordinary general meeting to exchange views on matters related to media ethics or the government’s moves to tighten regulations on the media. The federation organizes an annual national convention to consolidate the activities of its regional groups and to appeal to the public about the importance of protecting the freedom of expression beyond the bounds of business affairs.
On the first-day of the general meeting, President Wataru Imanaka of Hiroshima City's Chugoku Shimbun said in a speech that the media must act to regain public trust after one scandal after another. “We media people should be ashamed of being soft on ourselves while being harsh on others. I expect the participants in this meeting to discuss how to reasonably reflect on our own actions and make full-fledged changes,” he said.
The session then heard a lecture titled “The Tide of the Times and the Media,” from Takashi Hiraoka, a former major of Hiroshima and former managing editor of the Chugoku Shimbun. Hiraoka traced the history of the prewar and postwar suppression of free speech and the history of post-war democratization.
“Like it or not, we passively received freedom of speech and expression from the occupation forces after the war. It is not something we won by fighting for it. As a result, the Japanese media lack a serious sense of crisis about moves to limit our freedom of speech and expression, and we are inclined to accept self-regulation,” he warned.
Citing the landslide re-election victory of the Liberal Democratic Party in the general elections and the resulting change in the political environment, coupled with growing nationalism, Hiraoka said what is at stake is whether the media will float along with the flow of the times as an instrument of the powers-that-be, or will remain high-spirited in running against the tide.
The lecture was followed by discussions in the seven separate groups.
On human rights, privacy protection and legal compliance, participants discussed the media ethics issues involved in the Asahi Shimbun’s false election reports based on faked reporter’s notes. The discussions addressed the relations between head and local media offices and problems inherent in having editors compile articles based on reporters’ notes. The problem of public officials refusing to release data about individuals was also discussed.
On privacy protection under the Personal Information Protection Law and government plans for relief for people who fall victim to violations of that law, discussions centered on the issue of the right to anonymity demanded by some of the victims' families in the JR West train disaster. One participant said it is becoming more difficult for reporters to get the news. They also touched on news reporting about the recent general elections.
On “juvenile delinquency and the media,” the discussion focused on criminal cases involving minors. One participant said reporters can not find the truth due to school authorities’ refusals to release information. Other topics included the tendency in judicial circles toward harsh punishments for juvenile delinquency and moves by local governments to curb sales of books deemed harmful to youth.
On the “60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, and the media’s responsibility,” discussions focused on news reporting about the anti-nuke and pacifist movements. Some participants called recent reporting superficial and said the media are not covering what should be reported. One newspaper used the occasion to launch a new project on the 60th anniversary of the war's end to educate and train young reporters, drawing interest from the participants.
On “the challenges of Internet media and media ethics,” discussions dealt with how conventional media should cope with Internet-based media, agreeing that conventional media should face newcomers as professionals and strive to boost their own competence. Malicious contents on the Internet and gross violations of copyrights were cited as negative factors linked to the rise of Internet media.
The national convention closed by adopting a resolution:
“The implementation of the Personal Information Protection Law in April has induced overreaction among public institutions and strengthened the tendency of the police to adhere to the principle of protecting individuals' anonymity in public announcements, thereby infringing upon of the people’s right to know. In addition, the submission to the Diet of a bill for a national referendum on revising the Constitution in a way that would include regulating the media is under study along with a bill to protect of human rights. Since the ruling bloc won an overwhelming majority in the latest general elections, we must stay on the alert against any move to revise laws in a way that might limit the freedom of expression.
“At our annual convention in Hiroshima City on the 60th anniversary of the A-bombing, we examined the environment surrounding the media and discussed measures to ensue our autonomy and self-reliance with a main theme of ‘The Future of the media'.
“We also discussed how we, the media, should address our immediate tasks in terms of news reporting, including protecting human rights and privacy, dealing with juvenile delinquency, and meeting the media’s responsibility on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, the rise of Internet media and the ethics of advertising.
“As a result, we reminded ourselves of the need to live up to the responsibility and ethics of the media in a way that caters to the people’s right to know. We also reaffirmed our mission of boosting reader and viewer trust by providing true news reports as well as fair and diverse opinions and advertising, thereby contributing to the development of a democratic society.
“On the occasion of this 49th national convention, we have agreed to staunchly oppose any move to regulate the media, while renewing our efforts to even further enhance media ethics.
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Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association
Nippon Press Center Bldg., 2-2-1 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo100-8543, Japan
bulletin@pressnet.or.jp
Copyright 2005 Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
All right reserved
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