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NSK News Bulletin Online
September 2006
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* Kyodo News opens Pyongyang Bureau as 1st Japanese Media Outpost
* Sankei to Issue 15-Billion-Yen Public Corporate Bond
* Newspapers launching joint Web site
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*Topics
--Koizumi¡Çs Aug. 15 visit to Yasukuni draws media throng
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Story of the Month>>>
New law leads media to various rehiring systems
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Kyodo News opens Pyongyang Bureau as 1st Japanese Media Outpost

Kyodo News Agency opened a bureau in Pyongyang on Sept. 1, becoming the first Japanese media organization with a bureau in the North Korean capital.

By setting up the office for newsgathering, Kyodo News aims to provide accurate and objective news from North Korea, which is attracting international attention over its alleged nuclear arms development program, its missile development and its abductions of Japanese citizens.

The Kyodo bureau is located within the head office of the Korean Central News Agency. The chief of Kyodo¡Çs bureau in China is doubling as head of the Pyongyang bureau. For the time being, no regular correspondent is to be stationed in Pyongyang. When needed, Kyodo will assign reporters to its Pyongyang bureau. The rest of the time, several local hires will gather information and do other routine work at the instruction of the bureau chief.

In May of this year, Associated Press Television News, a subsidiary of the Associated Press of the United States, became the first Western media body to open a branch in Pyongyang.

Kyodo's Pyongyang office gives the company a total of 41 overseas branches. A spokesman said it is Kyodo's mission to report to Japan and the rest of the world about the actual circumstances in North Korea, especially when the country is the focus of world attention. ¡ÈKyodo News will strive to provide accurate on-site news from North Korea,¡É the spokesman said.



Sankei to Issue 15-Billion-Yen Public Corporate Bond

The Sankei Shimbun announced in its Aug. 21 issue that it will issue publicly traded unsecured corporate bonds worth 15 billion yen in September.

The funds raised by the bond issue will be set aside for equipment investment to renew obsolete printing plants all over the country, the newspaper said.

It is unusual for a newspaper company to raise funds from general investors through public bond offerings. The date of issuance is set for Sept. 28 with a redemption period of five years. The yield at issue will be determined between Sept. 6th and 20th, based on supply-and-demand conditions.

The Japan Credit Rating Agency has assigned the Sankei Shimbun's bonds and senior debts preliminary ratings of BBB+ and BBB+/stable, respectively. The agency describes Sankei Shimbun as ¡Èa core company of FUJISANKEI Communications Group, operating one of the five largest nationwide newspapers. Among other factors, it has a strong foothold in Osaka.¡É

In 1987 and 1988, Sankei heavily invested in its printing factories across the country to boost its capacity for printing color pages. Those factories are now entering a period of renovation.

Japanese newspaper companies have generally been more restrained about bringing in external funds because they seek to distance their management independence from external pressures. But this bond issue recalls the fact that strict regulations apply to the assignment of stock under the Daily Newspaper Law.

But a spokesman said that Sankei is set to raise funds externally on the strength of its support from the market and society as a ¡Èhighly transparent company¡É that openly discloses its financial situation.



Newspapers launching joint Web site

A total of 47 newspaper companies on Sept. 7 announced the establishment of a central company that is to operate a joint Web site featuring domestic and overseas news and Japanese community information on tourism, restaurants and other subjects.

Representatives of the participating companies, mostly Japanese local newspapers, gathered in Tokyo to set up the new firm, ¡ÈZenkoku Shimbun Net¡É (the All-Japan Newspaper Network) in September. Their joint Web site will open by the year-end.

The planned portal site will allow users to take a look at news and community-based information from the participating local newspapers, while serving as a ¡Èhub¡É linked to the Web sites of the participating newspapers.

The new Web site will also be equipped with a function to collect related news on any chosen issue or topic from the Web sites of all the participating newspapers. It will also provide video news. The Web-operating firm will earn funds from advertisements.

The 47 newspapers will invest in the operating firm, and four other media companies will participate as content providers. Kyodo News Agency will provide domestic and overseas news to the new Web site.

Kenichiro Hayashi, a former general manager of digital business at Kyodo News Agency, will be the president of the operating firm.

Hayashi called the project an epoch-making undertaking in uniting rival local and regional newspapers for a common purpose. The new Web site is expected to increase the number of users of Web sites run by the participating local newspapers and thereby boost their revenues.

Hayashi said that the enrichment of Web content and the sales effort to reach the ¡Èlong tail¡É of Internet advertising will be the key to success for the new common-effort Web site.



Topics.......Topics.......Topics........

Koizumi¡Çs Aug. 15 visit to Yasukuni draws media throng

For the first time since taking office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi timed his controversial annual visit to Yasukuni Shrine for the especially sensitive date of Aug. 15th, the anniversary of Japan's World War Two surrender.

About 800 media people, including foreign journalists, covered Koizumi¡Çs much-disputed visit to the shrine. Under occasional rain, a huge crowd of onlookers swarmed the shrine area for a glimpse of the prime minister, generating a tension-filled atmosphere.

In the predawn hours of Aug. 15, several hundred reporters joined other visitors in front of the shrine¡Çs gate to wait for the 6 a.m. gate-opening. Foreign journalists, including reporters from China and South Korea were prominent in the crowd.

The moment the gate opened, reporters rushed into the shrine compound, lining up at the media receptionist desk. They got press certificates in exchange for their business cards. The shrine allocated only three spots in the shrine for the media to cover the prime minister¡Çs visit. The first 200 journalists got access to two of the three designated areas. The remainder flooded the third.

At 7:30 a.m., word came that Prime Minister Koizumi had left the prime minister¡Çs office and would shortly arrive at the shrine.

At 7:47 a.m., Koizumi arrived in a formal jacket with tails and proceeded to the main altar. Helicopters from several media organizations circled overhead, recording the scene. Visitors at the front of the shrine moved close to the offering boxes, which give a good view of the main altar, seeking a glimpse of Koizumi. Many of the visitors shouted ¡ÈBanzai!¡É in tribute to his visit.


Foreign journalists joined in covering Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi¡Çs highly controversial Aug. 15 visit to Yasukuni Shrine.

Ignoring repeated calls from China and South Korea, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday, Aug. 15, paying his respects at the Shinto shrine to Japan's 2.5 million military dead as well as 14 leading war criminals convicted after World War Two.

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Story of the Month>>>
New law leads media to various rehiring systems

An NSK survey says 51 of the 56 media companies surveyed have started rehiring in response to changes to the employment stabilization law for older people.

The survey says many respondents referred to ¡Ècreating jobs for rehired employees¡É as a new challenge.

Many Japanese newspaper companies and news agencies enforce mandatory retirement at age 60. But the government is moving to cope with the new demands of an aging society. The government's responses include changes it made in April to the Law on Employment Stabilization for Older People. The revised law requires employers to keep workers on their payrolls till the age of 65 on a phased basis.

The changes require employers to choose this fiscal year among three options. They can raise their mandatory retirement ages, abolish mandatory retirement, or adopt continuing employment systems. In addition, employers must prolong continuing employment on a phased basis by 2013 to ensure employment for all staff till they become eligible for the state welfare pension.

Depending on financial and other conditions, employers need not rehire all employees who hit retirement age. But, employers must set specific, objective criteria for reemployment under labor-management programs.

The NSK survey was aimed at finding out about each media organization¡Çs responses to the new law. A total of 56 member companies had responded to the survey as of June 1. The respondents included 55 newspaper publishers and news agencies and one broadcaster.

The survey revealed that 30 companies have introduced reemployment systems, while 20 have modified existing rehiring schemes. One newspaper company revised an existing rehiring scheme and introduced a new system.

In setting criteria for employee reemployment, 27 companies said they have set criteria, although, in principle, all employees who apply will be rehired. Another 23 companies said they would set criteria and rehire only those who meet them. A small minority -- just three companies -- said they have not set any criteria for rehiring.

Commonly criteria include a performance evaluation for the past several years (generally two to three years), good health conditions certified by company physicians, and professional ability, ability ratings or duty positions.

The most common form of reemployment is a ¡Èshokutaku¡É short-term contract. In most cases, the contract is for one year, renewable till eligibility for the state pension. At 21 companies, all unused paid leaves at retirement are carried over upon rehiring. At 30 other firms, paid leaves are given during reemployment, with 20 days a year the most common quota. Many companies said they also pay regular bonuses to rehired ¡Èshokutaku¡É employees.

As for the job descriptions for rehired staff, 21 companies said they vary from person to person, as expectations for rehired employees do not always match current workplace needs.

A total of 16 companies said rehired employees mainly stay at the same workplaces to ¡Èutilize experience,¡É ¡Èmaximize immediately adaptable potential¡É and ¡Ènurture younger staff.¡É Five companies said they move rehired employees to new workplaces because of a ¡Èlack of need at pre-retirement workplaces¡É and their reassignment ¡Èto formulaic work without much overtime.¡É

Regarding job categories and work sites, 11 companies said they created new jobs for rehired employees. Some companies created daytime-only jobs in their printing sections. Others cut back on temporary hiring and part-timers to create job opportunities for the returnees.

Many companies referred to creating jobs for older employees as a new challenge. Some pointed to the importance of resolving the mismatch of rehired employees¡Ç expectations and actual requirements. Others said they are already planning for medium and longer-term employment for older employees as required reemployment moves to five-year terms in 2009.


Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association
Nippon Press Center Bldg., 2-2-1 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo100-8543, Japan

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