Kitamura Reelected NSK Chairman

The 86th general assembly of NSK member media organizations held elections for its executive officers at the Press Center in Uchisaiwai-cho, Tokyo, on June 20.

Mainichi Shimbun President Masato Kitamura was reelected NSK chairman. Shinano Mainichi Shimbun President Kensuke Kosaka was approved for a second term as an NSK vice chairman and Nishi-nippon Shimbun President Akishige Tada was also elected as an NSK vice chairman.

NSK members approved a new lineup for the board of directors to take office upon the expiry of the terms of the past board.

NSK Chairman Kitamura told the general meeting that he felt the weight of responsibility in accepting reelection as NSK chairman when the newspaper industry faces difficulties on all sides. He said all he can do is to serve as a piece of string to bundle together the forces of the member companies and to help them act in unison.

NSK Vice Chairman Kosaka committed himself to helping Kitamura with his duties. New Vice Chairman Tada said he believes every member organization knows the prevailing problems facing the industry, adding that he looks forward to meeting these challenges under Kitamura’s guidance.

Asahi Shimbun hosts Journalism Symposium

The Asahi Shimbun hosted a symposium on journalism at Asahi Hall in Tokyo on June 22, featuring journalists and experts from Japan and abroad exchanging views before an audience of about 450. The participants included an American newspaper publisher and a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist.

The symposium, titled “Eye-Witness Reporting on Crime and War,” focused on news reporting within the context of human rights and the national interest.

Keynote speaker John Temple, the editor, president and publisher of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado, referred to the 1999 gun-rampage at Colorado's Columbine High School. Temple said the media needs the courage to publish important photos, regardless of whether it makes readers uncomfortable. He called such photos an essential part of eyewitness news.

The Rocky Mountain News carried a photo of the corpse of a boy lying on a street after he was shot to death in the Columbine High School massacre. The newspaper faced a furious protest from the family, but lengthy talks finally brought the family to accept what the editors had done, said Temple.

Temple presented the special feature that won Rocky Mountain photojournalist Todd Heisler the Pulitzer Prize (he is now with the New York Times). Temple also introduced the work of Rocky Mountain photojournalist Jim Sheeler, who has captured the grief of families of U.S. Marines killed in Iraq. One photo shows a pregnant widow cuddling up to the casket of her dead husband. Temple said the series grew from the deep empathy between the families and the journalists. He said editors need to let readers see the real world as it is, emphasizing the need to tell the true “stories” of people’s lives in news reporting.

The keynote was followed by a panel discussion on “Human rights and Journalism.” (See photo)

The panel brought together Temple, Heisler, Richard Lloyd Parry, Asian Editor of the Times of London, Miwa Yanagi, a contemporary artist, and Hidetoshi Sotooka, managing editor at the Asahi Tokyo Head Office. Hiroshi Fujita, a guest professor at Waseda University, was the moderator. The panelists discussed how to serve the public interest in gathering and reporting the news, without violating privacy or human rights.

Heisler of the Rocky Mountain News said aggressive news reporting is essential, but said he deals with his photo subjects modestly as a human being. He said he learned from his elders as a young reporter that he had to be a human being first and foremost, a professional second, and only then a photojournalist.

Asahi’s Sotooka said that no article can deliver the full facts without substantial information. He said a newspaper is always a product of trial-and-error when dealing with the feelings of crime victims.

Yanagi said the people’s thirst for information is continuing to grow with the spread of the Internet, making the ethical standards of newspapers increasingly important.

In a second part of the panel discussion, Shigeru Ishiba, a former Defense Agency director-general, joined a debate on “National Interest and Journalism.”

Referring to Heisler’s coverage of the funerals of U.S. soldiers and the media coverage of the Iraq war in general, Ishiba said every government should seek a public mandate only after revealing the negative side of an issue. He said any so-called national interest that could not withstand media criticism is not worthy of the name.

Lloyd Parry, of the Times, stressed that for journalists, the interests of the readers must always take precedence over the “national” interest.