- Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
- NSK News Bulletin
- NSK News Bulletin July 2012
NSK News Bulletin July 2012
Japanese Newspapers, News Agencies Open Websites in Chinese, Korean
Recent years have seen a growing number of Japanese newspapers and news agencies open websites in the Chinese and Korean languages.
Kyodo News was among the leaders in hosting a Chinese-language news website starting in 2001. Kyodo followed up with a Korean-language site in 2011.
According to Kyodo officials, there is high foreign demand for objective and accurate local-language information about Japan. They call it a sign of the times that other media organizations are following Kyodo's lead in providing news and information in the Chinese and Korean languages.
Kyodo makes some of the content from its Chinese-language news site available to the public at no charge. It also provides its news content to Chinese media organizations and to Chinese-language Web portals on a fee basis. Chinese users are increasingly demanding the latest and most interesting news from Japan and are also submitting a growing volume of comments about the news reports. The implication is that the free flow of information via the Internet is gradually bringing change in the form of greater openness to Chinese society, the officials said.
The Asahi Shimbun on April 16 of this year opened a Chinese-language news website and on May 14 began running a Korean-language news website titled the “Asahi Asia Antenna”.
According to Asahi officials, some of their Chinese readers have submitted comments saying that they feel more familiarity with Japanese news due to the Asahi website. Some have asked for the coverage of more political news and even Chinese domestic news. Readers of the company's Korean-language site, meanwhile, have shown strong interest in news related to Japan-South Korean relations, the officials said.
The two Asahi news websites are offered to the public free of charge. Asahi officials say they expect the sites to raise the number of subscribers to the company's fee-based online services. By familiarizing Chinese and Korean users with Asahi news content, the newspaper is aiming for an increase in overall readership and subscriptions, the officials said.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on March 15 of this year opened a news website in Chinese, offering Chinese translations of news articles and columns drawn from its daily Japanese-language newspaper.
About 80 percent of the users of the site live in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or other Chinese-speaking countries/regions. There is no fee for accessing the Nikkei website. Nikkei officials say the site is aimed at promoting economic exchange between Japan and China.
Among other Japanese newspapers, the Nishinippon Shimbun, based in Fukuoka City, Kyushu, in 2011 set up a sub-site within the official news website of the major Hong Kong newspaper Ta Kung Pao. The sub-site, titled “Japan Online,” features Japanese news and information, particularly covering topics related to the Kyushu region.
According to Nishinippon officials, the sub-site is focused on boosting awareness about Kyushu among Chinese readers, thereby having the spinoff effect of promoting economic exchange between China and Kyushu. Officials credit the site with contributing to a rise in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan's Kyushu region.
For the Chinese users of the main website, accessing the sub-site is much more convenient than searching through foreign sites, because the Hong Kong main site uses fast, domestically based servers within China. By tying up with local Chinese media, the Japanese newspaper aims to more effectively distribute Japan-related content to China and to Chinese speakers, the officials said.
Montenegro Opens Honorary Consulate at Niigata Nippo Tokyo Office
The former Yugoslav republic of Montenegro on June 4 set up an Honorary Consulate General at the Tokyo offices of the Niigata Nippo, the publisher of the largest-circulation daily newspaper in Niigata Prefecture.
Kenji Otsubo, a U.S.-based entrepreneur who serves as a representative of the newspaper's international exchange promotion office in New York, was named Montenegro's honorary consul general.
Otsubo was asked by a Montenegrin associate to accept the position. The Niigata Nippo offered its Tokyo office as the site for the honorary consulate, capitalizing on the office's physical proximity to Japan's Foreign Ministry and underlining years of exchanges between Niigata Prefecture and Montenegro.
Montenegro became an independent state in 2006. The new consulate does not issue visas, instead focusing on promoting further bilateral economic and cultural exchanges.
Chunichi Shimbun’s Uji Elected to International Press Institute Board
Toshihiko Uji, an advisor to the Chunichi Shimbun, was on June 25 elected as a board member of the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI), at its annual meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Uji was elected to replace his predecessor, Kiyofuku Chuma, chief editor of the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun, who had retired from the IPI position. Uji is due to serve a four-year term at IPI.
Uji, who is also a special editorial writer at the Tokyo head office of the Chunichi Shimbun, formerly served as chief editor, senior executive managing director and official representative of the Tokyo head office of the newspaper. Since 2005, he has also been serving as the chairman of the NSK International Affairs Committee.
IPI is a global network of editors, media executives and journalists, that is dedicated to the furtherance and safeguarding of press freedom, the protection of freedom of opinion and expression, the promotion of the free flow of news and information and the general improvement of journalistic practices.
