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NSK News Bulletin Online
January 2007
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* Asahi Shimbun Reforms Structure, Abolishes Division System
* Nikkei Shifts to Holding Company, Separates Publishing, Digital Media
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*Topics
--YouTube, Japanese Content Owners Continue Talks
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Story of the Month>>>
NSK Issues ¡ÆReal Name¡Ç Reporting Guide
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Asahi Shimbun Reforms Structure, Abolishes Division System

The Asahi Shimbun on Dec. 1 made a drastic organizational reform, abolishing the conventional division-based structure of editorial departments at its Tokyo and Osaka head offices. Former divisions have been reorganized into groups and centers. The company also adopted a new code of conduct for reporters. The changes are part of editorial reforms prompted by the scandal over fabricated news reports filed by a reporter at its Nagano branch during the 2005 general election.

All staff members in editorial departments in the four head offices, including Nagoya and Seibu (West Japan), are now assigned either to groups or centers, instead of to conventional divisions. The division-based setup was earlier abolished in Nagoya and Seibu.

In the Tokyo and Osaka editorial departments, editors are now assigned to supervise news reporting on certain fields of subjects in collaboration with general editors and to direct the operation of each group of reporters.

The editorial department at the Tokyo head office has been reorganized into 12 groups- foreign news, political affairs, business, city news, education, community-based news, culture, living, labor, medical care, science and sports. Of the 12, the three groups in charge of foreign news, political affairs and business are to be further reorganized into four groups - foreign policy/international affairs, political affairs, economic policy, and industry/finance- on Sept. 1. In addition, three editorial groups are to handle opinion/commentary, the weekend supplement ¡Èbe,¡É and letters from readers. The editorial department at the Osaka head office is separated into six groups - business, city news, community news, living/culture, science/medical care and sports.

Expert staff are being reorganized into centers with managers or center chiefs supervising each center. The editorial department in Tokyo now has six centers - page-makeup/copy-reading, photo, design, opinion polls, proofreading and aviation. Osaka has three-- page-makeup/copy-reading, photo and proofreading. The news division at the Hokkaido branch office is now a news center.

Asahi officials said the reforms are aimed at (1) creating a flexible organization that swiftly responds to changes in the times and readers¡Ç interest, (2) reinforcing the editors, and (3) ending the sense of belonging to a division to create higher-quality editorial content that meets readers¡Ç expectations.

The new code of conduct for reporters was formulated in consultation with editors and reporters in the field and by learning lessons from the past, including the fabricated news scandal. The new editorial guidelines apply to all reporters as well as contract-based and non-regular staff members involved in editing and reporting at any Asahi Shimbun publication.

The new code of conduct refers to a ¡Èbasic posture,¡É a ¡Èmethod of newsgathering,¡É ¡Èfair and just reporting,¡É ¡Èrelations with news sources,¡É a ¡Èban on use of information for purposes other than news-reporting,¡É ¡Èexternal activities,¡É ¡Èmanagement of information/reference materials¡É and other areas. The ¡Èbasic posture¡É defines a reporter¡Ç responsibility, independence/impartiality, respect for human rights and accountability to readers.

The full Japanese text of the code of conduct is available at the Asahi Web site. The Asahi Shimbun said that although the new code of conduct is for in-house regulations and rules, it decided to publicize it to demonstrate its commitment to society. A spokesman for the Asahi said the new code of conduct is not designed to tighten regulations on reporters, but is to ensure their freedom of activity by enhancing reader trust in the newspaper.



Nikkei Shifts to Holding Company, Separates Publishing, Digital Media


Nikkei Inc., which publishes Japan¡Çs leading business daily, on Dec. 20 announced a drastic management reform, spinning off of its publishing and digital media operations and transforming its head office into a holding company operating a newspaper business. The changes took effect on Jan. 1.

The newspaper company, better known as the Nikkei, said the changes are aimed at enhancing management operations and consolidating the management's base as a media organization.

Under the changes, the Digital Media Department became Nikkei Digital Media Inc., a separate company. That company, capitalized at 400 million yen with about 160 employees, took over the operation of ¡ÈNikkei Net¡É and other digital media. The Publishing Department became Nikkei Publishing Inc. with capital of 100 million yen and a staff of about 60. Both companies are wholly owned Nikkei subsidiaries and their employees are on loan from Nikkei. The new companies are to be financially self-sufficient.

Nikkei¡Çs head company is now an operations holding company, running the newspaper, overseeing business strategy and adjusting the turfs for group companies. About 70 group companies and the two new companies have been reorganized into four categories- newspaper, digital media, publishing and broadcasting for efficient collaboration and planning.

The authority and responsibility over group firms in publishing and digital media sits with the ¡Ègroup representative¡É at each of the two new companies.

Nikkei¡Çs head company directly operates the newspaper, while assigning all holding company activities to a corporate planning division.


A Nikkei spokesman said the changes are aimed at eliminating duplication of management resources among group companies and ensuring survival amid heavy competition in the media field. The corporate division will formulate strategies for the entire group and balance group businesses for more synergy under the corporate division at the holding company, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the head company did not split off the newspaper business because the newspaper is Nikkei¡Çs core operation as a media enterprise and that function belongs with the head company.


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

YouTube, Japanese Content Owners Continue Talks

The Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), representing 23 Japanese organizations and companies, on Dec. 4 requested that US-based online video site YouTube act to resolve the problem of material such as music videos being uploaded to YouTube without copyright holders' permission.

In a written demand, JASRAC said the current procedure of deleting illegally posted copyrighted contents upon their discovery or an eventual notification by copyright holders is an insufficient response to the masses of illegal postings.

Saying the site operator bears responsibility for preventing copyright infringements -- without awaiting notice from copyright holders, the group called on YouTube to take preventive action.

Specifically, JASRAC asked YouTube to display a notice in Japanese warning against uploading copyrighted material. The group also asked YouTube to tighten its signup procedures so as to record the names and addresses of all users and to terminate accounts used to upload copyrighted material.

In a reply dated Dec. 15, YouTube said it would send executives to Japan for talks with JASRAC. On the proposed preventive measures, YouTube acknowledged the need for a notice in Japanese on its Web site to warn users not to upload copyrighted content and pledged to tighten signup procedures.

At a meeting on Dec. 22, JASRAC decided to continue consultations with YouTube, although it termed YouTube¡Çs responses insufficient. JASRAC's latest demands of YouTube came about two months after YouTube deleted almost 30,000 Japanese video clips on receipt of it's complaint in October. But the illegal posting of copyrighted contents is continuing. The 23 copyright holders include major Japanese commercial TV networks, the public broadcaster NHK, moviemakers and music companies.

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Story of the Month>>>

NSK Issues ¡ÆReal Name¡Ç Reporting Guide
Alarmed by a growing trend among police and administrative organizations to withhold the names of crime and accident victims, the Editorial Affairs Committee of the Nihon Shimbun Kyokai (NSK) on Dec. 7 issued a booklet titled ¡ÈReal Names and News Reporting.¡É

Behind the issue is the government's approach in enforcing the Personal Information Protection Law and its basic plan for assisting crime victims.

The NSK booklet aims to explain the need for real-name news reporting and provide guidelines for reporters to press authorities into releasing the real names of people involved in criminal cases and accidents. NSK has distributed the booklet to officials, crime victims' groups, attorneys¡Ç organizations and other people in an effort to build public support for full news reporting.

The booklet has five chapters-(1) the mission of the media in real-name news reporting, (2) the growing trend of withholding real names and its negative effects, (3) using real names and real-name reporting, (4) due consideration by the media, and (5) media obligations.

The booklet starts out by calling on younger reporters to use it as a tool to deal with the authorities' attempts to withhold names. It explains the difference between news reporting and announcements of real names, and commits the media to taking responsibility for any problems that might arise from news reporting. Asserting that the people have a right to know, the booklet calls on police and officials to cooperate by releasing real names.

The first chapter outlines the significance of real names in news reporting as contributing to the people¡Çs right to know.

The second chapter classifies name releases by the police into ¡Èpositive¡É and ¡Ènegative¡É cases. It sorts the ¡Èpositive¡É ones into four types - overreaction to the protection of human rights, a dogmatic refusal, favoritism to insiders and deliberate distortions of facts. It also describes cases in which authorities refused to release real names in order to protect personal information.

The third chapter argues that the release of real names is merely delivering the ¡Ècore¡É elements of the facts and serves as a ¡Èstarting point¡É for the media to follow a story and ensure public access to facts. It says the release of real names protects against fake announcements or information manipulation by officials and that full disclosure enhances the credibility of public announcements. The booklet highlights the problems associated with concealing identities in all sectors of society.

The fourth chapter explains in detail the steps being taken by the media to protect human rights and privacy, including actions to stop so-called media scrums. It says media refrain from releasing real names in reports where it could infringe upon an individual's human rights or privacy. The booklet also outlines how a third-party organ should assess whether media are legitimately gathering and reporting the news.

The fifth chapter examines ¡Ènews reporting for the protection of human rights¡É as a mission of the media and says media need to serve as an intermediary in spreading empathy. It says that to accomplish this mission and earn public trust while reporting on criminal cases and accidents, it is indispensable that media companies fully train their reporters to enhance their public awareness.

The booklet will be downloadable from the NSK Web site at no charge from late January: www.pressnet.or.jp/



Nihon Shinbun Kyokai
The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association
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