PACIFIC REPORT : Japanese Media Try to Export Coverage

Following the path of their manufacturing cousins, major Japanese media firms are embarking on an aggressive drive to export news coverage overseas and reshape American views of the Asian nation.

Just as Sony’s purchase of Columbia Pictures and Matsushita’s acquisition of MCA allow Japanese to provide entertainment to U.S. audiences, Japanese media companies are aiming to present more news programming and publications to the American public.

In recent months, firms ranging from the Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) and Fujisankei Communications to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the Japan Times have launched efforts to expand their English-language broadcasts and newspapers in the United States and elsewhere. Most cite a growing need to tell the Japanese side of the story amid escalating U.S.-Japan trade and political frictions.

Others say U.S. news agencies, such as Cable News Network, are too oriented to the United States and fail to give viewers or readers a full understanding of the world outside North America.

“The U.S. is important politically, and the White House is the center of the world, but now the world is changing,” said Yoshiaki Hidaka, a managing director and chief U.S. representative for NHK. “We need the flavor of news from Tokyo, London, Beijing, Moscow.”

NHK, which is funded by the public but whose directors are political appointees, has launched a number of new international projects. The most intriguing proposal is for a Global News Network to move beyond Japan news and challenge CNN in the realm of international news for international audiences.

But the market for news just about Japan is still considered small, confined largely to Japanese expatriates, international business people and Asia scholars. The cost and logistics of dubbing Japanese broadcasts in English or distributing papers make both propositions daunting.

And the biggest question--whether Americans will accept Japanese “software” as readily as they accept the hardware of VCRs, televisions and autos--remains an open question.

Even though Americans cherish an unfettered marketplace of ideas, some observers question whether the news export drive will raise U.S. political sensitivities about Japanese influence. The issue was highlighted last year by “Agents of Influence,” a book on Japanese lobbying in the United States.

“The political problem is that NHK is owned by the government, so news by them might be taken as a government mouthpiece,” said Toshiaki Ogasawara, chairman of the Japan Times. Founded in 1897, the Times is Japan’s first and oldest English-language newspaper.

Hidaka said no one has challenged him explicitly on the issue but there have been a few raised eyebrows among U.S. academics and others.

“We have no intention to culturally invade this country,” Hidaka said. “We would like to serve and show what we are and, of course, we’d like to make money off of that.”

Others acknowledge Japan’s right to export news but say Americans may not find the information credible.

“It’s not that serious as far as I’m concerned because the message they have is not one people will listen to,” said one congressional staff member who specializes in Japan. “Behind this is an Asian assumption that if you only export your point of view firmly and clearly enough, people will understand and change their behavior. They don’t seem to realize that what they say is not always credible.”

For instance, the congressional staff member said, the Japanese argue that their interlocking business ties, or keiretsu , are deeply rooted in the culture of personal relationships. But “all it is is old-fashioned monopolies and oligopolies dressed up in kimono robes,” he said.

The news export drive is led by NHK. The firm’s ambitious efforts have been spearheaded by President Keiji Shima, who took over two years ago and has begun to recast its conservative reputation.

In an effort to raise money outside of the traditional source of public fees, Shima has began several new businesses, including a news service, book publishing firm, convention organizer and even a travel service.

Internationally, Shima has promoted an array of projects. They include the Global News Network, which will be capitalized at an estimated $1 billion. Its “Asia Now” news program is aimed at rectifying what NHK says is inadequate and sometimes inaccurate coverage of the region. A recent show reported on Japanese victims of gas poisoning, Malaysia’s Muslim opposition to the United States-led effort against Iraq and a profile of a Shanghai entrepreneur.

In addition, NHK has also begun a controversial consortium, Media International Corp., to buy, sell and produce film and TV programming for an international audience. One project is a documentary on the history of the 20th Century, co-produced with ABC and Soviet national radio.

The firm last year also began offering Japanese news, dramas and sports on direct-broadcast satellite and some cable systems in the United States. About 25% is translated into English, but the primary market is Japanese expatriates and Japanese-Americans, said Kurt Thoss, executive consultant to the Japanese Network Group. The group, a joint venture of NHK and other Japanese corporations, is offering a 10-hour daily broadcast to American audiences.

Some media analysts question the potential of the venture because the market is limited for direct-broadcast satellite or transmission via three-foot satellite dishes. With the current shortage of cable channel space, it will remain difficult for new programs to get picked up until new technology vastly expands the number of channels in a few years.

Japan’s largest commercial broadcaster, Fujisankei Communications, in January began placing English subtitles on its Japanese news broadcasts in the United States. The move is designed to expand its market from Japanese expatriates to all Americans. (In Los Angeles, the broadcasts air daily from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on KSCI.)

Michael Schelp, Fujisankei manager of business development in New York, said the firm wanted to expand both its viewer base and “mutual understanding.”

“It sounds gooey, but it doesn’t totally make sense economically,” he said. Schelp said the cost of translating each show runs in the thousands of dollars, but the firm has not been able to increase advertising rates much.

Each news broadcast is sent to New York via satellite at 5 a.m., just after being broadcast in Tokyo. Meanwhile, three or four teams of interpreters send the English translation on a Macintosh computer by modem 90 minutes later, and the subtitles are added to the live broadcast in the United States.

Schelp cited U.S. reports on the Japanese role in the Persian Gulf conflict as an example of why a Japanese perspective is needed in the news. He contended that U.S. news broadcasts portrayed the Japanese as “duplicitous” because they did not immediately contribute the $9 billion in Gulf aid they pledged.

Schelp maintained that Japanese broadcasts would have shown Americans that complicated domestic politics contributed to the delay, with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party having to negotiate with various opposition parties.

On the print side, Japan’s leading financial newspaper, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, has launched plans to expand its weekly English-language edition into a daily in two years.

The first step will come in June when the English edition rolls out a total redesign, including a change from a tabloid to a broad sheet, increasing news space by 30%, said Michio Katsumata, deputy editor of the international section.

The edition’s name for the time being will also be changed from the Japan Economic Journal to the Nikkei Weekly.

Katsumata said the media firm hopes to increase circulation from the current 30,000 to as much as 100,000 after the daily edition is launched. At present, half the readership is in Japan and 30% in the United States, but the Nikkei aims to attract readers in Europe and Southeast Asia.

Although the firm expects “huge losses” for three to five years, Katsumata said the growing demand for Japanese business and financial news should eventually help the venture pay off.

The Japan Times redesigned its weekly international edition last year to a snappy, 24-page tabloid printed in Los Angeles and distributed by mail. Chairman Ogasawara said circulation has tripled to 7,000, and he expects to make money after three to five years.

The daily Japan Times, which tends to focus on Japanese political, cultural and social news, has a circulation of 70,000 in Japan, he said.

In Los Angeles, the U.S.-Japan Business News unveiled its first English-language edition in April. News President Yoshi Sano said the 16-page edition aims to fill the gap in reporting on Japanese subsidiaries and investment in the United States.

While most Japanese newspapers depend on paid circulation for more than half their revenue, Sano said his publication will aim to get 85% from advertisers. So far, major advertisers include All Nippon Airways, Ernst & Young and Mitsui Real Estate.

But some major Japanese media companies are sitting out the overseas scramble. Japan’s largest daily newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, is aggressively trying to expand its readership in Japan for its English-language edition. It has, for instance, launched vigorous promotions. And it recently concluded an agreement with the Los Angeles Times to distribute copies of The Times’ weekly World Report section inside the English-language Daily Yomiuri.

Akira Saito, manager of international affairs, said one lure was the growing number of foreign workers who are flooding Japan. Another target is the growing ranks of English-speaking Japanese executives and students.

But Saito said overwhelming difficulties in trying to distribute its product overseas at a bearable cost persuaded the firm not to try crossing the Pacific yet.

Still, most of the Japanese media firms remain tantalized by the prestige and potential of exporting news.

“Practically, the English-language newspaper remains not profitable at all,” said Nikkei’s Katsumata. “It’s going to take a hell of a long time, but we’ve been strongly encouraged by a lot of American and European executives to do this.”

JAPANESE NEWS EXPANSION Organization: NHK Market size: 45 million households Expansion plans: Will launch a 24-hour cable news service. Has begun a consortium to buy and produce film and TV programming, an Asia news program and a package of Japanese news and dramas broadcast via direct satellite. Organization: Fujisankei Communications Market size: 15 million households Expansion plans: Has begun offering Japanese news shows with English subtitles. Organization: Nihon Keizai Shimbun Market size: 3 million households Expansion plans: Plans to launch a daily English edition in two years. In June, will debut a redesigned weekly edition changed to a broad sheet with 30% more news space. Organization: Japan Times Market size: 70,000 circulation Expansion plans: Redesigned and expanded its weekly international edition last year. Now publishes and distributes out of Los Angeles. Organization: U.S.-Japan Business News Market size: 38,000 circulation Expansion plans: Began a 16-page English edition, the U.S.-Japan Business Review, in April.