[lit-ideas] Re: News via the web
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 18:19:50 +0900
On 2004/04/04, at 2:19, Mirembe Nantongo wrote:
> Question for John: what are the newspapers like in Japan? Does
> straight reporting tend to be written as it is here -- ie make it
> short, summarize the story at the beginning, add the detail later for
> the reader to take or leave -- or do articles tend to be much longer
> than an average report in a U.S. paper with important points sometimes
> appearing for the first time deep within the body of the article?
> What about newspaper layout? Are the pages broken up into what we
> would consider visually manageable chunks using headlines and
> graphics, or are there vast stretches of closely-printed type largely
> devoid of graphics?
Restricting my comments to the major national dailies (excluding, for
example, the "sports" newspapers--tabloids with action photos, garish
headlines, and, inside and on the back, substantial amounts of
pornography), my impressions are as follows.
The overall flow of information is broadly similar to that found in
Western newspapers. The conversational habits described in my previous
messages do not apply, since what the major papers adopt is an
ostentatiously "neutral, impersonal, objective" stance, not unlike that
found in school textbooks.
A typical front-page news story begins with a headline. The story is
then encapsulated in a short block at the beginning. The main body of
the story then elaborates the details. Breaking news is illustrated
with photographs. As in Western media, the last few years have seen
increasing use of color.
Stories are loaded with information and frequently include charts and
tables discussed at length in the text. When new or unfamiliar terms
are central to a story, explications may be provided in boxes visually
separated from the main story. Pointers are provided to longer stories
and commentaries on inside pages.
The central issue for many foreign critics is the lack of variety in
stories covered by different papers and the quality of the information
communicated. The national dailies are all published in Tokyo, and much
of their news is filtered through government and corporate press clubs
composed of reporters assigned to cover particular beats, who all
receive the same press releases at the same time.
The national dailies do have slightly different personalities: The
Asahi (to which the McCreerys subscribe) is said to be leftish and
intellectual, the Sankei is said to be the most right wing, the Yomiuri
and Mainichi are mainstream, center-right. The differences, however,
are much like those among different brands of home appliances--more
minor variations in style than significant variations in function.
For aggressive investigative reporting, Japanese readers turn to the
sports newspapers and weekly news magazines, both of which revel in
gossip and scandal. (Even here, however, one finds a good deal of
pseudo-social scientific apparatus displayed. Thus, for example, a
story on the latest shocking behavior of teenage girls or the
deteriorating morale of salaried workers will frequently claim to be
based on questionnaires/interviews with samples including several tens,
sometimes even hundreds of interviewees--with the data collected
displayed in bar, pie, or radar charts.)
Hope this is helpful.
John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email mccreery@xxxxxxx
"Making Symbols is Our Business"
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