Though he is a professional writer and author of three books on auto racing and scuba diving, 48-year-old Masayasu Yamamura stopped reading newspapers more than five years ago. Today, Yamamura says the only time he looks at a printed newspaper is when offered one free during airplane flights. Yet Yamamura himself serves as a reporter -- for Japan's most unusual newspaper. Yamamura is one of a new breed of "citizen journalists" who writes for JanJan, Japan's first alternative online daily newspaper. Unlike the handful of intermittently updated online publications sponsored by labor or peace activist organizations in Japan, JanJan is published daily and covers a range of news in seven sections: Living, Regional, Culture, Media, Business, Politics and World. Launched in February, JanJan is a free daily Internet newspaper "of, by and for the people," whose goal is to "completely rework the traditional concept of media," according to promotional material from Japan Internet News, JanJan's publisher. Two policies distinguish JanJan from mainstream newspapers. First, JanJan relies primarily on citizen reporters, not professional journalists, to write articles. Second, in contrast to entrenched mainstream competitors, JanJan does not rely heavily on government and corporate press news releases.
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"Press clubs are a breeding ground for collusion between business and government, and create a very poor impression with overseas media."
--Noriaki Imai, a student and freelance journalist. |
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JanJan's full-time editorial staff of six editors and writers pen original stories in addition to editing citizen-journalist submissions.To learn more about these new citizen journalists, I interviewed three by e-mail: Yamamura, who also writes about political issues in Okinawa Prefecture, Michiko Ishizu, who works for the political activist group Ganbaro Nippon, and Noriaki Imai, a high school student and budding freelance journalist. Excerpts follow: Q. Most consumers are satisfied to read newspapers. What compelled you to start writing for one? Yamamura: I was disappointed with the erosion of true journalism, with newspapers devolving into government PR channels as seen in the "kisha (reporter) clubs," the newspapers' failure to distance themselves from advertisers and their lack of awareness of these problems. Even Asahi now blithely prints full-page advertorials. At the same time, I felt I could no longer remain silent about the unsavory events taking place under the surface of Japanese society and felt if I could contribute, even in a small way, to making this world a better place, I should speak out. That's why I continue to write today. Daily life without reading (traditional) newspapers made me discover to what an extent the mass media had manipulated my worldview until then. I've experienced absolutely no sense of being inconvenienced or isolated from critical information as a result of not reading newspapers, and in fact it was after I stopped reading newspapers that I learned that the information you really need in life will come to you -- from the source -- without fail. Q. What do you think of journalism and newspapers in Japan today? Ishizu: Popular novelist Ryu Murakami often says this, but newspapers are no longer able to address their reader audience as a monolithic group using terms such as "Japanese people" and "the citizenry." Given the same event, both the way it is reported and the way it is received by readers changes depending upon the audience being addressed.
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"In Japan it's unlikely that (alternative publications) can really threaten entrenched media giants, including newspapers, on their own turf."
--Michiko Ishizu, who works for Ganbaro Nippon |
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With respect to newspaper readership, Japan's transformation from a mass audience to multiple niche audiences has been underway for quite some time. The weakening influence of the mass-oriented communication style was inevitable in light of this increasing segmentation of society.Yamamura: It was precisely by ceasing to read newspapers that I was able to see, clearly and objectively, how the newspaper business is supported by a marketing system, which in turn rests upon a regular subscriber base, which in turn leads to decline in the content and quality of articles, and how this in turn is supported by a readership that keeps subscribing blindly and without maintaining a critical eye with respect to content. Today, Japan's major dailies have fewer reasons to exist than ever, though they certainly once served a certain role in society. The proliferation of alternative media has rendered newspapers unable to tout the superiority of paper media as a channel for news. Imai: Of course, there are a number of wonderful journalists working in newspaper companies, but editorial policy and parent-company business concerns severely limit both the kinds of articles they print and the depth with which they can investigate stories. Also, the major dailies carry very little international news and don't publish late-breaking international stories. A recent example is minor, summary coverage of the conflict in Liberia. Excessive influence of the press clubs is another weakness. These press clubs are a breeding ground for collusion between business and government, and create a very poor impression with overseas media. Their influence on journalism is extremely negative. Q. Do people perceive your work to be as credible as that of a professional reporter's? Ishizu: It is certainly true that citizen reporters tend to focus on their own fields of personal interest. But I think that as long as citizen reporters are clear about taking responsibility for what they write, this approach actually gives them credibility on a different level when compared to professional journalists. The credibility demanded of professional journalists is not limited to personal responsibility, and in fact "social responsibility" tends to take on greater weight. JanJan's credibility, which is based on the personal responsibility citizen writers take for their stories, is one of its crucial operating principles in my view. Q. Where is this trend started by JanJan and Ohmynews going? Is it a momentary rebellion against a media oligarchy that won't much be moved by what you're doing, or is it the beginning of a change in how news is reported, distributed and consumed? Ishizu: Regardless of the eventual fate of each individual publication, I don't believe this is a temporary boom. But that said, in Japan it's unlikely that (alternative publications) can really threaten entrenched media giants, including newspapers, on their own turf. I imagine that ultimately the typical reading pattern will become one whereby the consumer glances over one nationwide paper daily, and simultaneously checks independent online newspapers for stories specific to his or her individual interests. The survival of independent Internet newspapers will depend on how they can uniquely position and sell themselves. Independent publications would lose their reason for existence if they were to try to implement online the "something for everyone" approach taken by the major newspapers.
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