News Flash: Japan Edition

By:

Kimberly Davis

Published:

Countries

Demographics

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The news media places I visited in Tokyo opened my eyes to Japanese media. Each place taught me something new.

These machines print and package newspapers prior to delivery.

It’s Cyclical

At Kyodo News, they proved that the news process is on-going. They have a special chime that sounds when there is breaking news. In the hour and a half that my classmates and I were there, the chime sounded at least once every 90 seconds.ย  It left me wondering what exactly was happening in the world. After being in Japan for three weeks, I’ve seen several breaking news stories: a fatal stabbing on theย Shinkansenย (bullet train), a volcanic eruption in the southern part of Japan, and an earthquake in Osaka with a magnitude of 6.1.

An Alternate Route

The Asahi Shimbun created this memento for my study abroad class to take home.

At Asahi-Shimbun, they told us an endearing story about the history of journalism. In Japan, there are a lot of rural areas and transportation was not as efficient as it is today. Journalists sent pigeons since they could not travel back to the station in time for their stories to print. The news station raised pigeons for journalists to take to their reporting destination. After the story was attached to the pigeon’s leg, the journalist released the birds in hopes that they would fly home to the station. According to our tour guide, it was 75 percent effective. Journalists would send four pigeons at a time to increase their chances of delivery.

Teamwork

At Associated Press, they emphasized the importance of news media working together. If one outlet gets footage, everyone can have access (for the right price, of course). Both their equipment quality and photographs are amazing.

A really great job is done when you love what you’re working on. -GPlus Media

Everyone has a story to tell.

GPlus Media was a different type of news source. They have three sectors–Savvy, GaijinPot, Japan Today–each targeted to a specific audience. The way people consume media is expanding: from radio to newspapers to TV broadcast to online via news sources or social media platforms, GPlus reiterated that it is more than okay for media to evolve.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. -Charles Darwin

Kimberly Davis

<i>Hello in your host country language</i>: Konnichiwa <i> University</i>: University of North Texas <i>Expected graduation year</i>: 2019 <i>Destination</i>: Tokyo, Japan <i>Program Provider</i>: University Sponsored <i>Major / Minor</i>: Public Relations / Social Science <i>Demographic background</i>: First-generation <i>Future career aspirations</i>: PR Agency <i>Top 3 goals for study abroad</i>: To broaden cultural, academic, and personal perspective; To experience Japanese culture firsthand while studying alongside Japanese students.