The changing face of media relations in Japan

1
The changing face of media relations in Japan

• Mungo McCall, Manager
• Newsnet Ltds MediaWire division

2
Overview of Japanese press

• Whilst NFC is emerging as a driving force for
  consumers to access goods and services,
  newspapers are still the most popular means of
  accessing the daily news.
• 121 daily newspapers
• Highest number of newspapers per capita in the
  world
• A recent Japanese Newspaper Association survey
  found that 85 of men and 75 women read
  newspapers daily

3
Overview continued

• 70 million newspapers circulate daily
• Seven out of the top ten circulating papers
  globally are Japanese
• Even with the rising popularity of TV news,
  Newspapers are still what the majority of
  Japanese rely on for their world view

4
Media consumption

• Part of the reason for the high consumption of
  newspapers is due to the long commute that most
  Japanese make to get to work
• 73 million Japanese commute daily to the three
  main cities

5
Press Club System

• Japanese Press Clubs used to be only way
  businesses could reach the media
• Political, government and corporate organisations
  used the to control access to and presentation of
  news
• Media tended to be focused on Japanese businesses
  little scope for overseas businesses to
  interact

6
Changing media landscape

• News wires such as Bloomberg, Reuters and
  commercial newswires like Business Wire have been
  part of the change the Japanese media landscape
• Pace of news has changed journalists need to be
  more productive so news needs to be delivered to
  them
• Opportunities for foreign businesses to get their
  message into the Japanese media (eg. Skype would
  not have had the success it enjoys today if this
  had not changed)

7
Japanese media release tips

• Release has to be in Japanese many commercial
  news wires will include translation
• Provide as much information as possible
  journalists change rounds every year or two
• Provide an angle for the journalist to use
  helps keeps news on message