Reasons to be cheerful?
The newspaper industries of India and China are in rude good health, thanks to the countries’ rising literacy levels and fast-expanding, information-hungry middle classes created by their booming economies. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for their counterparts in the West, where newspapers are scrambling to find new business models as readers opt to get news free from electronic media including 24-hour TV, the Internet and mobile phones.
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Against this grim backdrop, Britain’s Society of Editors held its annual conference in Glasgow on Nov. 14-16 under the defiantly upbeat slogan “Have We Got Good News for You.” Formed by a merger of the Guild of Editors and the Association of British Editors in April 1999, the SoE upholds as its guiding principles “the universal right to freedom of expression, the importance of the vitality of the news media in a democratic society, the promotion of press and broadcasting freedom and the public’s right to know, and a commitment to high editorial standards.”
Its members are editors, managing editors, editorial directors, training editors, editors in chief and deputy editors working in U.K. national, regional and local newspapers, magazines, radio, television and new media, as well as media lawyers and academics in journalism education.
Kobayashi worked in Japan from 1991 to 2002 as a reporter and business editor at The Daily Yomiuri, an English-language newspaper published by The Yomiuri Shimbun. Since moving to England she has specialized in analysis of the U.K. media and the future of journalism. She is a regular contributor to the Japan Newspaper Association's weekly bulletins, The Asahi Shimbun newspaper's review Journalism and a broadcasting magazine, Galac, published by the Japan Council For Better Radio and Television. Ginko shared insights about the SoE conference and the prospects for the global newspaper industry in an email interview with IIJNM Visiting Professor Mark Austin.
Mark Austin: The title of the 2010 Society of Editors conference was "Have We Got Good News for You." Given the pessimism surrounding the media industry in most of the world, including Britain, what is the good news?
Ginko Kobayashi: The title doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is all right and there’s lots of good news. It shows British media editors’ determination to face the reality, however bleak, and tackle/solve issues to find a way forward. It shows that, rather than taking look at bad news—circulation going down—“let’s look on the bright side” and “learn from our successes.”
But there is some good news this year. One is that ailing newspapers—The London Evening Standard, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday—which no British person wanted to buy, were purchased by a Russian billionaire. He even launched a new quality paper, i. It is the first launch of a quality paper in 24 years.
Meanwhile, MailOnline, the website for The Daily Mail, has seen a big increase in users and is making money.
Most of the local newspapers are still surviving, though Enders Analysis, a media think tank, predicted last year that half of the regional papers were likely to have gone bust by now.
Billionaire former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev, owner of The London Evening Standard, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and i, gave quite a stirring keynote speech at the SoE conference. What did you think was noteworthy about it? What's your take on him?
His speech was a full of praise for British media, he stressed the importance of free speech in a free society and expressed his determination to set up a fund for investigative journalism to attack global corruption.
I asked some people in the audience what they thought about him and his speech. Most of them viewed the speech very positively, adding the caveat “although we really don’t know what’s the truth”—whether they could trust him. Most of the people I spoke to said they admired his no-intervention approach toward his editors.
I thought his speech was a high-brow one and a little idealistic. But he is the new blood in the British media, and I hope his moves will liven up the media market. Media needs money to keep going.
In the session titled "What Is Our Audience," leading media consultant and analyst Jim Chisholm made two interesting claims: that there is "no statistical evidence that the Internet has damaged (newspaper) circulation," and that newspapers tend to be more successful when "their" parties are in opposition. In his words: “Thatcher was the best friend The Guardian has ever had.” On the first point, on what basis did he make that totally counterintuitive assertion? On the second, do you think he's right, and if he is, is this a peculiarly British phenomenon?
On the first point, speaking as a media analyst of various markets in the world, he said he had not come across any statistics supporting the idea that “if newspapers put all their content on their websites, their circulation will fall.” His opinion has some gravity because he does look at trends in global markets. A couple of other speakers also made the same point.
I actually believe that he and other speakers on this issue are right. Take The Economist, for example. I interviewed its digital editor, and he said the same thing. Former Times Managing Editor George Brock told me the same thing when he was talking about global markets.
However, it is a fact that the spread of online news is contributing to the fall of paper circulation—as a general trend—because there are other alternatives now.
The second question prompted quite a reaction in the audience. I don’t really know if “newspapers tend to be more successful when ‘their’ parties are in opposition” is true as a general theory. For example, is this true in the case of Japan?
However, it seems to be true in the case of Britain, to some extent. For example, right-wing blogs were very popular when the Labour Party was in power until six months ago. Although I was not here at the time of Margaret Thatcher, perhaps The Guardian made the most out of being opposed to her policies.
Whether this tendency is a British-only thing or not—I don’t really know. But it could be. I believe same tendency could happen in any country that adopts a strong two-party system in politics. Also, it is easier for media to oppose and attack authority rather than praise it.
In the session titled "It Ain't Dead and We're Fixing It," on regional news, the economic downturn and journalists of the future, Derek Tucker, editor of the Aberdeen-based Press and Journal, argued that “a lot of the young people leaving so-called university journalism degree courses are totally unsuited to the needs of newspapers...very few possess the street cunning and inquisitiveness that are the hallmarks of good journalists." How can journalism schools and journalism students themselves develop such "street cunning and inquisitiveness"?
I heard that in the past it was the norm in Britain that a lot of newspapers accepted trainees who would work for the papers as well as attend journalism schools. I think journalism students should be given on-the-job training at existing media firms as part of their study, or, as your students do, run their own journalism output such as news sites with teachers who are experienced journalists.
In the same session, Joy Yates, editor of The Hartlepool Mail, said she believed that to maximize readership, newspapers should cover more local news in depth. How would this be possible, given that newspapers are slashing their staffs? What's your view on the theory that "hyperlocal" news could be a growth area for media?
It’s true that newspapers are cutting their costs and resources, but I also believe local news is a key for survival because that’s the news that major news firms cannot cover, in Britain, at least. In the earlier session, Jim was saying that regional newspapers’ websites can survive if they concentrate on local news and even paywall them.
Britain's problematic libel laws, which are criticized as posing a threat to freedom of speech, were discussed at the conference, including the issue of so-called libel tourism, in which a person who has some tie to Britain, whether it be owning a house or having been educated in the country, may sue for libel in U.K. courts. How does the situation regarding libel in Japan compare with that in Britain?
I actually don’t know much about Japanese situation, but my feeling is that media people in Japan are quite afraid of being sued as being sued in itself is regarded as shameful, while the situation is different in Britain. I also don’t think there are strong calls for changing libel laws in Japan.
British libel cases are quite notorious internationally. Legal fees are very high, putting a lot of pressure on media organizations and journalists. There are lots of cases in which small-sized media companies, such as local newspapers, decide not to run stories simply because they are afraid of libel cases because they can’t pay the fees.
In the session titled "Winning Online and in Print," Martin Clarke, publisher of MailOnline, which claims 50 million unique users globally, said one of the biggest factors in the success of MailOnline is its use of social networking sites, which he said are “as important as search engines.” How do you, as a freelance journalist, use SNS?
I actually don’t use SNS very much as a journalist. As a freelancer, I believe I should use them more to increase potential job contacts. I think SNS is an opportunity to sell or advertise a brand of one’s own. In this sense, I think SNS like Facebook are a good way for major media companies to increase potential readers, viewers and consumers.
Although I haven’t utilized SNS much at the moment, I might have to do so in the future if major news organizations and publishers collapse and I have to start selling my brand entirely by myself.
The session titled "Journalists for the Future" discussed what qualities young journalists will need to succeed in our increasingly hyperconnected world. As a veteran journalist with experience working in two cultures, what advice would you give to students at IIJNM?
Well, first of all, you have to have something new or different from others. This may not come early in your career, but when you stand on your own, some edge of your own will help. Be unique—whatever it is.
Connections can help, particularly if you work in a competitive market such as Britain (it’s probably not so bad in Japan) because it is SO HARD to get into the media world in some countries.
But to be serious, the future of journalism is data journalism (think: Wikileaks). Future journalists will have to be able to dig up and analyze data in this Internet age. Good luck
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