Newspaper, News Agency Employment Down for 11th Straight Year

An NSK survey says the number of people employed full-time by NSK member companies as of April 2003 was down 2.3 percent from the same month of 2002, falling to 55,806 in an 11th straight annual decline. Recruiting also fell, with the ratio of new hires to total employment hitting a 10-year low of 2.2 percent.

The survey was conducted on April 1 on 105 NSK newspapers and news agencies (the pervious survey covered 104 companies). Board members, part-time workers and temporary employees were not included in the statistics.

--Total employment
Employment peaked at 67,356 in 1992. But ever since diving 1.6 percent in 1993, employment has fallen by 1 to 2 percent per year. Over the past 10 years, employment has dropped 13.7 percent with the elimination of 8,828 jobs.

--Gender and age of employees
The data from the 81 companies that provided detailed replies showed male employees outnumbering females by 89.2 percent to 10.8 percent. The ratio improved 0.4 of a percentage point in the favor of the women from 2002. Of the 53,488 people working at the 81 companies, 47,703 were men and 5,785 women. An age breakdown showed that those aged 55 to 59 represented the largest group at 15.6 percent, followed in size by the 50-54 group, the 35-39 group, the 30-34 group and the 40-44 group, in that order.

--Recruitment and separation
A total of 1,177 new workers were hired between April 2, 2002 and April 1, 2003. The 885 men represented 75.2 percent of the new hires, and the 292 women 24.8 percent.
A total of 2,082 men and 282 women quit the companies. The rate of those leaving their jobs to total employment was 4.4 percent.
The largest group of those leaving, at 60.6 percent, quit at the mandatory retirement age. Another 23.8 percent left for personal reasons. A total of 215 people, up 71 from the year before, were re-hired after reaching retirement age.

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In the first half of 2002, advertising fell in all categories for a second straight half. But in the first half this year, TV spots and radio advertising were up for a second straight term.

Dentsu says advertising in newspapers in the first half of this year was down 3.1 percent from the same period of the previous year for a fourth straight period. Deflation has cut into corporate advertising. The US invasion of Iraq and the SARS epidemic also hurt ad sales.

By industry, ad placements from the 'information/communication' and 'education/medical services/religion' sectors increased from the first half of last year in four of the five media categories. Advertising by the 'information/communication' sector began to surge in the fall of 2002 and rose by double-digit percentages year-on-year in newspapers, spot TV advertising and radio. The 'food and beverages,' 'household articles' and 'sporting goods and articles for hobbies' sectors all placed more advertising in all media categories.

The survey covered 121 newspapers, 15 major TV stations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, nine radio stations in Tokyo and Osaka and 374 magazines. Advertisers were broken down into 21 sectors.

The newspaper-related details are as follows:

Advertising in newspapers fell for four straight six-month periods starting in the latter half of 2001. The year-on-year decline averaged 1.9 percent for national newspapers, 0.5 percent for regional newspapers, 3.4 percent for local newspapers and 8.6 percent for sports dailies. Sports dailies suffered a major drop after the large gain during soccer's World Cup in 2002. But the margin of decline was less for other newspapers.

For all newspapers, total advertising page-counts fell year-on-year, resulting in a 1.4 percent fall against entire newspaper page-counts. The ratio of ads to total pages fell 0.6 of a percentage point to 37.6 percent, the survey says.

Color ads increased 7.0 percent for a second straight term in all categories except sports dailies, which suffered a 24.7 percent plunge. Full-page ads fell 0.3 percent in their first decline in two half-yearly terms, due largely to a 13.5 percent drop for sports dailies. Double-page spread ads jumped 24.3 percent for national newspapers, driving the 4.3 percent gain for all categories. Classified ads fell 3.3 percent for a sixth straight drop.

By advertisement type, 'camera/audiovisual equipment' had 29.6 percent more ads, mainly for DVD players and video cameras. 'Information/communication' had 21.3 percent more ads, centering on personal computers and Internet-related services. These two areas led a total of six that saw more ads. But ad orders fell in 15 other areas, including some known for high placement, including 吐inancial services/insurance・(down 15.7 percent), 'automobile and related goods' (down 11.9 percent) and 'classified ads and others' (down 5.6 percent).

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Jiji, Reuters to Tighten Tie-up In Financial Information Services

Jiji Press Co. has agreed with Reuters to strengthen their tie-up in financial and securities-information services. They aim to integrate their financial and securities information at home and abroad, as well as sales networks in Japan, to raise competitiveness in the Japanese market.

Jiji and Reuters have cooperated in sales of financial information since 1997. The tie-up will expand to editorial activities, marketing and system development.

On Sept. 1, Jiji and Reuters began jointly providing financial and securities information on the Web, in a service called MAIN EX-I, to branch offices of securities companies. They plan a November launch of joint dispatches of corporate financial data and will jointly develop new financial information services.

Kyodo News, Itar-Tass Expand Ties Centering on Internet

Kyodo News has signed a deal with Russia's Itar-Tass news agency to update their cooperation to take Internet technology into account.

Kyodo and Tass in 1958 began cooperating by exchanging articles and photographs and have reviewed their ties on a regular basis.

The latest review focused on exchanges of articles and photographs that had been conducted over exclusive private lines, shifting the method of transmission to the Internet.

The renewed agreement maintains Kyodo's right to distribute Tass photographs and covers cooperation in newsgathering and exchanges of personnel.

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