Professor Side’s PR Course (News Agencies)
In this section, centered on Professor Side from SUNNY SIDE UP, various people talk about PR,
today we will explain the structure of “news agencies,” which is essential when discussing Japan’s media!
An employee reading a newspaper
News agencies sign annual contracts with regional newspaper companies and provide them with domestic and international news.
More precisely, they provide news not only to regional newspaper companies but also to general newspapers, sports newspapers, TV stations, magazine publishers, and even general companies. Note that what is referred to here as “providing” is usually described as “distribution.” The news distributed covers a wide range of topics—not only incidents, accidents, politics, and corporate stories, but also sports, trending fashion, and interviews with people in the spotlight.
In recent years, they have been focusing not only on distributing articles and photos but also on video news. Many regional newspaper websites feature video news, and for out-of-prefecture news, distribution from news agencies has become the mainstream. A characteristic of regional newspaper companies is that they publish articles received via distribution for domestic and international news, while focusing their efforts on reporting and publishing their own local news. Accordingly, during the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake and the Great East Japan Earthquake, the true strength of regional newspaper companies—who have a deep understanding of their communities—was demonstrated.
Japan’s two major news agencies are Kyodo News and Jiji Press.
They were originally the same news agency, but after the war they were split into two. Incidentally, the company that established Japan’s news agencies was Dentsu, the largest player in Japan’s advertising industry.
From PR
Do you now have a better understanding of what a news agency is?
They are news organizations that conduct their own reporting and “distribute” articles to the media without publishing them in their own outlets.
Because they have relationships with many outlets, in situations such as press conferences we may ask a news agency representative to take on a leader-like role in coordinating other media representatives.
