Issue:
IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE we’re already nearing the end of 2015. November saw us conducting business as usual at the FCCJ, with PAC holding important press events that included a luncheon with Yukio Edano, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan. The Food and Beverage Committee held a landmark tasting of France’s finest wines. The library staff and committee members continue to organize book breaks that are always fascinating and often newsworthy.
The Entertainment Committee is frequently approached by officials and businesses from often ignored regions looking for ways to attract the attention of our Members. We work with them to produce events that can be crucial in improving understanding of regional economies, cultures and societies. One particularly good example was the November Aichi Night, graced by the prefecture’s governor, Hideaki Omura, that included a 1,200 year old sacred knife ceremony for peace and harmony.
For these events, we’ve arranged it so that 10 journalists are invited free of charge on a first come, first served basis to participate and network with the business leaders and local government politicians.
While I prefer to hold my tongue until everything is all wrapped up, I want to assure members that the long standing legal cases against the FCCJ are nearing a solution. The Board will also convene a special General Membership Meeting in December on the Club’s plans to move to a new location.
On the journalism front, the events in Paris last month highlighted, once again, the difficult issues of reporting on global terrorism. Following the initial stories filed on the horrifying attack and heightened security by the global media comes the next challenge to make sense of the tragedy without resorting to parochial viewpoints. Among those in Asia who have lived through similar tragedies I mention in particular the Bali disaster in 2005 and the Mumbai attack on civilians in 2008 there is a deep sense of solidarity accompanied by a wish for Europe to continue to uphold its tolerance for multiculturalism and individual freedom. Newspaper editorials in Asian media, speaking from experience, have included pleas not to cave in to rightist agendas.
Before leaving you with wishes for a pleasant holiday season, I will share thoughts from a recent assignment in Sri Lanka at a showcase of the impact of digital media in regional journalism. One meeting I attended was a brainstorming session on best practices in online newsrooms. With media owners and long time editors as participants, we took up a crucial question can traditional newsgathering and watchdog practices survive the onslaught of the internet, with its focus on big data and social media? The consensus we reached was that digital newsrooms in emerging countries, while balancing media ethics and commercial pressure, must take special steps to incorporate independent watchdog journalism to protect readers who rely on independent information to inform the decisions that affect their daily lives.
— Suvendrini Kakuchi
