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NEWS FROM AFARby Jim Cornell Hard times for science magazines in JapanMichael Learmonth writing in Folio:magazine (reprinted in SW, Summer 2003), noted how American readers and, more important, advertisers, have apparently rediscoveredand, thus, revivifiedpopular science magazines, which, until quite recently, had been an endangered media species. Sadly, the same cant be said for another of the worlds major sci-tech powers: Japan. A short note appearing at almost the same time in Science (20 June 2003) reported the distressing news that, according to a study by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), science magazines in Japan have lost two-thirds of their readership since the peak of their popularity two decades ago. From a high-water mark in the 80s, when eight popular monthlies and another eight semi-popular sci-tech journals had a combined readership of 12.6 million, the Japanese audience for science news had dropped to 4.2 million by 2001, with four surviving monthly popular science magazines and seven specialized journals now competing for this reduced pool of readers. Actually, Sciences bad news about Japans declining sci-news market was not news to Japanese journalistsor those American freelancers who once benefited from a voracious demand for reprint rights. Indeed, NASW members attending the International Conference of Science and Technology Journalists in Tokyo in late 2001 saw an early version of the NISTEP study presented in a poster session. With rare exceptions, such as the Japanese edition of Scientific American and the home-grown Kagaku, the downward spiral of declining readership continues. More disturbing, it shows no immediate signs of reversing. (American accountants should note that Japanese circulation figures are somewhat fuzzy, with few magazines having true audited circulations, and reported circulation figures often two to three times more than the official circulation.) One co-author of the NISTEP study, research fellow Kiyohito Ohnurma, was quoted by Science as saying any revival of public interest might have to begin with improved textbooks and by encouraging Japanese scientists to communicate more directly with the public. However, science journalists such as Kenji Makino, the recently reelected president of the Japanese Association of Science and Technology Journalists (JASTJ) and an NASW member, see the situation as more complicatedand the solutions more problematic. Makino, who has lectured and written extensively on the Present State and Problems of Science Journalism in Japan, says the NISTEP study revealed two major trends not noted in the brief Science article. First, he says, the number of young people who read science magazines has been declining gradually since the early 80s. Before then, the percentage of young people among readers of science magazines was greater than the percentage of young people in the Japanese population.
The second, and perhaps more disturbing, finding of the NISTEP
study, Makino feels, is that Japanese scientists and engineers
themselves seem to have lost interest in general topics in science
and technology. No major new science magazines have appeared in Japan for several years. (A new version of Popular Science, introduced in 2000, reportedly lacks either the panache or the impact of the original Japanese edition, published from 1981 to 1984.) And, according to Makino, even surviving and well-established journals have small circulations. For example, the Japanese edition of Scientific American has a monthly distribution of 4,815 copies (2001), compared with the approximately 700,000 copies a month sold in the United States. When combined with a still sputtering economy, the low circulation numbers suggest that potential advertisers simply do not find Japanese science media as appealing as they do in the United States, despite the fact that both presumably aim at the same techno-hip audiences.
Among our science journalists there are many ideas about how to change this disturbing trend, says Makino. Some say that we need a new kind of science magazine better suited to the styles and concepts of the 21st century. However, at the moment, it is just a dream. More immediate is the plan by a small group of journalists to create an online magazinetentatively called Sci.Mag, he says. Already there is a lot of Internet comment and discussions about science journalism itself, mainly by younger and less-well-known writers. As a longtime journalist himself, Makino very much appreciates the activities of these younger colleagues. And, from his current academic base, he hopes to help reshape the way science communication is taught in Japanese universities. Great social changes are going on in Japan today, says Makino. And science journalism is no exception. Jim Cornell is president of the International Science Writers Association. Send items of interestinternational programs, conferences, events, etc.to cornelljc@earthlink.net. |
