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Comments on: 2007 - The Palm Year in Review
Read on for our look back at the Palm Economy in 2007.
Article Comments(19 comments)
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And yet you must give a nod to 2006
Palm's latest hire at the time, Palm Mercer, a former Apple engineer
I think that Mr. Mercer would prefer to be not called Palm. Either that or he'd have needed a lot of therapy.
RE: Mercer
Unfortunately, it's probably not the nadir.
2007 was not a good year for Palm. The 700p issues, the Foleo debacle (one of the worst product launches I've ever seen in my short time observing the computer industry) and increasing market indifference to the classic Treo design saw them slip behind by almost every measure, especially when compared to the growth of the smartphone market as a whole.
But 2008 looks to my eye to be even worse. Palm themselves have tacitly acknowledged this: the decision to suspend specific financial guidance indicates that management knows things are going to get worse before they get better. The facts:
1) Palm have a hit device in the Centro, but a big reason for that is that they're practically giving them away at $99. It can't be expected to revive their financial fortunes, although it should revive their consumer mindshare a little.
2) Other companies are finally catching up on the software interface side. WinMob 6.1, for instance, will have threaded messaging and an interface revamp. And we all know just how close to the bulls-eye that the iPhone has gotten. RIM are no doubt working on making the Blackberry interface better too. In short, the simplicity and user-friendliness of Palm OS will no longer be as big an advantage as it was in the past.
3) Increasing numbers of disillusioned fans are going to continue their exodus to other platforms out of despair at the lack of new, large-screened devices and the longer they stay there and build up a nest the harder it's going to be to bring them back into the fold. Once Apple release the iPhone SDK and people start to personalise them, that's a massively powerful incentive for them to stick with Steve. And of course, many former Palm OS advocates have already made comfy homes in Windows Mobile.
4) The Foleo's window of opportunity to make a big splash will close, as Asus improves the Eee and releases non-hobbit-sized models and other devices like the Cloudbook establish themselves - not to mention Apple's likely upcoming entry into the subnotebook sector. By the time 2009 rolls around and Palm finally have their new Nova platform in place, it will quite possibly be too late for the Foleo II to make any sort of meaningful impact.
In short: in past years, the storm clouds on the horizon. Now they're directly overhead and Palm doesn't have an umbrella. It'll be a wet 12 months.
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650 ---> Crimson Treo 680
RE: Unfortunately, it's probably not the nadir.
I don't think they can do it, but there IS the possibility!
And I =do= think the competition is fully aware of what PALM is doing so can EASILY match and exceed everything they can come up with. If they want to. When they want to.
But it IS a possibility!
RE: Unfortunately, it's probably not the nadir.
(*) Seems somewhat of a giggle given that one of their BoD members, Bill Coleman, was the CEO of BEAS and oversaw the development of the WebLogic application server. Not good enuf, huh?
RE: Unfortunately, it's probably not the nadir.
It's a lot easier to offer up some software customizations and online portal-type custom functionality than it is to tweak a variety of different handheld formfactors (landscape tablet, portrait tablet, clamshell, classic QWERTY Treo style, subnotebook etc ) against increasingly Apple, RIM, the fierce Asian ODMs such as HTC, Asus, Acer etc and the traditional mobile giants (Samsung, Nokia, Moto, Sony-Ericsson etc).
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Unfortunately, it's probably not the nadir.
RE: Pridictions?
PAML acknowledges new SVP fof Product Development - sort of
Only problem is PALM doesn't say he's in charge of product development, instead still saying that Rubinstein is.
Instead, he's in charge of product realization.
Yes...product realization.
No, I don't know what that means.
PALM closing stores?
-- http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=159325
Unfortunately, no supporting information nor link has yet been posted.
Anyone wanna confirm with more info?
RE: PALM closing stores?
I was recently in a few airport stores and noticed that they were in total disarray and the sales staff were oddly unenthusiastic about trying to peddle any of their wares. To top it off, I didn't even see a full selection of Palm-branded accessories. None of the newer BT headsets, GPS kits or cases were in stock, oddly enough.
Ryan also commented that he went to the Palm store on his way back from holiday travels and they had non-Palm merchandise being displayed on a Palm-branded display case!?!
With Palm about to EOL their final PDAs, CompUSA closing up shop, Office Depot very rapidly dropping everything Palm-related, and other stores scaling back their efforts, what's the point of offering anything other than spare batteries & styli in the carrier stores?
Apple has enough compelling product to have a sizable retail chain of their own. Palm is in constant belt-tightening mode and never had any business being in the retail/kiosk business. They SHOULD have used all of those dollars they wasted on retail (Hello! Rockefeller Center flagship store, anyone?) at developing new non-smartphone product (ie a better Fooleo, new PDAs) that could be sold through their existing retail chain partners (Staples,OM, OD, BB etc).
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: PALM closing stores?
RE: PALM closing stores?
Does anyone (SV etc) even know if Palm even has the master leases for those retail spaces directly? I was under the impression that some "generic" cell phone merchant like Wireless Concepts operates & staffs the store and Palm just pays them $ X each month for their "Palm" branding/fixtures/prominent displays.
The staff at those stores (at least the airport ones I've been to that sell other stuff--I've never been in a Palm-exclusive kiosk or store) certainly don't do much in the way to evangelize or promote or even be well-informed on all things Palm!
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: PALM closing stores?
RE: PALM closing stores?
Apple has enough compelling product to have a sizable retail chain of their own.
Like Apple's new thin portable computer?
Doesn't Jobs holding this thing remind you of Hawkins holding the Foleo?
RE: Was PALM closing stores? Now Apple notebooks!
RE: PALM closing stores?
You know, I *still* haven't been there.
Says something about that location's overall convenience...
News Higlights
Latest Comments
- RE: Palm brand will return in 2018, with devices built by TCL -dmitrygr
- Palm phone on HDblog -palmato
- Palm PVG100 -hgoldner
- RE: Like Deja Vu -PacManFoo
- Like Deja Vu -T_W
- RE: Don't we have this already? -richf
- RE: Don't we have this already? -LiveFaith
- RE: Don't we have this already? -PacManFoo


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Life Education
Our primary school curriculum based modules focus on issues around food and nutrition, personal safety, physical activity, cybersafety, safety with medicine and legal drugs; tobacco, alcohol and caffeine.
Cancer Council 13 11 20 is a free, confidential telephone information and support service run by Cancer Councils in each state and territory.
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Healthy Bones Week is conducted annually in August to promote the prevention of early onset of osteoporosis by teaching children to adopt three healthy habits: consuming adequate levels of calcium in the diet; obtaining enough vitamin D (ideally from sunlight on the skin); and doing weight bearing exercise.
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A new resources for Canberra schools.
Cancer Council ACT
Our national resource for school staff, Cancer in the School Community, provides information and tips to help you navigate all stages of cancer. Anailable in print and online.

subset: commoncrawl


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If there's one lesson to learn from the Internet this week, it's that you really shouldn't interrupt Beck at awards shows. No, wait; It's that you shouldn't be like Diplo when it comes to dealing with criticism for doing a crappy thing. No, no, no: It's really that Twitter hashtags exist to be stolen by corporations... Actually, maybe it's all of those things. Yes, it's been a surprisingly educational week online. Here are some of the highlights you might need to catch up on. (For real, though, the must-read thing from the Internet this week is Brianna Wu's piece about standing up to Gamergate from The Bustle. Go read that if you haven't already, then come back to this.)
Jon Stewart Breaks the Internet's Collective Heart
What Happened: The host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show announced his resignation, and people were very, very upset about it. (For the most part.)
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: At the end of taping Tuesday's episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart revealed that he was planning to step down as host at some point this year. The response across social media was immediate, with messages so upset and impassioned that Stewart later made a joke about feeling as if he'd actually died. (Watch above.) It wasn't only fans who felt the pre-emptive loss, however; the Internet was immediately flooded with think pieces about what Stewart taught us about politics, his importance to an entire generation, how Comedy Central could replace him (and even whether he could even be replaced), and, of course why he was bad for the left (because, the Internet).
According to one report, Jon Stewart is so beloved that his brand is now worth $100 million, which might explain why Stewart decided it was time to go in search of new opportunities. But as the nation turns its lonely eyes to him for his last few months of being the country's favorite fake newsman (hey, Brian Williams, there's an opening!), you have to wonder: Can anyone really be the next Jon Stewart?
The Takeaway: This would be a good time to remind everyone that Last Week Tonight with John Oliver has just started back on HBO, wouldn't it...?
Imma Let You Finish (Reprise)
What Happened: Kanye West almost interrupted Beck at the Grammys to tell everyone that Beyoncé should have won the Best Album award instead. Almost everyone who wasn't mentioned in that previous sentence had an opinion about it.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: On one hand, what happened was relatively straightforward: In an incident that weirdly echoed his 2009 MTV VMA encounter with Taylor Swift, West jumped up on stage during Beck's acceptance speech for Best Album, and looked as if he was going to interrupt, only to turn back at the last second. A joke? It appeared so, but Kanye then told E! News that Beck "needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé." (For his part, Beck told Rolling Stone, "I thought she was going to win. Come on, she's Beyoncé!")
It turned out this wasn't just the weird, fun music show kerfuffle it initially appeared to be. (Honestly, it's no Jarvis Cocker vs. Michael Jackson in the grand scheme of things.) Instead, it was a Rorschach test for how people viewed Kanye West.
Garbage's Shirley Manson complained West looked "small and petty and spoilt," while John Legend disagreed in a more relaxed manner, writing that Beck is "indeed a true artist's artist." New England Patriots' cornerback Brandon Browner called Kanye a "sucka" and said that, if he'd been Beck, "Kanye would be rapped thru the wire," although Paul Stanley of KISS would've preferred it if Beck had "kicked Kanye right in the nuts." Unsurprisingly, think pieces followed, berating Kanye for having "lost [his] mind", although some did wish he'd gone further onstage, and Twitter couldn't help itself from weighing in:
For what it's worth, West later took back his comments, saying Beck is "one of the most respected artists, and respects artistry." Whether this will make people get off his case remains to be seen but, let's face it, it's somewhat unlikely. Our favorite comment about this whole thing came on Twitter from critic Sean T. Collins:
The Takeaway: Look, it's not like West was wrong when he said Beyoncé should've won instead of Beck; did you people listen to Morning Phase? We should be talking about that more than reading our own sociological biases into what Kanye "means" on a larger scale.
Diplo Demonstrates What Not to Do on So Many Levels
What Happened: DJ and producer Diplo stole artwork to use as background art for his music. When this was pointed out, his response was ... well, let's go with "unfortunate" for now.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: It could have all gone so differently. Earlier this week, Diplo posted a remix of the track "Take Ü There" by Jack Ü on Snapchat, set against a GIF of a house shaking during an earthquake. The GIF was the work of artist Rebecca Mock, who quickly noted on Twitter that she hadn't been asked for permission for it to be used.
Diplo responded by adding Mock's credit on the Instagram version of the video, but that didn't mean he thought that he'd done anything wrong, as he quickly revealed:
He, wisely, deleted the tweet in which he argued "I credited her what u want me to do? Eat her out and massage her boobs at the same time as well," but not before it had launched a number of pieces across the Internet about his response, specifically noting the misognyny on display. His response? One of, uh, love (maybe...?):
The Takeaway: Don't steal other people's work. And if you do, and you get caught, try to have a better response than this, for obvious reasons.
What's a Cheap Branding Opportunity in Four Words?
What Happened: With Valentine's Day approaching, the hashtag #WhatsLoveIn4Words trended on Twitter. Those most responsible for using it? Brands trying to sell you their wares.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter
What Really Happened: You can imagine that the Twitter hashtag #WhatsLoveIn4Words started from, if not a place of purity, then at least a place of "not an invitation to be overrun by companies trying to sell stuff." And yet, by midweek, that's exactly what had happened. Wondering what love is in four words? Here are some suggestions:
The Takeaway: Finally, a victory for all those who like to complain that Valentine's Day has become far too commercialized over the last few decades. Amusingly, of those who aren't trying to sell you something using the hashtag, there's a surprising number of people answering "Farting On Each Other." Is this a new fetish we've missed?
Who Needs Journalism School When You have the Internet?
What Happened: Inspired by an online piece telling young journalists how terrible their futures are going to be, the Internet decided to offer some helpful tips on their future careers.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media think pieces
What Really Happened: Following Felix Salmon's open letter to new journalists warning them that "life is not good for journalists... Things are not only bad; they're going to get worse," the hordes on Twitter took it upon themselves to offer some more advice to those starting out in journalism. Some were genuinely attempting to help, and others... not so much.
The Takeaway: No, really, young journalists: The Internet really does respect your chosen career path. Honestly.
Now You Too Can Be Victimized by ISPs Without Having to Deal With One
What Happened: What's that, you say? You wish that you'd been given one of those fun nicknames by Comcast's customer service department? Well, someone has come up with the next best thing.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs
What Really Happened: This is one of those times when a remarkably simple idea turns out to be a stroke of genius. Now that we know that at least two customers have had their names changed to insults by Comcast's customer service department, The Verge created an automated name generator to help you discover what the Comcast CSD is secretly calling you.
The Takeaway: This writer got named Ultra Assclown, but that should come as no surprise to those readers who email week after week to dispute our take on events.


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Create an Account - Increase your productivity, customize your experience, and engage in information you care about.
Phase II Summary Report: This report includes summaries of a series of workshops for the community -- both English- and Spanish-speaking residents -- as well as City staff. In addition, the report features the interim results from the Strategic Plan Community Survey. Click here to view the report.
Phase I Summary Report: This report includes detailed summaries of the focus groups and speaker-series events held in the spring of 2019 as well as community feedback about the City of Healdsburg presented as a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). Click here to view the report.
The results of the community survey that was conducted and completed September 4, 2019 will be included in the strategic planning documents.
The City of Healdsburg held a three-event speaker series at the Community Center in June 2019 on key community issues to help educate and learn from local stakeholders:
June 5: Economic Diversity in HealdsburgJune 19: Land Use and HousingJune 24: Healdsburg 2040/Sustainable Design Assessment Team
This feedback will be provided to the Healdsburg City Council and City Staff as it develops the 2020-2025 Strategic Plan.
2014-2019 Strategic Plan
Employee Strategic Planning Session
Hispanic Community Meeting on Strategic Planning
Community Input & Feedback


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Renee is a coach and consultant. Since joining the IECL team in 2009, Renee has helped craft the direction of the IECL organisation as a centre of excellence for organisational coaching and leadership development in the Asia-Pacific region.
This experience has enabled Renee to develop trusted relationships with IECL clients, Alumni and Associates across a range of industries and leader levels. As Coaching Practice Lead and Associate Coach, Renee is passionate about assisting individuals, teams and organisations to perform at their best in order to achieve outcomes for the individual and the organisation whilst also improving wellbeing. Renee is an Accredited Organisational Coach (Level Three). She is a chocolate and whisky sour enthusiast and loves nothing more than spending time with her family.
Along with being an Associate Coach, Renee is IECL's Coaching Practice Lead overseeing the development of IECL's coaching services including quality assurance and evaluation. During her time with IECL, Renee has also held the role of GM Client Relationships for three years overseeing the entire function responsible for the delivery of customised solutions for IECL's corporate, government and not-for-profit clients. This experience provides Renee with a unique insight into the complexity and challenges faced by leaders and organisations. Renee's prior professional experience also extends to training, recruitment, pharmaceutical and wholesale industrial supply industries with organisations such as Ross Human Directions (now Chandler Macleod), Blackwoods (now part of Wesfarmers) and Merck Sharp and Dohme. Core responsibilities have included business development, key account management, sales and team management, strategic planning and resourcing.
Renee's coaching style is warm and highly supportive whilst also challenging and thought provoking. Renee provides a safe space where coaching counterparts can be vulnerable and open to learning. Coaching with Renee often involves a deep reflection on strengths, beliefs, attitudes and values. Her style has been described by previous coaching counterparts as results focused, caring and intuitive.


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SPA house
SPA house resides on a beach engulfed by beautiful birch trees just 10 meters from the coast of the lake. It has two bedrooms with separate beds, a parlor with a fireplace and comfortable furniture and a great panoramic view out the window. It also has a bathroom with two showers. It also has a music centre. The SPA house also has two professionally equipped massage rooms and a wide terrace with a hammock and a direct access to the lake.
Price: 190 EUR per night, for two nights 320 EUR, for three and more nights 150 EUR per night. In the SPA house can stay overnight 5 persons.


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Your comfortable rest in the Napa Valley with first class service
Everyone looks forward to having weekends and vacations. This time allows you to relax fully, to get away from the daily worries, the urban bustle and noise. Many people try to leave their apartments and go to other unknown countries and cities, others prefer not to travel far away. The main condition for a comfortable stay is a choice of hotel. Your comfortable accommodation will depend on the quality of the chosen hotel or inn.
It is one of the most important components of a good vacation. We often do not attach much importance to this point, depending entirely on the Agency, and when we face some inconveniences, we begin to look for someone to blame. In result instead of relax and enjoyment of every moment of our journey, we are nervous and irritated. Choosing the right hotel is a 70% of pleasant stay!
Napa Valley Hotel Rancho Caymus Inn can offer you a great possibility to have a rest in comfortable Spanish- Hacienda style suites. The inn's classic California style was created by using materials that were carefully dismantled from a 19th century Yorkshire Ohio barn. You will certainly admire nine original stained glass windows and a large mural by well-known artists. The exposed mortise and tendon beams, custom doors and walnut counter-tops are second to none.
Guests will enjoy being minutes away from over 20 wineries including BV, Elizabeth Spencer, Caymus Vineyards, Round Pond, Honig, and more. The intimately scaled hotel wraps around a lovely plunge pool and spa. The meals here are cheap and delicious. You can also taste different kinds of wine from featured Napa vintners on property. This is a perfect place for celebrations and business arrangements that can be held in Morton Hall. Enjoy your unforgettable rest in the Boutique Hotel!


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Leadership: Senator Nelson has been a steadfast defender of ocean habitat. He has led a bipartisan effort to develop a national strategy with regional action plans for fighting harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. Also known as red tides and dead zones, these issues plague Florida's Gulf coast, killing fish and coral reefs while devastating coastal communities that depend on tourism. Senator Nelson has also fought hard against expanding offshore drilling closer to Florida's coastline, and in 2015 sponsored the Seismic Moratorium Act (S. 1171) to limit the industry's damaging seismic activities and the Marine Oil Spill Prevention Act (S. 1430) to ensure NOAA, the Coast Guard, and state governments can prevent and address an oil spill.
Since being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, he has stopped oil companies from drilling in vital military training areas and off of Florida's beaches, has been a tireless champion for restoring the Everglades and has helped revitalize the nation's deep-space exploration program. Nelson also sponsored the law that directs fines collected from BP after the oil spill back to Gulf Coast communities. Senator Nelson has a long track record of working for Floridians and the industries they depend on for jobs and economic growth. He knows that a healthy Gulf and ocean ecosystems are a vital part of Florida's future, and has proven time and again that he is an ocean champion.
Senator Nelson sponsored:
Senator Nelson cosponsored:


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Make a Sick Kids Miracle Happen
On September 28, 2019, I'm joining an army: 3000+ SickKids supporters rallying together at a new fundraising event for SickKids, GetLoud. $2.5 million is our collective fundraising goal. We're building a new SickKids, and it's going to take all of us.
Some things are meant to change, and SickKids is one of those things. SickKids is in need of a new hospital, and that will take lots of donations. But if any hospital deserves all this money, it's SickKids. Throughout my childhood I've had more needles than most people do in a lifetime. I suffer from a rare neuro-inflammatory disease. The steps to this diagnosis were a series of MRIs, spinal taps and hospital visits. When I was only seven years old I went through extreme headaches and vomiting from pain followed by countless diagnoses ranging from a brain tumour to Lupus. Even London's great children's hospital wasn't enough to solve my mysterious case. With pounding pain I was transferred to SickKids hospital, where I was cared for by my amazing and supportive Dr. Yeh, a specialist in my sort of disease. She found that my brain swelling was the act of my immune system attacking my brain. A treatment of Methylprednisolone was ordered to stop the attack, followed by a rituximab infusions to prevent future attacks - I've felt better ever since. Though my illness brings us back to Toronto a few times a year, we thank all the doctors and nurses who helped and continue to help with my condition. For this reason we donate to this amazing hospital. My family and I encourage you to donate to these children who need it most. A big thank you to everyone who have already donated, and another thank you for supporting my campaign.
SickKids has always been on the front lines in the fight for children's health. But the clinical facilities at SickKids are close to 70 years old. Today, one of the biggest battles at SickKids is against the limits of an old building.
Help me unleash the full potential of SickKids by donating online – it's safe, secure and easy. Any amount you give today will help me reach my fundraising goal.
Let's rally, march, and celebrate. When we unite in the fight against limits at SickKids, we're unstoppable.
Participant Name: Olivia Hastings
Participant ID: 1414804
Participation Type: Youth March & Festival (0 - 17)
Goal: $4,500.00
If you think this page contains objectionable content, please inform the system administrator.


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Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
What is our goal? As Christians, our goal should be to glorify God with out lives. While this is our main goal, we must understand that is comprised of many smaller goals which allow us to reach the point where our lives glorify God. If we attempt to reach this goal alone, we will fail, for it is impossible without the help of God and the encouragement of others. Paul had become agitated with the Galatians. They knew God. They believed in God. They trusted God, and now they were trying to move forward without Him. They turned to justification by law, not God. Our focus, our reason for existence, our goal, should always be God. We must obey the law, but we must never allow that law to supersede God. It all comes down to our goals. Our actions are reflective of our goals. What's your goal in life?
Prayer Starter:
Lord, help it be known that I am here to live for You and You alone.
Dr. Jeff Krupinski


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Adult, Community & Other Education in Caringbah, NSW
Use StartLocal® to find the most popular Adult, Community & Other Education in Caringbah, NSW.
Use StartLocal® to find the most popular Adult, Community & Other Education in Caringbah, NSW.
THERE'S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO MAKE A START Let us help you make your Natural Therapies dream a reality. If you're considering studying a Nutrition course, Naturopathy course, Western Herbal Medicine course, Homeopathy course, Massage course or an Acupuncture course, we have the connections and know-how to find the right course for you. Getting started is as easy as emailing us with what you are interested in and where you are located - we will find local training providers to contact you and discuss your study options today! (more)
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K'taka polls: Rahul, who'll be Congress' CM candidate, Siddaramaiah or Kharge? BJP wants to know
Bengaluru, April 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to know who will be the Congress' chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections. While the BJP has announced former CM BS Yeddyurappa as its CM candidate, the Congress is yet to officially name any leader as the prospective man to hold the top job if the party comes to power in the state once again.
Attacking the Congress, Union minister DV Sadananda Gowda demanded that the party president Rahul Gandhi should declare the party's CM candidate before the elections. Gowda, who was also the state's former CM, said that while the incumbent Congress CM Siddaramaiah is a "self-declared" CM candidate, son of veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyank Kharge, too has named his father as the future CM of Karnataka.
"Kharge's son has declared that his father would be the CM and Siddaramaiah is a self-declared candidate. Rahul Gandhi should make it clear," Gowda tweeted in Kannada.
ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿ ಬಿ ಜೆ ಪಿ ಘಂಟಾ ಘೋಷವಾಗಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಬಿ ಎಸ ಯೆಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪ .ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಮನೆಯೊಂದು ಮೂರು ಬಾಗಿಲು ಶ್ರೀ ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರ - ಮೊದಲ ಬಾಗಿಲಲ್ಲಿ ಎಡವಿ ಬಿದ್ದರು— Sadananda Gowda (@DVSBJP) April 3, 2018
ಶ್ರೀ ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ ಖರ್ಗೆ - ಮಗನಿಂದ ಘೋಷಣೆ
ಶ್ರೀ ಸಿದ್ದರಾಮೈಯ್ಯ - ಸ್ವಯಂ ಘೋಷಿತ
ನಿಜ ಹೇಳಿ ರಾಹುಲ್ #Nijahelirahul
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿ ಯಾರು ?
Recently, the Election Commission (EC) announced the polling and counting dates for Karnataka. While the polling for the 224-member Legislative Assembly will take place on May 12, the counting of votes will be held on May 15 in the southern state.
Both the BJP and the Congress often don't declare the names of their respective CM candidates during state elections. Sometimes the tactic work in favour of the parties, at times it backfires too. Now, it needs to be seen if the Congress will follow in the footsteps of the BJP and name either Siddaramaiah or Kharge as its CM candidate.
Many say that the BJP asking the Congress to declare its CM candidate is a ploy to divide the party in Karnataka. "It is a well-known fact that Siddaramaiah will be made the CM of the state once again, if the party wins the polls. The BJP has no other issue so it is trying to bring division in the Congress," alleged a Congress leader.


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UNICE is represented as a young, beautiful, mixed-race female with her blonde, afro-style hair symbolizing the interconnected tendrils of the World Wide Web. The median age of all humans on Earth is just under 30, and the half that is young represents new ideas and a willingness to accept change. UNICE is mixed-race to represent all humans, and she is female because of the traditional feminine values of empathy, cooperation, sensitivity, tolerance, nurturance, and compassion. Justice is also often depicted as Justitia or Lady Justice.
UNICE is already in development as a collaborative public policy wiki, but later she will also function as a public-policy answer-engine, capable of interacting with anyone in any language through wearable interfaces, such as smart glasses. She will be the voice in our head, our global conscience, and an extension of our brain. Eventually she will evolve into a form of governance that balances the world's resources with the needs of the people. She will also help us prepare for post-human entities who may be considered future forms of ourselves but will have god-like capabilities—something which could be thrilling, perilous or both. UNICE will help us make the transition, which will presumably include some form of AI enhancement to prevent humans from becoming irrelevant.
Read the complete founding article >>


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I owned quite a few Nikon SLR digital cameras to date, and in this article I will speak in regards to the D90 mannequin. Dengan DSLR, ruang ketajaman objek foto bisa diatur dengan leluasa. Canon had several different digital SLR cameras before the 300D, however they were aimed on the skilled photographer not the consumer. Weather Sealed – some SLR cameras, particularly enthusiast and professional SLR cameras are weather sealed.
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By taking the time to recognise what the terminology actually means it must be doable to find a camera with the correct quantity of megapixels, efficient dynamic range and picture stabilisation as well as crop issue and aspect ratio. Dengan menggunakan lensa fastened atau lensa zoom, kamera SLR dapat menangkap gambar dengan resolusi sangat tinggi dan detail.
Unfortunately this component in the decision making course of can be severely affected by value; that said there are a large number of entry stage DSLR cameras on the market that are good worth for money. Digital camera has definitely grow to be a highly regarded shopper product.
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Liquid Chromatography Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometric (LC-ESIMS) and Desorption Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometric (DESIMS) Identification of Chemical Warfare Agents in Consumer Products
- Authors
- Corporate Authors
- Defence R&D Canada - Suffield, Ralston ALTA (CAN)
- Abstract
- Terrorist use of chemical warfare agents could involve contamination of consumer products with chemical warfare agents or other toxic chemicals. Liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) and desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (DESI-MS) have been used at DRDC Suffield for the identification of chemical warfare agents and both approaches were evaluated for the determination of chemical warfare agents in spiked consumer products. Three consumer products, bottled water, canola oil and corn meal, were selected as candidates for the evaluation and comparative purposes. Each of these media was contaminated with low ìg/g levels of chemical warfare agents, levels typically used for evaluation purposes by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In house LC-ESI-MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS methods were evaluated for the determination of chemical warfare agents in spiked bottled water samples. The headspaces above spiked corn meal and canola oil samples were sampled with SPME fibers and the fibers were analysed by DESI-MS and DESI-MS/MS. MS data for all the spiked compounds were acquired in the continuum mode with a resolution of 8000, which typically resulted in mass measurement errors of 0.002 Da or less. Application of the developed sample handling and analysis methodologies is anticipated during forensic or other investigations where consumer products have been deliberately contaminated with chemical warfare agents.
- Keywords
- Liquid chromatography;Electrospray ionization;Mass spectrometry;Desorption electrospray ionization;Chemical warfare agents;Consumer products;Canola oil;Corn meal;Bottled water
- Report Number
- DRDC-SUFFIELD-TR-2007-074 — Technical Report
- Date of publication
- 01 Jun 2007
- Number of Pages
- 54
- DSTKIM No
- CANDIS No
- 527904
- Format(s):
Document 1 of 1
- Date modified:


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To the editor:
We have an attractive village and town, yet we also have a few eyesores as bad as oozing, pussy pimples on a beautiful face!
One is the fountain at the Kate Smith garden opposite the post office. Visitors are greeted by giant potfulls of colorful pansies (thanks to Lake Placid Beautification) and a lovely garden across from the fountain (Sally Urban leads this Garden Club effort). These improvements take constant maintenance, time and effort, which is evident. I cannot say the same for the focal point, the fountain, which I don't even remember seeing active.
I did see a truck and men working the area recently and said to myself, "Oh goody, finally something is being done to the neglected pool, terrace and fountain." Later, I took a look and was impressed by the carefully placed pine cones around the periphery. I was also depressed, however, by the continued need for a thorough paint job. Perhaps the men fished out most of the leaves from the pool since I have seen it worse. Perhaps they were working to make the fountain be a fountain. I hope so.
Another blemish on our community is the shocking condition of the cement wall of the parking lot across from NBT and next to Starbucks. I understand that a citizens' group wanted to hang a banner to hide the crumbling wall but was denied by government. Our elected representatives should take action ASAP on this situation which we have watched deteriorate since Arti Torrance's mural disappeared. A tourist might wonder how and why we tolerate such negligence!
Don't let eyesores like above spoil our reputation. Perhaps by the time you read this, something will have already been done beyond conversation. If not, YOU need to speak to members of our Village Board to rectify above problems.
With hope but running out of patience,
Linda Friedlander
Lake Placid


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This year's census was mailed out this week, and Canadians couldn't be happier.
All across the country, people diligently filled out the federal government's questionnaires, eager to contribute to official nationwide statistics. In fact, Canadians got so excited, they broke Statistics Canada's website.
But in that rush to complete the census, most people didn't notice a glaring problem. It's certainly not an issue that would affect every family in the country, but it's definitely still a pretty big oversight:
Nelson's family is comprised of two loving mothers and a daughter, but the census form only has room for one. That's a problem, especially considering that the census is made in part to help capture the diversity of the country we live in. It's surprising to see that this went unnoticed.
We have reached out for comment from Statistics Canada and Liz Nelson, and will update this post with any new information we receive.


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Children categories
January 2017 (10)
From the archives:
Trump makes a Tokyo visit
Voices of 2016
Quotes from Club speakers
2017: Something to Crow About
Correspondents' predictions for the year ahead
Profile: Abigail Leonard
In search of untold stories . . . by Tim Hornyak
A Change in the Air(waves)
New technologies and viewing habits . . . by Gavin Blair
Is the Government Blind to Japan's Impoverished?
Activists speak on the country's disadvantaged . . . by Julian Ryall
Vaccine Battle Stakes are High
A drug, news headlines and a libel lawsuit . . . by Justin McCurry
Exhibition: Someday Going Back Home
photographs of Syrian refugee children by Natsuki Yasuda
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
February 2017 (9)
From the archives:
The Maestro with the Baton
Journalism Enters the Matrix
The new visual technologies . . . by Michael Penn
Difficult Conceptions
The pregnancy struggle in Japan . . . by Sonja Blaschke
Profile: Andy Sharp
Beating tight deadlines for Bloomberg . . . by Gavin Blair
The "Kabuki" of Donald Trump and the Auto Industry
A look at the real story . . . by Roger Schreffler
Welcome to the Post-truth World
Fake news isn't the only problem . . . by Ayako Mie
Olympic Press Center Under Fire
Another 2020 mix-up . . . by Julian Ryall
Exhibition: Dojo Giga
Paintings by Bujinkan Dojo Soke, Masaaki Hatsumi
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
March 2017 (8)
From the archives:
Catalyst for Change
by Charles Pomeroy
Excerpts from Press Freedom in Contemporary Japan
Growing Pains: How Japan's Media Got Here and Why
by Koichi Nakano
Trials in the Shadows
by Lawrence Repeta and Yasuomi Sawa
Profile: Yoichi Yabe
A nautical photographer on his profession . . . by Tyler Rothmar
Women Power the Reconstruction of Kitakami
Some good news from Tohoku . . . by John R. Harris
Who was Kim Jong-nam?
by Justin McCurry
Exhibition: Fukushima Photographic Journey
Photographs by Bruce Osborne
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
April 2017 (10)
Paying a Price: The Global War Against Journalists
From the archives:
The Pivotal Ambasssador
by Charles Pomeroy
Sports Special
Baseball's Struggle for Global Relevance
by Robert Whiting
The Sports Beat
by Jason Coskrey
Profile: Bradley Martin
by Julian Ryall
When the Osaka Media Took the Lead
by Eric Johnston
When "Forward" Means "Right"
by David McNeill
Exhibition: Memories of Pyongyang
Photographs by Ciel Yiu
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
May 2017 (10)
From the archives:
The Man with the Baton
by Charles Pomeroy
Trouble, Rubble, Toil and Bubble
The media fascination with the Showa era . . . by Mark Schreiber
What's in a Word
The meaning of sontaku . . . by Eiichiro Tokumoto
Profile: Bruce Osborn
by Abigail Leonard
The Emperor's Buon Viaggio
Traveling with the press pack . . . by Stefano Carrer
When We Targeted North Korea
The crisis in 1969 . . . by Todd Crowell
Exhibition: Made in Tokyo
Photographs by Carla Hernandez
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETAView items...
June 2017 (10)
From the archives:
Economic Reform Advocate
by Charles Pomeroy
Salute to the Gaijin Ghetto Rats
Memories from the old Nikkei Building residents . . . by Bradley K. Martin
Rebellion in the Valley of the Fireflies
Local protests have halted dam construction, for now . . . by Sonja Blaschke
Profile: Sarah Birke
by Julian Ryall
The Kyoto Classroom: Writers and the Kansai Aesthetic
A different perspective . . . by Eric Johnston
The New Japan Times
Reborn at 120 . . . by Gavin Blair
Exhibition: Being There
Photographs by Michael E.J. Stanley
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
July 2017 (9)
From the archives:
Japan's Favorite Optimist
by Charles Pomeroy
Best Frenemies: Japan vs the UN
Government spokesmen challenge UN statements
. . . by David McNeill
"I Love Linda"
A post-war TV star was discovered at the Club tables . . . by Eiichiro Tokumoto
Profile: Kazunori Takada
Bloomberg's Tokyo bureau chief . . . by Justin McCurry
Scoop! Team Work
An Australian correspondent's China gambit . . . by Gregory Clark
A New Owner for the Japan Times
by Tim Hornyak
Exhibition: Agion Oros Athos
Photographs by Hirohito Nakanishi
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
August 2017 (9)
From the archives:
The enduring politician and ambassador
by Charles Pomeroy
If . . .
Could the Vatican have helped stop Hiroshima
. . . by Eiichiro Tokumoto
When the journalist becomes the story
Some South Korean reporters had a tough decision . . . by Asger Rojle Christensen
Profile: Johann Fleuri
. . . by Justin McCurry
The state of the fourth estate
A panel of journalists speak of the future . . . by Julian Ryall
Meet Watson, your non-human resources manager
by Tim Hornyak
Exhibition: Temptation to express the sensation of riding waves
Photographs by NAKI
From the President Khaldon Azhari
New Members/New books in the library
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
September 2017 (11)
Is Japan becoming an enemy of press freedom?
by Fred Varcoe
The view of the North by the press of the South
by Donald Kirk
Why is no-one talking to me? North Korea's Kim
by Anthony Rowley
Series Profile: Walter Sim
by David McNeill
Takashi Tachibana - A giant among Japanese journalist
by Bradley K. Martin
The Truth about 'Tankman'
by Gregory Clark
Exhibition: Funky Days - Portraits of Everyday Life Photographs
Photographs by Yoshi Itokawa
Sneak Preview Screening: "Ernesto"
From the President Khaldon Azhari
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
October 2017 (8)
It's Tokyo Motor Show time - again
by Roger Schreffler
Cleansing a Country of Its Ethnic Minority
by Monzurul Huq
Freedom of the Press Awards Awards
by Abby Leonard
Exhibition: "Glitter and Sparkle"
Photographs by Luminous Kazuhiko Sato
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
December 2017 (8)
December 2017
Write Hard to Live Free: The Pains and Joys of a Freelance Foreign Correspondent in Japan
by Jake Adelstein
The Prius turns 20: A Tale of Two Tales
by Roger Schreffler
Brewing Up Success: A Modern Woman in a Time-Honored Occupation
by Vicki L. Beyer
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan is Looking to Hire a General Manager
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
November 2017 (7)
November 2017
North Korea's Atomic Archipelago
by Todd Crowell
Whatever happened to Japan's opposition?
by Gebhard Hielscher
Rambling Through North Korea
by Todd Crowell
Art Exhibition by Baptiste Tavernier
FCCJ Press Tour to Imperial Hotel Tokyo
FCCJ - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
View items...
Collections: Showa Memories
The age Hirohito became Emperor
Number of children per married woman in agricultural occupations in 1952
Number of children per married woman in other occupations in 1952
The age Kakuei Tanaka left home to help his family working in construction
¥500 million
Amount Tanaka was fined after being found guilty in the Lockheed scandal in 1983
The engine size of the Honda Super Cub motorcycle launched in 1958, now the most produced motor vehicle in history
The year the hula-hoop was banned in Japan for fear of mass impropriety
(Two years after our cover star)
Record number of criminal cases reported – in 1988, not including traffic-related
Average height in centimeters of Japanese men in 1953
Average height in centimeters of Japanese women in 1980
$1 = ¥358.40
Dollar/Yen exchange rate, Jan. 11, 1971
The age of Emperor Hirohito at the time of his death in 1989, marking the end of the Showa era
Sources: National Tax Agency, UNFAO, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Communications Statistics Bureau
From the Archives: The Man with the Baton
Seiji Ozawa, the Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, shared his views with Club members on March 17, 1978. Here, he is about to receive a name card from David Tharp (Freelance), FCCJ Secretary, while President Frederick "Ted" Marks (UPI) looks on. David Tharp, who later transformed from journalist into physician specializing in psychotherapy, participated in efforts to relieve posttraumatic stress disorders following the earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011. David died in October of 2012 at the age of 68 while on a visit to the U.S. Ted Marks also passed away earlier in the same year at age 69.
Seiji Ozawa, the Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, shared his views with Club members on March 17, 1978. Here, he is about to receive a name card from David Tharp (Freelance), FCCJ Secretary, while President Frederick "Ted" Marks (UPI) looks on. David Tharp, who later transformed from journalist into physician specializing in psychotherapy, participated in efforts to relieve posttraumatic stress disorders following the earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011. David died in October of 2012 at the age of 68 while on a visit to the U.S. Ted Marks also passed away earlier in the same year at age 69.
by Charles Pomeroy
Seiji Ozawa, however, is still going strong at age 82. Although he had practiced piano at a young age, a hand injury resulted in a switch to conducting. In 1959 he won the top prize at an international competition in France, which brought him under the wing of Charles Munch, Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He later received a scholarship to study under Herbert von Karajan. Then he caught the attention of Leonard Bernstein, who made him assistant-conductor of the New York Philharmonic in the early 1960s, a position that led to his first professional appearance in 1962 with the San Francisco Symphony.
On a trip to Japan in December of 1962, disputes with players of the NHK Symphony Orchestra led to the cancellation of a performance (and a feud that only ended some three decades later when, according to an AP report, he led the famed orchestra in a charity concert for disabled musicians in 1995).
He led the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra as well as conducting the orchestras of Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Singapore and various others until his appointment as Musical Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973. That appointment lasted for 29 years, during which time his achievements included several Emmy Awards. In 1984, together with Kazuyoshi Akiyama, he formed the Saito Kinen Orchestra in honor of an early Japanese musicologist mentor, that brought international Japanese musicians back to their homeland for annual concerts.
Known for his unorthodox conducting wardrobe, consisting of a white turtleneck in place of the traditional white-tie garb and his lion's mane hairstyle, Seiji Ozawa was not averse to controversy. He feuded with NHK, demanded changes at the Tanglewood Music Center and was entangled in battles over the quality of his work in Boston that contributed to his relinquishing a formal role there in 2002. But he has continued to lead major international orchestras in addition to being a modernist in classical music. Health problems, including esophageal cancer in 2010, have mostly brought an end to his active career. His achievements have been recognized by many awards over the years, including Japan's Order of Culture.
– Charles Pomeroy is editor of Foreign Correspondents in Japan, a history of the Club that is available at the front desk
New Members and New Books in the Library
DARRYL GIBSON is a freelance journalist and consultant for international sporting events in Asia, Europe and North America. He wrote his first news story for the Gazette at the University of Western Ontario in October 1967. He has been a television reporter and cinematographer; radio reporter; newspaper reporter and bureau chief; foreign correspondent for the Canadian Press in Asia based in Tokyo from 1981 until 2004; freelancer for newspapers, magazines and wire services around the world; for radio, including a decade with NPR, and television; and sub-editor and Asia editor at Kyodo News from 1980 to 2015. After retiring from Kyodo in 2015, he spent seven months in Italy before returning to Japan.
REED STEVENSON rejoins the FCCJ after a 14-year hiatus, following his return to Tokyo as technology editor at Bloomberg. His last stint in Japan was reporting for Reuters from 1996 to 2002. In between, Reed's bureau chief assignments with the news agency took him to Seattle, Amsterdam and Dubai. He joined Bloomberg in San Francisco four years ago. A graduate of an international school in Yokohama and the University of Pennsylvania, he's enjoying the benefits of deflation in Japan and looking forward to catching up with news colleagues in Tokyo.
Malte Jaspersen, Kyoto Sangyo University
Satoko Hirano, Heaps Co., Ltd.
Yukako Kimura, Arttrav Inc.
Julio Arias, Delegation of the European Union
Setsuko Ogata, Otsuka Kagu Ltd.
Megumi Aiba, Dentsu Inc.
Makoto Hirabayashi, Mr Japan Co., Ltd.
Togo Hosaka, Hack Japan Holdings Co., Ltd.
Shinichiro Komatsu, Support Co., Ltd.
Akinobu Oguchi, Kinseiryuhou Association
Mysa Ohkawa, SMBC Trust Bank
Kan Takahashi, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.
Shoichi Yamamura, Intervision
New in the library
Fallacies in the Allied Nations' Historical Perception as Observed by a British Journalist
Henry Scott Stokes
Hamilton Books
Gift from Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact
Five Years After: Reassessing Japan's Responses to the Earthquake, Tsunami, and the Nuclear Disaster
Keiichi Tsunekawa (ed.)
University of Tokyo Press
Gift from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Terebi dokyumentari o tsukutta hitobito
Nihon Hoso Kyokai Hoso Bunka Kenkyujo (ed.)
NHK Shuppan
Gift from NHK Broadcasting Culture
Research Institute
Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World
Peter Navarro; Gordon G. Chang (Foreword)
Prometheus Books
Club News
From left: Committee board liason David Satterwhite, Mori and Severns with Kohei Ando, who bestowed the award. (photo by Mance Thompson)
The FCCJ's Film Committee was honored at a ceremony in early March with a Cine-Culture Club Award for its "contributions to the development of cinema culture" and its "domestic and international promotion of Japanese cinema." Sponsored by the Japan Fashion Association, it was among a number of commendations given across a range of fields, including product and technology development, cultural activitiesand regional promotions. The award was accepted by Film Committee Chair Karen Severns and her partner Koichi Mori, who have together coordinated over 150 film screenings with more than 300 Q&A guests over the past 10 years.
Cutting open Kim Jong-un's head wins Number 1 Shimbun an award – or at least the illustrative representation of such on our November 2016 cover about the journalists analyzing North Korea has done so. Designer Andrew Pothecary submitted the cover to the Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Annual Design Competition and achieved a "Merit" win. The New York-based SPD has been running for 52 years and is "dedicated to promoting and encouraging excellence in editorial design." This year's jury was co-chaired by designers from Condé Naste Traveler and Texas Monthly and included 36 jury members including design, illustrator and photographic representatives from the New Yorker to Popular Mechanics.
Exhibition: Memories of Pyongyang
Photography and video by Ciel Liu
OUR TRIP TO PYONGYANG consisted almost entirely of carefully scheduled activities, with guides that rarely left our side when we were outside of the hotel. Still, it was a rare opportunity to observe the people in this reclusive country and to think about their lives.
The disconnection from the outside world is palpable. In this city, time and space are defined by propaganda-driven activities like visits to monuments and performances. The enormous clockwork mechanism of mass-dance practices and labor duties never ceases to spin. It is fascinating, and not a little unsettling.
The city planning is monolithic, with apartment block after apartment block stretching out in an order so neat and structured it continues to haunt the mind. Advertising and other signs of commercial activity are extremely rare. The ever-present contrast between tightly restricted self-expression and an over-enthusiasm to defend government propaganda challenges our concepts of freedom and personal fulfillment. Here, one must at all times be of a single body and mind with the regime.
Is this loyalty sincere or a product of fear? Many of the people we encountered seemed curious about us, yet were scared to look at us for long. Did they – could they – imagine other ways of life?
Eight days was a short time to discover Pyongyang, yet it was a life-changing experience. It challenged everything I knew and took for granted.
On this journey, I learned something about the complexity of the human condition and about what everyday life can look like in places very different from those we know. I hope my photographs will inspire thought, not only about the lives of the citizens of Pyongyang but also about the feelings and preconceptions that we harbor within ourselves. ❶
After the completion of her MA in Photography and Electronic Arts in London, Ciel Liu started her career as a reporter for the Mandarin television channels in Singapore and worked as a freelancer creating contents for clients in different countries. Currently she is working extensively with traditional craftsmen and culture in Japan, and documenting the Outsider artists in Cuba. www.cielimpression.com
When "Forward" Means "Right"
Site lines
A page from the beta edition of Japan Forward
The Sankei group wants to launch a new English-language news organ that more aggressively pushes Japanese perspectives. Good luck with that.
by David McNeill
oreign journalists are often blamed for distorting the image of Japan by, for example, moralizing about the quirks of its economy and politics, or peddling hardy perennials (geishas, sexless marriages, gangsters, suicide) that convey exoticism, not depth or nuance. Then there's the shrill online outrage that now greets each foreign story about historical issues such as the comfort women coerced into World War II military brothels, who have been the subject of undignified diplomatic haggling for the last two decades.
Some correspondents, such as Carsten Germis of the German daily, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, have even been accused (by the foreign ministry, no less) of taking bribes from China for writing about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to whitewash Japan's wartime misdeeds.
So, try to imagine a project that might redraw this distorted picture. It would give "Japanese perspectives" on diplomacy, culture and history. It might come from the media stable most closely associated in Japan with unabashed nationalism – the Sankei Shimbun. It would have a hinomaru as its symbol and a moniker like "Japan First," except that's the name of a political party, and a popular tweet handle ("Japan for the Japanese; Anti-Globalism, Anti-Communism"). Not "Japan Best," because that sounds childish. How about "Japan Forward"?
What you might have pictured is actually the pre-launch edition of an English-language online newspaper that emerged in May of last year from the Sankei group. The aim says an editorial, is to provide a forum for "Japanese voices" and deliver them to the world "as we think about the future." Articles on the website's front page include an interview with Abe in which he pledges to bring Japanese abductees home from North Korea. Defense Minister Tomomi Inada defends her controversial pilgrimage last December to Yasukuni Shrine, and a cheeky commentary urges President Donald Trump to also visit the Shinto landmark.
THAT SUGGESTS A FIXATION with rightist causes but it's not the whole picture. Sure, there are oven-ready articles from the Sankei cupboard and polemical broadsides against China. But Japan Forward also carries thoughtful essays on the rise of Yuriko Koike, Tokyo's governor, and on Abe's relationship with Trump.
The schizophrenic tone – not so much nationalist swaggering as an apologetic lurch – may reflect the presence of several foreign contributors and commissioning editors. They include Paul Nadeau, who doubles as a private secretary to Tsuyoshi Hoshino, an LDP lawmaker and former Sankei reporter.
When approached by Sankei editors to collaborate with the publication, Nadeau, a Tokyo-based American and occasional writer, says he was at least sympathetic enough to the complaint that Japan was sometimes ill served by its corps of gaijin hacks to want to help. "One of the issues with Western reporting on Japan is that it often tends to fit Western frames to Japanese political discussions," he says, citing an article in the Washington Post by Anna Fifield quoting a university professor in comparing Inada to Marie Le Pen, France's rightwing firebrand. "Okay, they're both conservative and women, but Inada has spoken positively for LGBT rights, and immigration. You'd never see Le Pen do that."
"One of the issues with Western reporting on Japan is that it often tends to fit Western frames to Japanese political discussions."
Nadeau says he was also "frustrated" by articles citing a steady rise in Japanese defence spending as evidence of its remilitarization. "The numbers are quite small in context and there are a lot of constraints that prevent spending from growing higher." It's not a distortion or bias, he explains: "It's an incomplete characterization."
The Sankei, the smallest of Japan's major dailies, had been the only one without an English-language edition. The Yomiuri still churns out its print offshoot, the Japan News. The Nikkei launched a magazine, the Nikkei Asian Review, in 2014, while both the Mainichi and Asahi long ago pulled their English newspapers but have continued with an online presence.
BUT IF THE EDITORIAL team's "mission statement" on the Japan Forward website is to be believed, something is still missing. So they intend to present the "true face of Japan," and are setting out to overcome misunderstandings "born of linguistic barriers." They are open to a "freewheeling debate," welcoming "well-expressed dissenting and dissimilar views," and basing the editorial on the Sankei's high-quality articles, editorials, interviews and other Japan-original content." Typically, one of its earlier efforts was titled "'Japan First' Is the Only Response to 'America First,'" in which Sankei executive editor Masato Inui warned that: "A dog-eat-dog world is coming, and we must hurry to prepare for it."
Laudable aspirations, if one believes that the time is ripe for a publication that will more assertively push Japan's interests. It comes at a time when there has been a resurgence of national pride, with TV and books increasingly filled with "Japan is great" praise. As Masakazu Shirana and Teiichi Ikeda, reporters with the Tokyo Shimbun noted recently, it is a phenomenon that seems less a harbinger for the future than a nod to the past, specifically the xenophobic 1930s.
It comes at a time when there has been a resurgence of national pride, with TV and books increasingly filled with "Japan is great" praise.
Still Japan Forward has its work cut out: the beta version isn't particularly revolutionary. Among the recent uploads is standard rightist fare, such as an accusatory piece on the Chinese government's support of Japan-focused hatred. Much of the content in the rather clumsily designed interface was pretty bland stuff. There was an introduction to Tokyo's Nezu Shrine, coverage of the last day of the recent sumo tournament and a breathless promo of a new luxury train line. If this is anything to go by, none of the English editions of the Japanese dailies, much less the Japan Times – dubbed the "anti-Japan Times" by the right – have anything to fear from their new competition.
Though the beta edition is intended to end with a formal launch in May, when the business plan calls for sponsorship to make it a self-sustaining operation, they have yet to face the full-throttle complexities of an ongoing website, requiring quality writing and editing on a regular basis, and though we reached out for comment from the Sankei, we received no reply.
Will the Sankei's promise to promote "diverse perspectives" survive? Perhaps not: Senior editors have already reportedly reined in articles that strayed too far from its unofficial remit – to make Japan appear great again. ❶
David McNeill writes for the Independent, the Economist and other publications. He has been based in Tokyo since 2000
When the Osaka Media Took the Lead
Man in the news:
Moritomo Gakuen's Yasunori Kagoike, speaks at the Club after testifying at the Diet on March 23
A local story exploded into a national one – pushing Osaka's journalists to make it their own.
by Eric Johnston
t began as just another Osaka land deal gone bad, a local story pursued by local reporters, of interest only to local readers and viewers. Why had the school managed to purchase a piece of property from the government valued at ¥956 million for a mere ¥134 million?
But when the scandal surrounding Moritomo Gakuen, a private educational firm advocating a nationalist, prewar educational system, reached the Prime Minister's Office, suddenly, what was once an "Osaka story" was now very much something larger. And when Yasunori Kagoike, the firm's head, gave sworn testimony to both houses of the Diet on March 23 – followed immediately afterwards by a press conference at FCCJ – the story went from large to huge, with inflammatory allegations from Kagoike about the political support, and abandonment, of his cause by the PM's wife as well as Osaka politicians. These were followed by strong denials by those he named, the result of which has been less, not more, clarity.
Japanese media coverage of Moritomo Gakuen, its educational philosophy and the parade of political figures who have found themselves caught up in it, all the way up to and including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie, is a good example of the different approaches toward covering political scandals in Tokyo and Osaka. Reasons for these differences often have to do with the basic editorial structure and corporate culture of the media organs themselves. But they can also be due to local politics, by which "local" means not only Osaka but also "local" political reporting in Nagatacho.
Japanese media coverage of Moritomo Gakuen is a good example of the different approaches toward covering political scandals in Tokyo and Osaka.
Developing a chronology of when, exactly, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal became news is difficult. Some media commentators point to initial reports in the local media last summer that questioned if Moritomo's new elementary school, which was originally due to open on April 1 this year but is now postponed indefinitely, was financially sound. On the other hand, as long ago as 2012, Osaka prefecture authorities had relaxed the restrictions on establishing private schools in general at a time when only Moritomo Gakuen appeared to be pushing for the rules to be eased.
For the most part, mainstream local media didn't explore too deeply questions about who, exactly, was behind the school. Not that some connections were a secret. One of the more prominent politicians supporting Moritomo's educational philosophy was Takeo Hiranuma. Though now back in the Liberal Democratic Party, Hiranuma and his close ally, former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, tied up with former Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto and his followers in 2014-2015 to form the first version of Nippon Ishin no Kai.
The political alliance between Hiranuma, Ishihara, Hashimoto and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui would break up in late September 2015, just a few weeks after PM Abe absented himself from a contentious Diet debate on security to make a quick trip to Osaka, where he appeared on a Yomiuri Telecasting program. That same day, it was later learned, representatives from a firm hired by Moritomo met with local Finance Ministry officials in Osaka.
What exactly was said at the meeting is unknown as the Finance Ministry admitted during Diet questioning in February that notes from the meeting had been thrown away. Abe returned to Tokyo that same day. But the next day, his wife Akie spoke at Moritomo Gakuen's kindergarten, where she was introduced as the new elementary school's honorary principal. Akie would keep that title, and her face and greetings would be on Moritomo's website, until the scandal broke and she resigned.
Unlike the Tokyo-based media, major newspapers or television stations in Osaka lack what political reporters in the nation's capital would recognize as a Political News section. Traditionally, the Osaka beat meant covering economics or social issues as well as metro issues like crime and the courts. Reporters were attached to Osaka prefecture and Osaka city press clubs, but their approach to politics was purely local.
Under local editors and producers, they have historically produced a style of reporting that can be more feisty and critical of government policies than the political hacks in Tokyo, but also more wonkish. Many Osaka reporters, at least in the print media, who are ostensibly covering politics have written books on local government policies. It's quite different from the often celebrity-driven, "who's up and who's down?" ruling and opposition party games type of reporting that so obsesses Tokyo-based political pundits and reporters. Osaka media suck up and report the most minute and mundane details about municipal sewage disposal and water treatment, corporate zoning, the city tax code, health and welfare policies for the elderly, or the safety of local public transportation systems. Talking grand political theory and strategy with politicians or their staff or trading gossip over late-night drinks is not their first priority.
Osaka media have historically produced a style of reporting that can be more feisty and critical of government policies than the political hacks in Tokyo, but also more wonkish.
That changed somewhat when Toru Hashimoto and Ichiro Matsui decided to take their Osaka-based Ishin movement to the Diet by tying up with Ishihara and Hiranuma to form Nippon Ishin no Kai. Suddenly, reporters in Osaka were asking questions in local press clubs about national and international developments and the party's position on everything from historical tensions between South Korea and Japan over the comfort women issue to how Hashimoto and Matsui viewed constitutional revision and the role of Japan's self-defense forces. For Osaka reporters used to quiet press conferences on very local issues and unfamiliar with the way their Tokyo colleagues covered the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Diet, dealing with the outspoken, highly opinionated and often volatile Hashimoto in particular was an unprecedented challenge.
They would learn, however. By February, over a year after Hashimoto retired from local politics, the Moritomo scandal was breaking. It would be propelled forward by Osaka media types who were very much outsiders to Tokyo's political establishment yet who now had the experience of dealing, often aggressively, with Hashimoto and Matsui on countless occasions. As bizarre as it sounds, Hashimoto's constant criticism of the local media, his long harangues during press conferences where he went after newspapers like the Asahi and Mainichi that disagreed with him appears to have made some of them better reporters – tougher and more thorough.
So, in the beginning, when the rest of Japan considered the Moritomo story a local one at best, Osaka's reporters had no competition from their Tokyo affiliates. Of course, while they aggressively pursued some questions, especially the detailed financial aspects of the story that could be confirmed if one searched the public records, other subjects were talked about in the press room but not always displayed prominently on the front page. These included questions like who else, besides those who were public supporters, might be involved in the scandal, and where the money to fund Moritomo Gakuen might be coming from.
Still, what was striking about the Moritomo scandal was the extent to which the Osaka media drove the story in the beginning and the extent the Tokyo media attempted to play it down, hoping it was nothing more than an early spring blizzard that would blow hard for a day or so and then calm down. That began to change in late February as it became clear there was a lot of smoke at Moritomo, even if nobody could quite see the actual fire just yet, and the Tokyo media, especially the television media, picked up the coverage.
What was striking about the scandal was the extent to which the Osaka media drove the story in the beginning and the extent the Tokyo media attempted to play it down.
It was also surely no coincidence that two of the more prominent members of the Democratic Party who were keeping the issue alive, Kiyomi Tsujimoto and Tetsuya Fukuyama, were from the Kansai region (and in Tsujimoto's case, the electoral district bordering the one where Moritomo Gakuen is located). At the same time, Osaka media reporting sometimes defied the expectations of media experts who might pigeonhole one media group or another. When even Osaka-based Yomiuri Telecasting and the local affiliate of Fuji-Sankei, Kansai TV, began asking hard-hitting questions about Abe's role in the scandal, it was clear this was a story that was not going to peter out quickly. On the other hand, Tokyo-based pundits and well-known announcers at both networks continued to urge caution about Kagoike's claims. Especially when he told a group of visiting Diet members that Abe had, through his wife, donated one million yen, a claim she assiduously denies..
As I write this in late March, how the Moritomo Gakuen scandal will end is unclear. For the Osaka media, Kagoike's allegations and the realization this is not just another story for the metro section has led to a more cautious approach to the reporting, and once again, a return to looking at local angles – starting with how and why Moritomo got such a huge discount on the land it purchased. In addition, those who cover the Osaka courts, the police, the prosecutors' office, as well as the city and the prefectural governments, are expected to be quite busy as angry parents sue Moritomo, businesses file suits to get their money back, and opposition politicians in Osaka prefecture demand investigations into what happened. This will take place regardless of what happens to the prime minister or members of his Cabinet because Moritomo Gakuen is still a "local" Osaka story, even if it now has national implications.❶
Eric Johnston is a staff writer with the Japan Times. The opinions expressed within are his own and not necessarily those of the Japan Times.
Profile: Bradley Martin
"I told myself that I could do better, and that if I became a foreign correspondent, I would do better."
by Julian Ryall
radley Martin credits the burning desire to get as far away as possible from Marietta, Georgia to thank for datelines as coveted in the news business as Kabul and Pyongyang, as well as countless other corners of Asia over the course of a five-decade career.
Now 74, he gets back to Marietta occasionally to see family and friends, but shakes his head wryly when he admits, "I don't know more than four people there who did not vote for Trump." His first escape from Georgia was to Princeton University, where he studied U.S. and Asian history. "We had always had trinkets around the house from my uncles' duties in the Philippines and other parts of East Asia – Chinese gadgets and souvenirs, a Buddha statue – and I just became interested in the region without knowing very much about it," he says.
"It took me three weeks to figure out that what was going on over the border was a stupid war that we could not win . . ."
Graduating in 1964 and starting law school, Martin had no ambitions of a media career, but was a voracious consumer of the news provided by Newsweek. The headlines were dominated by the "wonderful war that was going on in Southeast Asia at the time," Martin recalls, and he even seriously considered joining the military to take part in "my generation's war."
Instead, his wife at the time convinced him that they should both join the Peace Corps, and they swiftly found themselves teachers in Bangkok. "It took me three weeks to figure out that what was going on over the border was a stupid war that we could not win, and I was extremely angry at how I had been misled," Martin says. "I told myself I could do better and that if I became a foreign correspondent, I would do better."
Lacking the required experience and clips – the Thailand director of the Peace Corps was an old newspaper hand and had to explain what clips were – Martin launched a quarterly journal for the organization and, after returning to the U.S., was able to parlay his experience into a position on the Charlotte Observer. Cutting his teeth on poverty, race relations and urban affairs, he later moved to the Baltimore Sun because it employed foreign correspondents. After three years as a business reporter, he was sent to Tokyo in 1977.
"From the very beginning, I loved the place," he says. "In those days, the Club was quite lively. There were fist fights in here and I was in at least one of them myself. You could say we were quite a rowdy bunch."
It was also a good time to be a correspondent, though Kakuei Tanaka and the Lockheed scandal were receding into history. "Japan was interesting politically, but there was no bang-bang," says Martin. "That was going on in South Korea with the demonstrations against Park Chung-hee."
He crossed the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan soon after the Soviet invasion and watched battles taking place around his hotel in Kabul.
Then came October 1979. "It happened to be my birthday, there had been a party and we had all had rather a lot to drink," Martin says. "In the middle of the night, my editor rang and I thought he said that a big yakuza had been killed, that I needed to get down to the Reuters office to file and then get the first plane to Seoul in the morning." The information seemed confused and contradictory, but Martin checked with his police contacts about yakuza killings – before learning that Park Chung-hee had been assassinated by his own secret service chief.
Over the next few years, he spent much of his time in Seoul, interspersed with spells in New Delhi and Beijing, and kept a close eye on events in Korea even after switching to the Asian Wall Street Journal. He crossed the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan aboard a public bus soon after the Soviet invasion in 1979 and recalls watching battles taking place around his hotel in Kabul. He was in Gwangju, South Korea, in 1980 in the latter stages of the uprising, before it was put down.
But everyone who covered Asia wanted to get into North Korea. "It was forbidden," he says. "Eventually, I managed to get accredited to cover the 1979 World Table Tennis Championships." He did not take in many table tennis matches, instead using the time to meet as many government officials as possible and to travel as much of the country as his minders would permit. An interview with Kim Yong-nam, now the president of the Supreme People's Assembly, lasted five hours.
Martin's reports were so successful that he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. They also served as the basis for his critically acclaimed book, Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty. "It was a fascinating place that was just so different from anything else," he says. "It was a religious kingdom where the people worshiped Kim Il-sung and I just soaked it all up."
Martin has visited North Korean on seven occasions, including while he was writing for Bloomberg, but does not expect to be permitted to return again. An application last year to study Korean in Pyongyang was summarily turned down.
Given that Under the Loving Care is now 13 years old, Martin – who divides his time between homes in Hawaii and Nagano Prefecture – says he is toying with the idea of writing a follow-up, although his recent efforts have been focused on his first novel, Nuclear Blues, expected to be published in the next couple of months. ❶
Julian Ryall is Japan correspondent for the Daily Telegraph.
The Sports Beat
Take me out to the ball game: the author at work
Covering sports in Japan is not much different than anywhere else, requiring knowledge of the games, a curious mind and a willingness to -- sometimes -- bend the rules.
by Jason Coskrey
once almost knocked down Masahiro Tanaka on a flight of stairs.
It wasn't on purpose, of course. Balance was a tenuous proposition at Seibu Dome that day. I was walking in the midst of a pack of at least eight journalists all trying to speak with Tanaka after a game while maneuvering up the stairs heading out to the parking lot. The stairwell isn't narrow, but wouldn't be mistaken for wide either, especially not with a gaggle of people going up it all at once struggling to stay within hearing range. I slipped a little, catching myself before I ended up falling face first into the white No. 18 on the back of Tanaka's red Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles uniform and possibly injuring him and his golden arm.
That was in 2013. Tanaka, one of Japan's best pitchers, would finish that season 24–0, a Japan Series champion, the Pacific League MVP and owner of Guinness World Records for most consecutive games won by a pitcher (30), most consecutive regular-season games won by a pitcher (28) and most consecutive games won by a pitcher in a single regular season (24). Now, Tanaka pitches for the New York Yankees, and I remain grateful for having kept my balance.
Jeremy Powell, who pitched in Japan, told me that one of the most important things is the "ability to have an open mind and embrace the Japanese way."
It probably wouldn't have happened in the U.S. There, media are given time with players like Tanaka in the clubhouse, instead of having to catch them on their way to the team bus. But such is life covering sports in Japan. There are times the facilities, tools and general media considerations sports reporters have in other places are lacking – which sometimes effects how you report on things.
Aside from this, which does take getting used to, reporting on sports in Japan isn't wildly different than elsewhere. Where the experiences diverge can mostly be chalked up to simply being the way Japanese do things – which is, of course, a common refrain of many of the foreign players who come here. Like them, you're operating in a different environment with a different language and different cultural norms and nuances. Jeremy Powell, who pitched in Japan for eight seasons, told me once that one of the most important things for players is the "ability to have an open mind and embrace the Japanese way."
GETTING ALONG REQUIRES AT least a tacit understanding of how things work, but it doesn't mean that foreign journalists have to totally adapt to how the Japanese media operates. Sometimes we find ourselves reporting on things the Japanese media might overlook (though reporters for the tabloids, who are not afraid of retaliatory actions, tend to do this already). Stepping outside of the norms is how best-selling author Robert Whiting ran afoul of the Yomiuri Giants organization, easily the most powerful singular entity in Japanese baseball – maybe all Japanese sports – in 1990 when he reported that the club was announcing false attendance figures rather than taking the team's word at face value like everyone else. Whiting was banned from Tokyo Dome indefinitely for his troubles. He was also, of course, right.
It doesn't usually get that dramatic these days. When I reported on one notable controversy – writing in 2008 that manager Bobby Valentine claimed someone in the Chiba Lotte Marines front office had asked him to resign – there was no kickback from the team. Oddly, though, the team did try to crackdown on reporters who were covering Valentine's firing in 2009 with media guidelines that reportedly included a ban on wearing jeans.
The kisha clubs that control the flow of information from the Japanese government also exist in sports. They're divided by region, with different sports and leagues handling things in their own way. But they don't seem as heavy-handed as those covering the government, lacking for the most part, the hostile attitude toward non-members. Leagues and organizations have been slow to embrace internet media, however, and reporters from these companies sometimes run into access issues.
The kisha clubs don't seem as heavy-handed as those covering the government, lacking for the most part the hostile attitude toward non-members.
Generally no reporter, kisha club member or not, is allowed in locker rooms. Some sports have mixed zones, where you wait for the players to walk by and hope to catch them. For baseball, there is just a lot of waiting for the players to come out of the clubhouse and firing questions at them on their way to their cars or the bus. Some may stop to speak with reporters, others will speak while walking, and others ignore us. It mostly depends on the mood the player is in, which depends a lot on how that day's game went. In some baseball stadiums, you can walk with the players to the clubhouse, which offers another opportunity, but that depends on the layout.
I once got into a locker room by accident. Greg LaRocca, who was playing for the Orix Buffaloes, had promised to answer a few questions, but found himself out of time. Nice guy that he was, LaRocca's solution was to pull me by the arm into the visitor's locker room at Chiba Marine Stadium and do it there. Other than a few odd looks, the Buffaloes staff didn't say anything.
ONCE YOU ACTUALLY GET to speak with the players, it's the same all over the world: we try our best to get something beyond the typical athlete clichés, something that we can make news with, or at least make our write-ups more interesting.
Some players actually seem more relaxed around a foreign reporter and tend to deviate from the normal stock answers. Some are curious as well. A meeting with the Seibu Lions' pitcher Yusei Kikuchi once extended for several minutes because he wanted to quiz me on how I ended up covering baseball in Japan. Conversely, there was a basketball player, who shall remain nameless, who couldn't have been less interested in being interviewed, and very likely would have even answered a question about the meaning of life with a curt "yes" or "no."
Of course, as with all journalism, the answers are usually only as good as the question that is asked.
Softball pitcher Yukiko Ueno was great the couple of times I've interviewed her, giving thoughtful answers, smiling through it and being generally pleasant, while Seiichi Uchikawa of the Hawks is always attentive if he's got time and one of the best interviews in baseball. As an organization, the Hokkaido Nippon Fighters are top-class in terms of access and communication. With enough lead time the Fighters staff will make a good effort to honor player requests, both home and on the road. They make their players available when possible, work to reschedule in the event either you or the player has an unavoidable conflict and are quick to respond to queries, which is rarer than it should be. They don't always say yes to everything, but their PR staff is very good at working with the media.
Japanese reporters are usually more interested in the mechanics of what happened, rather than the narrative focus on "why" that you see many sports reports in the West take. Of course, as with all journalism, the answers are usually only as good as the question that is asked. Prior to Game 1 of the 2007 Japan Series, a Japanese reporter leaned in and asked Trey Hillman, a down-to-earth Texan who managed the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters from 2003 to 2007, what he and his wife had discussed over breakfast that morning. Hillman just shook his head and said in his Texas drawl, "I'm not going to tell you what my wife and I talked about this morning."
Most Japanese reporters are helpful, used to the give-and-take of the media environment. Sometimes I can even be of help to them, as in an interesting experience I had during the Japan Series in 2014. Earlier the that year, Hanshin Tigers outfielder Matt Murton had been caught up in controversy when something he said was mistranslated by a Japanese reporter. The mistranslation (an innocent mistake as opposed to a malicious one) seemed to infer that Murton had made a mistake on the field just because he didn't like one of his teammates. As everyone knows, the media around the Tigers is as voracious as their mascot, and the story blew up. Murton, who loved Japan and was always easy with his time for the media, was a little more measured in his dealings with the press after that.
So after Game 1 of the Japan Series at Osaka's Koshien Stadium, I walked with him back to the clubhouse, going over the game. When our conversation ended, I turned to see a throng of eager reporters' faces, desperate to know every detail of what Murton had said. Just like that, I was the main attraction in a press scrum. It was a very, very small glimpse into what we put the players through daily.
WHILE THERE ARE CHALLENGES, there is still a poetic quality to sports writing, which is one reason I like it despite the issues. The heat of battle, of competition between opposing forces, breeds great drama and stories.
Also, as much as professional sports are essentially children's games played on the grand stage, to the athletes, the games are a major part of their lives. They are part (not the whole) of who these people are, and the person they are helps make up the athlete they become.
Through the games and the people who play them, you can discover things that are more important than sports, their real-life triumphs and defeats, highs and lows that may also help understand why this basketball player works so hard at her craft, or, for example, why a football player's mother may have been the one to share the love of the sport with him and broken a barrier by bucking social norms and playing the game herself; in fact, her story may be the more interesting one for both social and sporting reasons.
Sports is human drama, and finding those things makes the search for them, and the hurdles you have to leap over sometimes, worthwhile. ❶
Jason Coskrey covers sports for the Japan Times.
Paying a Price: The Global War Against Journalists
Deadliest Countries in 2016
journalist deaths Syria
Yemen & Iraq
Somalia & Libya
Killed Journalists' beat
(more than one category applies in some cases)
75% War
38% Politics
19% Corruption
17% Crime
17% Human Rights
13% Culture
4% Business
4% Sports
Murdered Journalists' jobs
33% Camera operator
33% Photographer
29% Internet reporter/writer
27% Broadcast reporter
15% Print reporter/writer
8% Editor
6% Producer
Suspected source of fire
58% Political group
23% Military officials
10% Unknown
6% Criminal group
2% Paramilitary group
2% Local residents
Result of Murder Cases of perpetrators
94% Complete impunity
6% Partial justice
Highest annual number of journalist deaths, 2007
Journalists killed since 1992