A kisha club (記者クラブ, kisha kurabu; "reporters' club") is a Japanese news-gathering association of reporters from specific news organizations, whose reporting centers on a press room set up by sources such as the Prime Minister's Official Residence, government ministries, local authorities, the police, or corporate bodies. In English, it also called a Press Club. Institutions with a kisha club limit their press conferences to the journalists of that club, and membership rules for kisha clubs are restrictive. This blocks access by domestic non-member media, such as magazines and smaller newspapers, and the foreign media, as well as freelance reporters, to the press conferences. While similar arrangements exist in other countries, the Japanese form of this type of organization is seen as one of the most extreme, with journalists actively denying access to other journalists, which has led to use of the Japanese term in other languages, often with a critical meaning.
History 1890 In response to the ban imposed by the first Imperial Diet on reporting by newspaper reporters, a reporter from the Jiji Shinpō (時事新報) newspaper called together the Diet correspondents from the Tokyo newspapers to form a "Group of journalists visiting the Diet" (議会出入記者団, Gikai deiri kishadan), which in October merged with newspaper companies across Japan, changing its name to the Associated Newspaper Journalists' Club (共同新聞記者倶楽部, Kyōdō Shinbun Kisha Kurabu), to become the first kisha club. March 1941 With the formation of the "Japan Newspaper Union" (日本新聞連盟, Nihon Shinbun Renmei), a newspaper control organization, the number of kisha clubs was reduced to one third, and kisha clubs were forbidden from governing themselves. October 26, 1949 The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association created a "Policy on Kisha Clubs", stating that they were "an organization for the purpose of socialization, and are not to intervene in matters related to reporting". December 1997 The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association changed this policy, stating that kisha clubs were "bases for reporting" which allowed easy access to information held by public bodies. March 24, 2005 Livedoor became the first Internet media company to apply for membership of the Japan Meteorological Agency kisha club. However, on March 15, 2006, the former president of Livedoor, Takafumi Horie, was charged with a breach of the Securities Trading Law (証券取引法, Shōken Torihiki Hō), and for this reason the application was rejected unanimously by the companies present. July 9, 2005 The freelance journalist Yū Terasawa (寺澤有) and the deputy editor of the Shūkan Gendai (週刊現代) weekly magazine submitted an application for a provisional ruling against the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the 15 companies in the related kisha club to the Tokyo District Court and Tokyo High Court, stating that groups such as kisha clubs must not be allowed to obstruct journalists wishing to attend at the offices of the Metropolitan Police and give questions, but the application was refused. A special appeal is being made to the Tokyo High Court. November 8, 2005 When a journalist from NHK Ōtsu bureau was arrested in relation to an arson incident, the offices of the Shiga Prefecture Police kisha club to which he belonged were searched by the Shiga Prefecture Police.
Reporting agreements Kisha clubs often make agreements on reporting, which are known as "blackboard agreements" (黒板協定, kokuban kyōtei) because they are communicated via a blackboard in a press room. The aim of making reporting agreements is often to avoid excessive competition during reporting. Agreements may also be made based on a request by, for example, the police, to protect the victims in cases such as kidnappings. These backroom agreements came under criticism following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, when they were blamed for causing journalists to self-censor, and limit their coverage to official announcements by government and plant officials.
Magazine kisha clubs In 1956, the J-Magazine (日本雑誌協会, Nihon Zasshi Kyokai) association was set up, containing "Japanese magazine kisha clubs (日本雑誌記者会, nihon zasshi kishakai) and Japanese magazine photo-journalist clubs (日本雑誌写真記者会, nihon zasshi shashin kishakai), formed from member companies, to expedite the reporting activities related to magazine editing".
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
