On 19th July 2024, Cision PR Newswire held its first ever event in Tokyo! PR professionals gathered at Bellesalle Convention Centre at Shiodome district, where their excitement was met with enthusiasm by the guest speakers.
Key Takeaways from Cision's 2024 State of the Media Report
Liam Power, PR Newswire's SVP Global Operations, kicked things off by touching on some meaningful pointers which were discussed in the 2024 State of the Media Report. This very report was what inspired the discussion topics and theme for this event.
The report reveals what communications professionals can do to become the desired partners that journalists need and trust in today's ever-changing media landscape. Furthermore, report findings on how public relations professional can achieve positive media results faster are alluded to the provision of targeted, well-researched, and stories that rank high on the audience relevance scale to journalists.
Keen to find out more insights? Download our 2024 State of the Media Report now.
With this, the context was set and these were the highlights.
Amplifying Your News Beyond the Press Release
First up was Amy Zhang, Cision PR Newswire's Senior Business Development Manager, who introduced several of our most popular white papers, such as “The Definitive Guide to Crafting and Engaging Press Release,” “5 Creative Ways to Amplify Your News Beyond the Press Release” and “10 Newsworthy Reasons to Send a Press Release” to the crowd.
The mentioned resources seek to be guides for Japanese companies as many of them struggle to communicate their stories outside of Japan. Amy also added that PR Newswire's Content Services team can bolster efforts by providing support through content creation, distribution and media strategy. By covering all these aspects, companies can better control their brand narrative while securing media coverage.
Insights on what effective and appealing press releases would look like, success stories and preferred distribution timings were also disclosed. Hopefully, these would boost the confidence among Japanese PR and communications professionals and guide them in the right direction when it comes to global news dissemination.
Readers' Trust Lies in Journalists
Koichi Kanzaki, who is the former Deputy Director of the Media Strategy bureau of Yomiuri Shimbun, provided insights on the Japanese media landscape, specifically, the dynamic between journalists and PR professionals.
Based on Kochi’s years of experience, he revealed that one of the downsides of communication on social networks is the lack of credibility. Fortunately, he added that readers in Japan have a high level of trust in news articles written by journalists.
The reason? Readers feel reassured as journalists would have gone through sufficient training before assuming their roles. Not to mention, these articles would also have gone through multiple rounds of checks before being disseminated.
Just like in other parts of the world, the journalists in Japan receive tons of pitches daily, so it is critical for PR pros to catch the attention of journalists for their pitches to stand a chance of getting picked up. Some practical advice from Koichi?
Always provide accurate and informative information to minimize the need for journalists in Japan to call for more information. Essentially, do not let journalists jump through more hoops than needed to get to their desired news.
Next up was Toshi Maeda, Editor-in-Chief of J-STORIES, and former Editor-in-Chief of Yomiuri Online, Reuters News Agency TV producer and reporter of AP News and Japan Times. Toshi moved the focus away from Japanese local media to media in Japan reporting in foreign languages.
Attendees were in for a treat as Toshi gave them an in-depth analysis of his brainchild, J-STORIES's reporting and editorial focus. In addition, he also stated the reporting criteria of news for Reuters Television Tokyo bureau. It consists of a combination of international news, along with subculture related, technology and soft topics, such as animals' news.
So, here’s the IT question, “What determines information as news?”
The three factors are,
- News value (E.g. social significance, novelty, interest, uniqueness)
- News factor (E.g. relevance to current news and trends)
- Interest factor (E.g. compatibility with the media and its target audience)
These refreshing insights provided a behind-the-scenes look at media operations in Japan and abroad, while allowing PR professionals to utilize them to their advantage when required to work with the media.
Final Words
It might be our first ever Comms Connect in Japan, but it would definitely not be our last, given the hit that it was!
We hope our attendees left feeling inspired and better equipped to navigate the complexities of Japan’s media landscape. Never miss another of our events again. Click here to check when and where our next event is.
Stay tuned for more updates and follow us @PR Newswire APAC on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Youtube for more tips and the latest tools so that you can navigate the ever-evolving world of communications efficiently.
About Ryusei Miyoshi
Ryusei Miyoshi, an Audience Development Executive, focuses on building new content partnerships and media relations in Japan. With a wealth of experience and a strategic approach to media, Ryusei contributes to strengthening PR Newswire's regional media distribution network.