I was intrigued by the news broadcast program when I first switched on the TV back in May to see what crazy Japanese talk show options I could get. NEWS ZERO's timeslot falls right between the top-rated dramas of the month and the late-nite adventures of Johnny's boys on shows like "Arashi no Shukudai-kun" and "Cartoon KAT-TUN."
Speaking of Arashi, if you tune in to NEWS ZERO on Monday nights, you might recognize a certain rapper co-anchoring and occasionally reporting on youth-related topics. Yes, on top of his many talk show, acting and other Arashi-related responsibilities, Sho Sakurai - who graduated from Ivy League-esque Keio University with a degree in economics - also is a TV journalist.
(Sho is the one on the right, in case you need a hint.)
The set has a clean, polished feel and everything - from the graphics to the camera quality - screams "We embrace our technology." The lighting also seems 100x better than the sometimes-abnormally bright fluorescents glaring on newscasters' faces in America. Then again, this IS a national broadcast and should have the reputation of one, both technically and journalistically.
One surprise: the theme song at the end of each show, played like the end credits to a movie as B-roll from that night's top stories is reviewed. I first thought it was a commercial, not expecting the slow, almost melancholy music.
Tonight's telecast focused on South Africa's improvement (or lack thereof) in equality between races since apartheid was established. The narrator's voice reminded me of Dateline's murder mysteries, with long pauses and dramatic sentence pronunciation. NEWS ZERO isn't exactly the most unbiased, unemotional news program, especially when only one or two interviews are included in a 15-minute feature.
After each news item is finished, the panel of 3 or 4 journalists then DISCUSS the matter with each other. Whoa. (As an American journalist, this surprised me most.) The main host (who sits in the center) calls on each of his colleagues to give his or her take on the situation.
Finishing off tonight's telecast was a short discussion about the current issue of The Economist, which features an article about Japan's change in political order with the election of a new majority party. My favorite part: Sho and his coworkers amazed that the publication's designers used katakana on the cover image.
Message to all designers: Use other languages on your feature story, and you might get some international attention.
For a link to the article: The Economist
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