"日經"力求向全球數字新聞品牌轉型 Tough journey from print to global digital journalism

For the top executives of Nikkei, Japan’s biggest media company, buying the Financial Times was a deal they had been chasing for years in a bid to turn a heavily domestic name into a global brand and survive the shift to digital journalism.

對日本最大媒體公司日經新聞(Nikkei)的頂級高管來說，收購英國《金融時報》(Financial Times, FT)是他們多年來追求的一筆交易，這種追求的目的是把一個本土色彩濃厚的品牌轉變爲一個全球品牌，在朝向數字新聞的轉型過程中生存下來。

Founded in 1876, Nikkei has 3.12m subscribers, and has built itself into the most widely read financial publication for the country’s chief executives and salarymen.

成立於1876年的日經新聞擁有312萬訂戶，已成爲日本首席執行官和上班族讀得最多的財經出版物。

The 844m deal came just four months after the Nikkei publication appointed a new chief executive, Naotoshi Okada. He has continued the strategy set by his predecessor Tsuneo Kita, who sought to strengthen Nikkei’s digital content with the launch of an online version of the paper in 2010 and investments in Monocle, the lifestyle magazine, and Evernote, a digital note-taking service based in Silicon Valley. Mr Kita remains chairman and chief executive of the larger Nikkei group.

就在達成這筆8.44億英鎊交易的四個月前，日經新聞任命岡田直敏(Naotoshi Okada)出任社長。岡田延續了前任喜多恆雄(Tsuneo Kita)制定的戰略，後者尋求加強日經新聞的數字內容，在2010年推出《日本經濟新聞》網絡版，並投資於生活方式雜誌《Monocle》和總部位於硅谷的數字筆記服務印象筆記(Evernote)。喜多恆雄仍是日經集團的董事長和首席執行官。

The company has struggled to build its name overseas, grappling with the burden faced by other Japanese companies: a shrinking and ageing home market. Fewer than 30 per cent of Japanese people own shares, resulting in a smaller pie of readers for the Nikkei. The total circulation of Japanese Newspapers as of March was 39.7m, down 15 per cent over the past 13 years, according to the Japan Newspaper Publisher & Editors Association. Nikkei suffered a 11 per cent decline over the same period. As of June, Nikkei had circulation of 2.73m with 430,000 digital subscribers.

該公司在海外打造品牌的努力一直舉步維艱，同時艱難應對着日本企業普遍面對的負擔：不斷萎縮且老齡化的國內市場。只有不到30%的日本人擁有股票，導致日經新聞的讀者羣較小。根據日本新聞協會(Japan Newspaper Publisher & Editors Association)的數據，日本各家報紙今年3月的總髮行量爲3970萬份，在過去13年裏下降了15%。同期日經新聞遭遇了11%的下降。今年6月，日經新聞的發行量達到273萬份，其中43萬爲數字訂戶。

It launched an English language publication called Nikkei Asian Review in 2013 to build its profile outside of the country, but the publication has struggled to build an audience.

該報在2013年推出英文版的《Nikkei Asian Review》，以求提高海外知名度，但這份刊物一直難以構建讀者羣。

At the time of the launch, the company’s management said Nikkei was going to become “an Asian paper that was completely distinct from the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal”, according to a person familiar with the matter. “Buying the FT is opposite from what we’ve always been told,” the person said.

據知情人士透露，創辦這份英文刊物時，該公司管理層曾表示，日經將成爲“一份亞洲報紙，與英國《金融時報》和《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)完全不同”。此人說，“買下英國《金融時報》與我們一向被告知的理念背道而馳。”

Nikkei’s attraction as a source of information on Japanese shares has been resurgent since Shinzo Abe became prime minister and the Tokyo stock market began a bull run that has drawn record volumes of foreign investment into Japanese equities.

自安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)出任日本首相以來，東京股市出現牛市，吸引創紀錄數量的外資投入日本股票，這意味着作爲有關日本股票的信息來源，日經新聞的吸引力再度上升。

As analysts regularly point out, Japanese bull runs have historically tended to evolve from a “buy the market” strategy to a more selective stockpickers’ market. It is at that point, say fund managers with long track records in Japan, that the Nikkei and its reporting of planned corporate announcements becomes invaluable.

正如分析師們所經常指出的，從歷史上看，日本的牛市傾向於從“買什麼都行”的戰略漸漸演變到更具選擇性的“炒股高手市場”。長期活躍於日本的基金經理們表示，正是在那個時間點上，日經新聞及其對策劃中的企業公告的報道變得非常寶貴。

But as 844m sale of the FT Group by Pearson became public yesterday, some people inside the Nikkei expressed concerns over the price tag.

但在昨日培生集團(Pearson)以8.44億英鎊出售英國《金融時報》集團(FT Group)的消息傳出之際，日經內部的一些人士表達了對收購價格的擔憂。

The Y160bn (deal price will weigh on Nikkei’s balance sheet, which had Y103bn in cash and cash equivalents as of the end of December. In 2014, group sales increased 4.4 per cent to Y300bn ($2.4bn) while net profit declined 10 per cent to Y10.26bn.

1600億日元的交易價格將拖累日經的資產負債表；截至去年12月底，其資產負債表上有1030億日元現金及現金等價物。2014年集團銷售額增長4.4%，至3000億日元（合24億美元），淨利潤同比下降10%，至102.6億日元。