Investigation of problems with English site (2)

Pursuit of WaiWai popularity drove column to extremes

From the days of the printed version of the MDN, the WaiWai column sometimes carried sex-related topics. In those days, the native English-speaking editor in charge of the column sometimes pointed out that language used in the column should be moderated. A writer of the WaiWai column recalls, "The editor in charge had a balanced perspective, and I couldn't write too much foolish stuff. Many articles of mine were turned down."

In the case of the Japanese version of the Mainichi Shimbun, all articles written by individual reporters are checked by desk editors, who confirm the facts and expressions in the articles by questioning reporters in detail about their articles. The articles will then be passed on to the page editing process. The articles then undergo repeated checks -- in the newsroom to determine positioning and headlines, in the proofreading section and by that day's senior editor -- until they are finally carried in the newspaper.

However, there was no such scrupulous checking with the WaiWai column. No one other than the writer of the column checked the translated articles against the original magazine articles, and most of the editing process was completed by the foreign staff.

After the MDN went exclusively online, the circumstances changed again. The writer of the WaiWai column remembers: "Because WaiWai was a popular column, we decided to increase the number of articles in the column from six to eight a week, making it a daily column." However, the staff could not keep up with the increasing workload, and the editor in charge of checking the WaiWai column was obliged to concentrate on editing general news.

The Japanese editorial staff mainly checked the straight news, and as a result the articles in the WaiWai column were carried on the Web as they were, without being checked by an editor in charge. The articles were only checked by foreign staff called "revisers," who mended the grammar and flow of the English sentences.

One of the foreign staff members at the MDN had warned about the content of the WaiWai column on several occasions, but the writer of the column recalls: "I rebuffed the claims when my articles were criticized. After I became the chief editor of the MDN, there may've been an atmosphere where other staff members found it hard to turn down (my articles)."

What kind of roles did the successive Japanese managing editors of the MDN play? The managing editors customarily doubled as chief editor of MDN's sister paper, the Mainichi Weekly, and left most of the affairs regarding the MDN to staff members.

A former managing editor, who assumed the post in October 2002, said, "I read the WaiWai articles from time to time after they moved to the Web, but not all of them. There were some extreme expressions, but in general, the column picked up stories that foreign readers interested in Japan would want to read."

An editorial staff member from those days recalls, "The managing editor was intent on the reform of the Mainichi Weekly and didn't involve himself in the MDN very much."

The next managing editor (April 2005-March 2006), who is now retired, doubled as Deputy General Manger of the Digital Media Division, to which the MDN and the Mainichi Weekly belong. In effect, he was mainly focused on his task as Deputy General Manager of the Digital Media Division and was rarely in the editing room of the MDN.

"I read some of the WaiWai articles and was aware of the content," the former managing editor said. He now regrets that he "could not see to it properly and left everything up to the writer in charge." Regarding the fact that the articles were posted on the Web without being checked by an editor in charge, he said, "I was uncomfortable about it, but I failed to set up a checking system."

A foreign staff member at the MDN points out: "The WaiWai column used many slang expressions, and I wonder if the successive Japanese managing editors really understood the content."