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| Courtesy photo |
| 2009 Howard winners posed for a group shot their last night in Japan. IU student Brian Spegele is second from left. |
As winners of the Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition, the students received a 14-day, all-expense paid trip from the Scripps Howard Foundation, which sponsors the program with the assistance of the Indiana University School of Journalism.
Dean Brad Hamm and assistant professor Emily Metzgar led the students, including IU journalism major Brian Spegele, one of the nine winners, on the trip June 13-27. Metzgar supplied trip reports.
The competition, established in 1984, honors the memory of Roy W. Howard, who led Scripps Howard Newspapers from 1922-1953 and United Press International from 1912-1920. Asia was an area of special interest to Howard, who traveled and reported on the area extensively, even while leading major news organizations.
Trip log:
June 26
The trip back to the United States began with an early morning train ride on the Narita Express from Tokyo Station to the Tokyo airport. The flight to Chicago was at 11:45 a.m. With the time difference between Japan and the United States, students arrived in Chicago at 9:30 a.m. — the same day. They then separated to catch connecting flights from Chicago to their homes.
June 25
The final group event was a visit to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It’s a stunning structure both architecturally and in its exhibits. Edo was the name of the city until 1868, when the country’s capital was moved from Kyoto to Tokyo, or “eastern capital.”
The museum was built in 1993 and contains replicas of models of neighborhoods and houses, along with interactive exhibits throughout the building. The time span includes the Edo, Meiji and Showa periods, or from the 17th century to about the time the museum was constructed.
Students were given free time in the afternoon to explore different sections of the city in small groups.
June 24
The day began with a visit to Bloomberg’s Tokyo headquarters. Bureau chief Peter Langan spoke to the group about financial journalism and how Bloomberg covers Japan and Asia. He showed the Bloomberg system and stories that were being reported throughout the world that day. Mikiko Moriya of human resources coordinated the visit.
From there, it’s a short walk to the Imperial Palace of Tokyo, which is the home to the emperor and other members of the imperial family. Part of the tradition of the visit is a discussion about Roy Howard’s interview with the emperor at this site in the 1930s.
In the afternoon, David Marks, press officer for the American Embassy, was host for the group. Marks is an Indiana University alumnus. He discussed the work of the embassy and interaction with the press, both American and Japanese.
The final event of the day was the 2009 Roy W. Howard Awards Ceremony. For the first time, the medals were given in Japan. The group took a dinner cruise on Tokyo Bay in ideal weather. The Symphony cruise started by touring past the Rainbow Bridge and then into the larger bay for more than two hours.
After a buffet dinner, Scripps Howard Foundation president Mike Philipps and Dean Brad Hamm spoke and Philipps presented each student with a medal.
The ceremony on the ship was chosen to be symbolic of the way that Howard visited Asia for most of his life. Only on the final trips did he travel by plane. The majority of trips to Asia began by ship in San Francisco, then to Hawaii and then to Japan.
June 23
The group visited the Asahi Shimbun, one’s of Japan’s largest newspapers, and toured the paper’s operations and watched the state-of-the-art printing press speed through copies of the afternoon edition. They also met with several Asahi journalists who have worked all over the world. Students asked questions and participated in discussions with these seasoned journalists.
One of the themes emerging from discussion was the need to identify alternative funding models for newspapers. Indeed, although industry dynamics are different on the ground in Japan and the United States, there is one common challenge: Adapting newspapers to the changing media environment and ensuring readership for the future.
The students later visited Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the biggest fish markets in the world, and topped off the tour with a lunch of some of the freshest sushi they ever are likely to have.
The day ended with a trip to Asakusa, visiting the temple there and browsing around the many shops lining the walkway to the temple. Students visited the temple and the giant lamp at the entrance, which is made famous by Japanese wood block print artists.
June 22
The group had some down time today since we didn’t need to meet up until 11 a.m. Some of the group went to Osaka Castle (in the rain). Others opted to sleep in and catch up on some rest. The group has been doing a lot of walking over the last week and most were glad for a chance to give their feet a break.
Students gathered at 11 a.m. and headed to Mainichi Broadcasting Service (MBS), the major broadcaster in the Osaka region. They visited with reporters there, had a nice lunch in the MBS cafeteria, then had a tour of the newsroom.
After leaving MBS, they walked back to the hotel, picked up our bags and scurried to the train station to catch the bullet train. To reach Tokyo, the group took the shinkansen, or bullet train, from Osaka. Travel takes less than three hours and passes through major cities and countryside, including many rice fields. It also passes by Mount Fuji, which can be seen on a clear day, but the light rain this day prevented a viewing. Students are staying at the Hotel Metropolitan Marunouchi, which is perfectly located next to Tokyo Station where the shinkansen arrives.
June 21
Kyoto is one of the famous historic cities in the world, and its collection of UNESCO World Heritage Sites is nearly unmatched. The Howard group visited several of these sites, including Rokuon-ji, known as Kinkaju-ji or the Golden Pavilion, and Ryoan-ji, or the temple with the rock garden.
June 20
Travel began very early on Saturday. The flight to Osaka was scheduled for 8:30 a.m., which required leaving the hotel at 5:45 a.m. from the hotel on the Korean Air Limousine bus to Incheon.
Osaka’s airport was built in the bay, so the landing is on a man-made island after a flight path across the water. The group took an airport bus to downtown Osaka for check-in at the Hilton. The hotel is located in the Umeda section of the city.
Then everyone walked to lunch among the hundreds of shops and restaurants across from the hotel. A tour of the area followed. In the evening, the group visited Namba, another main area of Osaka.
June 19
The final full day in Korea included a visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the separation between North Korea and South Korea created in the 1953 ceasefire. No formal end was ever agreed upon in the Korean War, so the site is the dividing line between the countries.
Students saw the military equipment and displays at the War Museum three days earlier in Seoul, but this visit brings home a greater understanding of the ongoing security issues between the two countries.
After the DMZ visit, students were given free time on their last afternoon before leaving the country for Japan.
June 18
Korea is a world leader in new media. The first visit today was to the Digital Media City, a new site outside the city’s center that will include dozens of buildings dedicated to the new media industry.
It’s an amazing undertaking that is partially completed. The site is next to the World Cup Stadium along the Han River.
Following the trip to the future of Seoul, the Roy Howard group visited one of the sites of the city’s historic past, Gyeongbokgung, a royal palace. The site is more than 600 years old, but many of the buildings were destroyed during the Japanese occupation in the first half of the 20th century. Still, the palace area contains buildings that demonstrate the past, including the National Folk Museum. The museum contains exhibits about everyday life — clothes, home life, utensils — in Korean history.
June 17
The hotel is ideally located because it is near major cultural and media sites. The morning began with a walk to Chosun Ilbo, the largest newspaper in South Korea and one of the nation’s leading online news sites. Chosun has more than 2.3 million subscribers, which is larger than any United States daily.
After Chosun, students rode the subway to Korean Broadcasting System, or KBS, the nation’s public broadcasting service. KBS is a massive space located on Yeouido, an island in the Han River that includes major corporations and government buildings. The broadcast facilities include huge studios for historic dramas, concerts, news and daytime programs.
June 15
From Emily Metzgar: "Today was our first full day in Seoul. Although the forecast called for rain, we never saw a drop. We started the day by stretching our legs, exploring the neighborhood and getting oriented. We wandered past City Hall, the Korean Press Foundation and the American Embassy. We then stopped at the Presseum, where we got an orientation to the history of media in South Korea.
From the Presseum, we headed toward the Insadong district. We were waylaid by the sound of traditional music coming from a temple. Guards in colorful uniforms oversaw the ringing of the large temple bell. Two of the students in our group were invited to help ring the bell the required 12 times.
We then headed for lunch in Insadong district. Rich with history and full of little shops selling everything from traditional paper to calligraphy brushes to silk pillow cases, Insadong is an area where we would all like to have spent more time. Alas, today there was only time for lunch. We divided into smaller groups and went off to try our luck – because there is always a bit of luck involved when ordering food without the language skills necessary to clarify one’s preferences. Some of us had more of a culinary adventure than others, but everyone arrived at the designated meeting spot right on time.
From Insadong, we walked to the subway and navigated our way underground to the War Memorial of Korea. The grounds are covered with military equipment that has seen service on the Korean Peninsula, including a B-52 bomber, a Sherman tank and SCUD missiles. Inside, the memorial is a powerful lesson in history.
Leaving the museum, we took the subway back to the hotel. With the warm, muggy air and an overall jet-lagged induced lethargy slowing us down, we called it a day.
Tomorrow promises to be equally busy. We will visit a major Korean newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, and the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). It will be another full day."
June 14
Arrived safely in Seoul. "Travel was long but uneventful," Emily Metzgar reported in an e-mail. "Those with the energy to do so will soon head for dinner, then likely a hot shower and bed."