By Justine Koo Drennan
New America Media
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Nichi Bei Times’ board of directors has decided to close Northern California’s oldest Japanese American newspaper on Sept. 30 of this year after 63 years of business. In its place, a group of Nichi Bei Times staff and community members plan to start the Nichi Bei Foundation, a separate nonprofit reincarnation of the paper.
Kenji G. Taguma, the Nichi Bei Times’ vice president and English edition editor, has pioneered plans for the new Foundation because he believes the paper is an essential voice for Japanese Americans.
“Today, I see the paper as the glue that holds the community together,” Taguma said.
Decline in circulation and advertisements were chief reasons for the decision to close the Nichi Bei Times, said Ken Abiko, board chair of the paper, whose circulation base of around 8,000 includes primarily Northern California readers.
As the growth of online news, changing audiences and the economic downturn force media to close or consider new business models, Japanese media have been hit harder than many other ethnic media.
