大手新聞社決算、広告・部数落ち込みで各社減収

大手新聞社決算、広告・部数落ち込みで各社減収 (1/2ページ)
2009.6.12 22:12
このニュースのトピックス：景気

　新聞全国紙５社の決算が出そろった。インターネットの普及や若年層の紙離れなどで新聞の販売部数が落ち込んだのに加え、昨年秋以降の急速な景気後退で広告収入が大きく減少し、そろって減収を記録するなど各社とも厳しい決算となった。このため、新たな収益源の確保に向け、ネット事業の強化などに取り組む構えをみせている。

　新聞事業の収支を示す単体の業績をみると、朝日新聞社と毎日新聞社が広告収入の落ち込みに経費削減が追いつかず、営業赤字に転落した。朝日が営業赤字を計上するのは初めて。毎日は最終損益でも１５年ぶりの赤字となった。

　日本経済新聞社は、景気の悪化で経済情報を求める読者が増えたことで「部数は堅調に推移した」（広報グループ）ものの、広告収入の落ち込みが響いて減収減益となった。また、産経新聞社は、夕刊フジやサンケイスポーツの販売部数が減少し、単体の営業利益を大幅に減らした。連結業績のみを公表した読売新聞グループ本社も最終赤字を記録した。

　各社がそろって減収となったのは、広告収入の落ち込みが大きい。電通がまとめた年間広告費によると、新聞広告は平成１２年をピークに減少し、昨年秋の経済危機で企業が広告出稿を抑えたことで、２０年には前年比１２・５％減と大幅な落ち込みをみせた。

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靖国神社宮司に京極氏　旧但馬豊岡藩１５代当主、民間出身
2009.6.12 22:41

　靖国神社は１２日、総代会を開き、１月に急逝した南部利昭前宮司の後任に、京極高晴氏（７１）を決めた。就任は１５日付。南部氏に続き、２代続けて旧華族で神職経験のない民間企業出身者の宮司となる。

　京極氏は旧但馬豊岡藩（兵庫県）の藩主だった京極家１５代当主。東大法学部卒業後、日本郵船事業部長、氷川丸マリンタワー社長、関東曳船社長などを歴任した。

　第１０代宮司就任に当たって京極氏は、「御創立１４０年にあたるこの年に、宮司の大役を仰せつかることとなり、身の引き締まる思いでいっぱいです」とのコメントを出した。

　前宮司の南部氏は１月７日、虚血性心不全のため急逝。後任人事は難航し、宮司は５カ月間、空席となっていた。

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プルトニウムに住民不安　目黒の防衛省施設４０年保管

2009年6月12日 朝刊

防衛省技術研究本部。後方の煙突は目黒清掃工場＝東京都目黒区で、本社ヘリ「おおづる」から
写真

　東京都目黒区の住宅街にある防衛省技術研究本部の施設に、核物質のプルトニウム２３９が長年、保管されていることが分かった。新たな研究施設を造るために同省が開いた地元住民向け説明会で明らかにした。原爆を製造するには量が少なく、保管も厳重にされているという。しかし、猛毒の核物質が住宅街にあることを初めて知った住民は多く、不安を訴える声を受けて区は防衛省に安全管理を要請する。　（松村裕子、沢田一朗）

　このプルトニウムは旧防衛庁が一九七二年、核爆発の際に使う中性子線の測定機器が正常に動くかどうかをチェックするために米国から購入した合金四十七グラムのうちの三十二グラム。

　核燃料物質などを保管する際に必要な東京消防庁への届けを出さずに保管していたために八六年の国会質問で指摘を受け、謝罪して届けを出した。

　防衛省によると、機器のチェックには、扱いがより簡便な放射性同位元素のコバルトなどを使うようになったため、長年使用しておらず、今後も使う予定はない。

　文部科学省などによると、プルトニウムは売り手に返す以外引き取ってもらう方法はないため防衛省も手だてがなく、保管し続けている。

　防衛省は、住民の要望で九日夜、新設する施設の説明会を初めて開催。住民からの質問にプルトニウムの存在を認めたうえで、保管施設は生体認証で入る人物を限定し、監視カメラを設置するなど厳重に管理していると強調した。

　プルトニウム２３９で原爆を製造するには最低でも一・五キロ程度が必要とされる一方で、毒性は非常に強い。こうした情報の詳細が住民に知らされていないことが不安を増幅させており、住民からは「再度説明会を開いてほしい」との声が上がった。

　住民グループの一人中村正子さん（６６）は「国会で問題になった後、処分したと思っていた。二十年以上も保管していたとは」と驚く。目黒区も「保管を把握していなかった」と明かし、本部の敷地周辺が住宅街であることを重視して安全対策を要請する。

　防衛省は「盗まれないよう積極的に広報はしてこなかった。国会の指摘で届け出をしたため、保管し続けていることは住民も知っていると思っていた」と話している。

＜プルトニウム＞　放射性元素の一つ。天然には存在しない。ウラン燃料を原子炉で燃焼させると生成される。中でも、プルトニウム２３９は核分裂が容易なため、原子爆弾の原料にもなる。毒性が強く、粉末を吸い込むとがんを引き起こす可能性が高い。

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人生は「諸行無常」…ホリエモン、保釈後初の講演会

「チョウチョウの収集でもするんじゃ」辞任・鳩山をチクリ
保釈後初めて講演会を行った堀江氏（クリックで拡大）
保釈後初めて講演会を行った堀江氏（クリックで拡大）

　証券取引法違反で係争中の元ライブドア社長、堀江貴文氏（３６）が１２日夜、２００６年４月の保釈後、初の講演会を都内で開いた。逮捕について「何がいけなかったのか分からない」と弁明しながら、マスコミや検察を徹底批判。話題の鳩山邦夫前総務相を一刀両断するなど、リップサービスぶりは相変わらずだった。

　講演会は、３月に出版した「徹底抗戦」（集英社）の出版記念イベント。チケットは１－３万円と若干高めだが、東京・港区のホールには約４５０人が集まった。

　紫色のＴシャツ姿で登壇した堀江氏は、保釈時のスリムな姿がウソのようなふっくら体形。冒頭から「どんだけ君らは何も考えてないんだ！」などと検察、マスコミ批判を展開した。特に、同時に逮捕、起訴された元部下（宮内亮治元取締役）への“口撃”は激しく、「愛人が社内にいた」「横領していた」といった暴露話も飛び出した。

　質疑応答では、０５年の衆院選出馬に触れ、「（自分は）次期首相になれるんじゃないかと思っていた」と大胆発言。一方で「信じれば信じるほど裏切られる」としんみりしたり、人生を「諸行無常」と表現するなど、孤独な一面も見せた。

　講演後、取材に応じた堀江氏は、辞任した鳩山氏について「チョウチョウの収集でもやるんじゃないですか」とチクリ。秘書から聞いた話として「チョウのブリーディングをやりたいらしい。『極東の島国で首相をやっても歴史には残らないけど、新種を発見すれば百科事典に載るんだぞ』と言っていたらしい」と皮肉たっぷりに話した。

【チケット３万円】

　今回、警備態勢が確保できたために開いたという講演会。その警備を担当したのは作家の北芝健氏だ。「元刑事の経験を見込まれてオファーがあった。うちの空手道場の有段者ら６人で堀江氏の自宅まで警備にあたる」と北芝氏。

　会場には空席も目立ったが、「それでも一番いい席はすぐ埋まった」と主催者。大阪の経営コンサルタントの男性（２７）は「３万円は高いとは思わない。すごいオーラがある」と満足げで、まだ一部には神通力が残っているようだ。

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サマーズ委員長：「過剰消費から貯蓄へ」貿易赤字減に意欲

　【ワシントン斉藤信宏】サマーズ米国家経済会議（ＮＥＣ）委員長は１２日、ワシントン市内で講演し「米国民は貯蓄を増やす必要がある」と過剰消費からの脱却を図る考えを表明。「ドル安につながる巨額の貿易赤字の削減に取り組む」との方針を示した。また、「世界の国々、とりわけ新興国が内需拡大に真剣に取り組むことを期待したい」と中国やインドなど成長率の高い新興国に需要底上げへの協力を求めた。

　サマーズ委員長は米景気の現状についても触れ「消費者心理や企業の投資意欲などに改善が見られる」と述べ、「３カ月前と比較して、米国経済は明らかに良くなっている」と米景気が底打ちしつつあることを示唆した。ただ、「雇用情勢の悪化は続いており、その影響を過小評価するわけにはいかない」と先行きへの慎重な見方は崩さなかった。

　一方、自動車大手や金融機関、保険大手などを事実上の政府管理下に置いたことについては「他に選択肢がなかった」と強調。「政府による経営への介入は一時的なものに過ぎず、政府保有株は可能な限り早期に民間に売却する」との方針を示した。

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租税条約：政府、バミューダと交渉開始

　政府は１２日、バミューダ政府と租税条約の締結に向けた交渉を開始すると発表した。バミューダは優遇税制や銀行口座の秘密保持などで資金を吸い寄せるタックスヘイブン（租税回避地）の一つとされてきた。政府は情報交換を主体とした条約の締結で資金の流れなどの透明性を高めることを狙う。

　４月の金融サミットでタックスヘイブンは金融危機の一因とされ、税務の透明性の低い国への制裁も打ち出された。経済協力開発機構（ＯＥＣＤ）はバミューダを、国際基準を守っていない国に挙げていたが、改善されたため６月に対象から外した。

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LUKOIL to broaden its activity in Kazakhstan

12.06.2009, 18.05

KUSTANAI, June 12 (Itar-Tass) -- LUKOIL will broaden its activity in Kazakhstan, Company President Vagit Alekperov said at the Friday meeting of the Kazakh Presidential Council of Foreign Investors on Friday.

“Kazakhstan is a priority, and the crisis has enhanced its significance,” Alekperov said. “We will broaden the activity in your republic, which has created conditions for large investments.”

Intensive development of the Karachaganak oil and gas condensate field is vital for LUKOIL, he said. “If the ‘parallel action’ concept is approved, we will prepare to launch the project alongside negotiations between private investors, KazMunayGaz and Gazprom,” he said.

Also, LUKOIL is about to acquire the British Petroleum stake in the joint venture LUKarco, which has a share in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and 5% in TengizChevroil.

Alekperov hopes for signing a contract on the development of the Khvalynskoye field on the Caspian shelf by the end of this year. The field is located in northern areas of the Caspian Sea. The Kazakh-Russian agreement of July 6, 1998, on the division of the Northern Caspian seabed, provides for joint development of the field.

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03:29 GMT, Saturday, 13 June 2009 04:29 UK
Spanish Civil War bodies exhumed
By Danny Wood
BBC News, Madrid

Workers examine remains in one of the two graves at Santa Marta, Spain

Seven bodies have been removed from Spanish Civil War graves in the first court-ordered exhumation.

The remains were transferred from two mass graves in the cemetery of Santa Marta village to a medical lab for official identification.

Archaeologists recovered the remains, belonging to men executed by supporters of Gen Francisco Franco in 1936.

This could be the first of thousands of official exhumations that have been the focus of a lengthy legal wrangle.

Judge Garzon

The matter of exhumations is still controversial in Spain 70 years after the Civil War.

Previously, exhumations were done by volunteers with no official help.

These seven bodies were officially exhumed in the presence of relatives over five days.

Historians says tens of thousands of victims of the Civil War and the repression under Gen Franco that followed still lie unidentified in mass graves around the country.

Last October, High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon announced that mass exhumations could begin - including the grave where poet Federico Garcia Lorca is thought to be buried.

Judge Garzon named Gen Franco and more than 30 members of his regime as instigators of alleged crimes against humanity.

But the public prosecutor argued that these crimes could not be examined, because of Spain's Amnesty Law that prevents any criminal investigation into the Franco years.

Judge Garzon pulled out of his inquiry and transferred the responsibility for any future exhumations to local courts.

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21:37 GMT, Friday, 12 June 2009 22:37 UK
Saudi pays up in Paris shop row

George V hotel in Paris

A Saudi princess who allegedly owed thousands of dollars in shopping bills in Paris has agreed to pay up after a bailiff visited her hotel, lawyers say.

Maha al-Sudairi, the wife of the Saudi interior minister, is paying more than $120,000 (85,700 euros; £72,800) to one store, according to its lawyer.

It came after a court order was issued allowing the seizure of her belongings.

The bailiff had gone to the luxury Georges V hotel, just off the famous Champs Elysee in the French capital.

Maha al-Sudairi has been staying at the hotel, which is owned by her nephew.

She has diplomatic immunity because of her husband's status.

Relief

The decision to settle the bill followed the court order obtained on behalf of the clothing chain, Key Largo. It was owed $125,000.

The shop's lawyer, Jacky Benazerah, said repeated demands for payment had been ignored and described the settlement as a relief.

He said: "The operation ordered by the judge began at 4.30pm in the presence of the local police chief. It seems that during the operation the Saudi consul turned up in person and, following talks, a guaranteed cheque for the total sum owed to my client was handed over."

But the BBC's Alasdair Sandford, in Paris, says the princess allegedly owes large sums to several chic Parisian stores from various shopping sprees carried out over the past year.

One lingerie store opposite the Georges V says it has been unable to recoup nearly $100,000.

This is not the first time the Saudi princess has made headlines.

In 1995, she was accused of beating a servant in Florida whom she suspected of stealing from her. No charges were filed.

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19:25 GMT, Friday, 12 June 2009 20:25 UK
Gaddafi no-show angers Italians

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi attends a meeting with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday

The Italian lower house has cancelled a high-level conference with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi after he failed to turn up after a two-hour wait.

Calling the delay "unjustified", Speaker Gianfranco Fini called the meeting off to applause from the crowd.

Col Gaddafi has prompted a number of controversies on his first visit to Italy, Libya's former colonial ruler.

An earlier address to a group of 700 Italian women - for which he was also late - drew both applause and jeers.

He and his 200-member entourage arrived to a red-carpet welcome on Wednesday hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

But at a debate in Rome University on Thursday, the colonel was heckled by students who were protesting against his human-rights record and a deal with Italy to forcibly return African migrants.

Long wait

The streets of Rome around the lower house of parliament were reportedly shut down in a security operation by police, and senior politicians had gathered in anticipation of Col Gaddafi's visit.

Students protest against the visit of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi at the La Sapienza University on Thursday

He had been due to begin meetings at 1430 local time (1230 GMT), but by 1630 had failed to arrive.

The conference was then called off "due to the delay" by Gaddafi, said Mr Fini to applause from the waiting crowd.

"A delay that has not been justified to the lower house speaker and for which... I consider this conference cancelled," he said.

Observers say Col Gaddafi has made a habit of failing to appear on time for his appointments while on his Italian visit.

They say he was half an hour behind schedule for his meeting with the Italian head of state, President Giorgio Napolitano; an hour late for government President Berlusconi; an hour late for the Senate; and an hour-and-a-half late for La Sapienza University.

'Forced by necessity'

Col Gaddafi was also an hour late for his audience with prominent Italian women from the fields of business, politics and culture earlier on Friday.

Nonetheless, he entered the gathering at Rome's concert hall to loud applause, and was introduced by Italy's Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna, a former beauty queen.

Col Gaddafi spoke about the condition of women in Europe and Africa with some of his trademark female bodyguards standing by.

"In society I think there is complete equality between men and women," he told the audience, which included some women who were carrying posters of him.

"The European woman has arrived where she is today, driving trains and buses, travels on her own, sleeps in hotels, and so formally she is emancipated.

"But this wasn't because of her free choice or development but because she was forced by necessity," he added.

Although the comment drew boos from many of the women present, other remarks were met by applause and laughter.

There was a throng of women around the Libyan leader as he left, with several trying to get his autograph or take his picture.

"I hope that Gaddafi can take inspiration from women in Italy and the West to reflect and improve the condition of women in his own country," business woman Soraya Bonincontro told Reuters news agency.

Col Gaddafi held a similar meeting on a visit to Paris in 2007, when he told guests he wanted to "save European women".

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23:28 GMT, Friday, 12 June 2009 00:28 UK
Pirates expand to Oman's waters

Pirate (File photo)

A cargo vessel has been hijacked by suspected Somali pirates off the coast of Oman - the first such attack in the area, Nato says.

MV Charelle, under the Antigua and Barbuda flag, was attacked 60 nautical miles south of Sur on the Omani coast.

It was the "first case of armed robbery outside the [pirates'] normal operations area," Lt Cmdr Alexandre Fernandes told Reuters news agency.

The vessel is now thought to be heading towards Somalia.

Lt Cmdr Fernandes, on board a Portuguese anti-piracy patrol near the Gulf of Aden, said the pirates were "probably looking for other areas of operations where there are less patrols by warships".

See map of how piracy is affecting the region and countries around the world

There was no information about the number of crew or their nationalities.

This week, the US Navy warned that Somali pirates were expanding their range of operations far beyond the East African coast.

One attack has been confirmed on a ship as far north as the Red Sea. The gangs have also extended their raids down beyond the Seychelles.

The pirates were able to strike further away from the coast with the help of bigger mother ships, said the US Navy.

Somalia has been without a stable government since 1991, allowing piracy to flourish.

More than 30,000 vessels annually transit the pirate-plagued Gulf of Aden and the busy shipping lane has offered rich pickings for raiders.

The gangs are currently holding 14 ships and more than 200 seamen in the region.

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14:58 GMT, Thursday, 11 June 2009 15:58 UK
Egypt u-turn on publishing Israeli books
By Christian Fraser
BBC News, Cairo

Farouk Hosni

The Egyptian culture ministry has agreed to publish Arabic translations of two novels by Israeli writers.

The decision comes in the wake of recent criticism of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who is bidding to become the next head of Unesco.

When asked about Israeli books in Alexandria library last year, the minister said that if they existed, he would burn them himself.

Mr Hosni later apologised but it was seen as having dented his chances.

The post of director general of the United Nations cultural agency is considered a valuable prize on the diplomatic circuit. The Egyptian government is very keen for its man to be chosen.

But the culture minister and abstract artist Farouk Hosni has come under some severe criticism for comments he made last year to the Egyptian parliament in which he said he would burn any Israeli books that were being held by the Alexandria library.

Mr Hosni subsequently offered his apologies.

'No coincidence'

Now the ministry is trying to put some weight behind his campaign by announcing that it will publish Arabic translations of novels by the renowned Israeli writers Amos Oz and David Grossman - for the first time.

The national translation centre said it was translating books from 27 languages including Hebrew.

The timing of this announcement is surely no coincidence.

A spokesman for the ministry said he hoped to have an agreement signed with their English and French publishers by early July - a good two months before the Unesco decision.

However, they are still refusing to deal directly with the Israeli publishers because they say it would cause a scandal in Egypt and across the Arab world.

Culture chasm

Only two Israeli books have ever been published in Arabic here.

Despite the peace deal signed by the two countries in 1979 Egypt has resisted any cultural integration in protest at Israel's continued occupation of Arab land.

Even Alaa Aswani, who wrote the renowned Yacoubian Building, which was later turned into a successful film, has refused to have his books translated into Hebrew.

Unesco, based in Paris, is responsible for promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture.

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Gaddafi tells Italy to scrap political parties
Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:02pm EDT

By Stephen Brown and Philip Pullella

ROME (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, addressing Italians in a historic Rome square, embarrassed his hosts on Thursday by saying he would abolish political parties and give Italians direct power if it were up to him.

"There would be no right, left or center. The party system is the abortion of democracy," Gaddafi said in a sunset address in the famous Campidoglio square designed by Michelangelo atop Capitoline hill.

"I would abolish political parties so as to give power to the people," said the idiosyncratic Gaddafi, while some members of the crowd held up pictures of the Libyan leader and banners welcoming him.

His angry host, right-wing Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno -- who had praised the Libyan leader an hour earlier -- told reporters Gaddafi's discourse on political parties was "unacceptable" and that "we don't accept lessons on democracy from anyone."

Gaddafi also praised Italy for condemning fascism after the colonial period. Alemanno, standing beside him, was once the youth leader of a neo-fascist party and sparked controversy last year by refusing to label fascism as evil.

Earlier in the day Gaddafi, making his first visit to the former colonial power, faced protests by students over his human rights record and over a bilateral agreement for Italy to send back boatloads of African migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

The students tried to stop him giving a lecture at a Rome university, hurling paint and scuffling with police.

He told the students terrorism was "the residue of colonialism."

"Terrorism is to be condemned and most victims (of terrorism) are innocent and unarmed," Gaddafi said. But the world community had to look at the root causes of terrorism, such as injustice, he added.

The North African nation, once a pariah accused of sponsoring terrorism, has seen a thaw in its relations with the West since Gaddafi promised to give up the quest for weapons of mass destruction. International sanctions were lifted in 2003.

Italy, which last year apologized for Italian atrocities during its 1911-1943 colonial rule, is at the forefront of the diplomatic thaw and now gets a quarter of its oil from Libya, and more recently Libyan capital injections into Italian firms.

But Gaddafi retains a defiant tone, arriving on Wednesday in Rome with a picture pinned to his uniform of Omar al-Mukhtar, a resistance hero hanged by Italian occupiers in 1931.

Italian television on Thursday screened "Lion of the Desert," a 1981 film about al-Mukhtar which was banned in Italy until now.

Gaddafi, who as current chairman of the Africa Union will attend a G8 summit in Italy next month with U.S. President Barack Obama, also criticized the U.S-led war in Iraq during a speech earlier on Thursday to the Italian senate.

"Iraq was a fortress against terrorism, with Saddam Hussein al Qaeda could not get in, but now thanks to the United States it is an open arena and this benefits al Qaeda," he said.

He also compared the U.S. air strike on Tripoli in 1986, in which one of his daughters was killed, to an al Qaeda attack.

"What difference is there between the American attack on our homes in 1986 and bin Laden's terrorist actions?" he asked. "If bin Laden has no state and is an outlaw, America is a state with international rules."

Arguing that the world should have room for "regimes of all kinds" including "revolutionary" Libya, he asked: "What's wrong with North Korea wanting to be communist? Or Afghanistan being in the hands of the mullahs? Is not the Vatican a respectable theocratic state with embassies all over the world?"

Some senators from the opposition center-left managed to get Gaddafi blocked from speaking in the main chamber, forcing the speech to take place in a nearby annexe.

Gaddafi also complained that the world had not rewarded Libya for giving up its ambition of owning weapons of mass destruction.

"We cannot accept living in the shadow of intercontinental missiles and nuclear weapons, which is why we decided to change route," he told the senators.

"We had hoped Libya would be an example to other countries," Gaddafi said. "But we have not been rewarded by the world."

On Wednesday, his host Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Libya agreed to supply more oil to Italy and the head of Libya's sovereign wealth fund said he was eyeing investments in Italian electricity and infrastructure companies and joint ventures with Italy in Libya.