2023
The 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan from the United States
Entry type: Single project
Country/area: Taiwan
Publishing organisation: The News Lens
Organisation size: Big
Publication date: 2022-05-15
Language: Chinese, Japanese
Authors: 羅元祺, 林奕甫, 陳育暄, 松村梨紗, 洪塵
Biography:
TNL Group is one of the fastest-growing digital advertising, data analytics, and media platforms for the Asian market. TNL was launched in Mandarin, English, and Japanese editions to provide inclusive, in-depth, diverse, and highly influential content for digital readers. TNL serves the public with news and informed commentary, empowers brands with data, and connects with technology, becoming an essential partner for the digital transformation needs of enterprises. TNL Group consists of nine content brands and eleven subsidiaries, with over 290 staff members in Taipei, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Project description:
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the return of the Okinawa Islands to Japan. At this commemorative time, through this project, we review the historical changes in the Okinawa Islands since the 14th century. Being part of the First Island Chain, from the emergence of an independent country to the development of belonging to different countries, Okinawa Islands have passively accepted the fate arranged by others in the past 500 years.
Impact reached:
Similar to Okinawa Islands, Taiwan is part of the First Island Chain. Both have a close relationship and many exchanges in history. In addition, as tensions rise in the Pacific region with the growth of China and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Okinawans are concerned that they might once more end up on the front lines. By introducing the fate of the Okinawa Islands over the past 500 years, we aim to inspire Taiwanese readers to reflect on the future of Taiwan.
Techniques/technologies used:
We use Svelte to build the wireframe to save production time. By using the Archie Markup Language(ArchieML) and Google Documents, we can easily combine the texts of editors and programs of engineers without interfering with each other. This method also helps when working with our editors in Japan to create different language articles.
Context about the project:
While producing this project, Taiwan is at the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic. All staff are working remotely, thus making communication a challenging issue. Since we would also like to produce this project in Japanese, we must co-work with our editors in the Japan office. To reduce misunderstanding and smoothen communications, we use tools such as Figma, Google Docs, ArchiML, etc.
What can other journalists learn from this project?
Specific collaboration tools are needed for editorial teams to overcome the challenges of producing a multilingual edition of projects and working with remote teams. Unfortunately, it is mostly not affordable for small to medium-sized media to self-develop these tools. However, since we need to cope with COVID and find out the best way to make things work, media workers need to search and try the most suitable tools to assist in the production works. We hope our method of producing this project can inspire other journalists.
Project links:
https://www.thenewslens.com/interactive/166008
https://www.thenewslens.com/interactive/166760
