The Yomiuri Shimbun is considered to be the world’s top-selling newspaper (10 million daily copies), and the liberal Asahi Shimbun (eight million copies) is its traditional rival.

Yet all three newspapers will jointly set up a new website with mixed content starting 2008, partly in an attempt to attract younger readers to subscribe to their print editions.

"The largest purpose is to help readers realize the role of newspapers seen in the Internet media," said Nikkei Inc. president Ryoki Sugita.

"Through the new project, we hope Internet readers will also read newspapers."

However, as Ko Yamaguchi, Special Advisor in the Strategic Planning Office of Kyodo News, told the Weblog via email, the project "is at large at this moment. I think it will be difficult for them to coordinate nicely their original web sites and the new joint web site."

"Weight is more on their newspaper delivry cooperation in Japan." 

The papers will also cooperate to distribute their print editions in regional areas, or in cases of disasters. Japan is one of the few industrialized countries where newspaper circulation has not dipped, thanks to a very successful home-delivery system.

Whether or not this strategy will work is entirely uncertain. In any case, this is one of the first major examples of newspapers joining their production and content online, in an effort to sustain their print sales.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun – European Journalism Centre – AFP, Yahoo News - Ko Yamaguchi, Special Advisor Strategic Planning Office, Kyodo News