by Tatiana Repkova

According to an NSK annual poll on the current state of the electronic media, 86 NSK member companies - up one from the previous survey - are operating a combined total of 168 Website services.

The survey for 2007 also found many companies have been making organizational changes or reforms to their electronic media divisions, including sweeping measures to spin off such operations into separate companies. Three companies are also providing social networking services on their Web sites to help promote information exchange among users.

The survey, which has been conducted every Jan. 1 since 1998, tracks entries into the electronic media field by member companies, as well as evaluating their business strategies. A total of 86 companies responded to the latest survey. According to the survey results, the Nikkei, the Sankei Shimbun, the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun and the Kyoto Shimbun separated their electronic media divisions into new companies or carried out organizational reforms associated with such spin-offs. NSK News Bulletin Online, http://www.pressnet.or.jp/newsb/; April 2007