Last week, Reuters celebrated the best of Reuters journalism at the 2022 Journalists of the Year Awards. Leika Kihara, a long-time Reuters economic policy correspondent in Japan, was honored with the Baron Award, which recognizes Reuters traditions of integrity and journalistic excellence. We spoke to Kihara about her recognition and her work covering the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and Japan’s economic policy.
Congratulations on winning the Baron Award from this year’s Journalists of the Year Awards. How does it feel to earn the honor?
It is fascinating. I was honored and really happy not just because I got the award but because it shows that Reuters recognizes someone like me, a manager who reports and manages a team. Economic news can be difficult for audiences to understand. However, it affects a lot of people in many important ways. The fact that my work as a reporter is recognized shows that Reuters cares about macroeconomic news coverage.
Also, in Asia, so much attention is put on China for obvious reasons. However, Japan is the world’s third-largest economy, and everything that happens in Japan is so interesting, even for broader, non-economic topics. So, I hope this award will bring more attention to what we do in Japan.
The Baron Award recognizes someone who exemplifies Reuters tradition of integrity and journalistic excellence. How do you embody these values in your work?
It’s about putting 100% of your energy into doing even the smallest assignments. Covering macroeconomic news, you do spot news, you cover data. These things might sound very boring and tedious, but they help you understand what becomes news and what is behind the central bank’s decisions. Putting your full energy into the smallest assignments helps you build your expertise and knowledge, which leads to producing scoops and enterprise stories.
Tell us about how you started covering the BOJ and macroeconomic news.
I started as a translator decades ago, then worked my way up to becoming a reporter. I have covered the BOJ for over two decades, first covering the central bank in the late 1990s when Japan suffered from a domestic banking crisis that forced the BOJ to begin implementing many of its unconventional policies. It was a very exciting time as a journalist, but depressing as a Japanese person.
How have you developed such a rich coverage file?
It is about making use of the day-to-day reporting. Covering economic news differs from covering something like war or a big natural disaster in that many events are timed and pre-scheduled. This means that you need to be prepared to understand where the news lies. I meet with my sources for casual chats and cover the regular spot news, mindful that there is always something in those conversations, small hints and clues. If you piece them together and if you think there is something brewing, it can lead to exclusives, insights or analysis pieces. Only through experience did I learn and cultivate all my skills as a reporter covering macroeconomic policy.
What is something we might not know about your work?
When you look at my file, you would think that my day is predominantly meeting my BOJ sources and writing stories about the BOJ, but that is only part of what I do. A big chunk of my time is spent managing my team and brainstorming story ideas with them and the broader bureau. This is good because it gives me a broader perspective. I also cover stories about Asia sometimes and travel to international meetings, tagging along with the Japanese delegation.
Follow Leika Kihara’s coverage for Reuters here.
Media contact:
JJ Minder
jj.minder @ tr.com