European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 17, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday july 17, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 Usa today chief strives for balance Neuharth in Europe on a escapade trip by Deedee Arrington Doke Kaiserslautern Bureau Kaiserslautern he s known As the Man who introduced the full Page color weather map to America. But if Allen h. Neuharth chairman of the Gannett co. Media conglomerate could impose one element of his successful Usa today newspaper formula on other . Newspapers it would t be the colourful graphics or the weather map. If there s any one thing we re trying to do that i would like to see All journalists and All newspapers do it s be fair Neuharth said during an interview in Kaiserslautern monday. Pretty simple but we Don t always do  in addition to Usa today the Gannett co. Inc. Owns 90 daily newspapers 39 non daily newspapers and Usa weekend a newspaper Magazine. It also owns eight television stations 16 radio stations and an outdoor advertising company. A to show based on Usa today is scheduled to debut later this year. Neuharth founder of Usa today visited West Ger Many last week in conjunction with two projects a town Hall meeting hosted by Usa today for Ameri cans assigned to the Kaiserslautern military Community and a escapade a seven month six continent Jet tour documented in Usa today in reports filed from the Road by Neuharth and a news staff. Usa today with an estimated daily readership of 5.5 million has received a sound drubbing from Media critics who claim the newspaper merely skims the sur face of the Day s events overloading its brightly col ored pages with statistics and celebrity trivia. But critics Don t make up the bulk of Usa today s readers. And Neuharth who began his journalism Ca reer in South Dakota s Small town environment knows his readers the average Joes Are of a different mind. I think readers. Want newspapers to reflect accurately the picture that they see out there Neuharth Al Neuharth. Will interview Helmut Kohl during visit. Said. And there s been a Strong feeling a growing feeling in recent years in the states that newspapers Don t do that that they re too negative that they relish reporting Only the bad rather than the Good. Our goal and i think we do it reasonably Well is to report the glad and the sad and the Good and the bad and try to be balanced and fair about  Usa today s 2-year-old european edition has Continental Headquarters in Zurich Switzerland and in London for the United kingdom. The edition is published near Lucerne Switzerland and Neuharth Sai Gannett is seeking a second print site which we expect to Start in the next year or two probably in the . We re still kind of feeling our  opening a european news gathering office under the Usa today Banner is unlikely however Neuharth said. That s simply not the concept of Usa today. Our staff is in the United states. We Send a lot of reporters and photographers overseas regularly but our policy has not been to establish permanent news bureaus Neuharth said. We do it the other Way. We do it by trying to develop groups of journalists. Who have expertise in various  while in Europe Neuharth and his staff planned to interview West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in one of a series of meetings held with International Heads of state including French president Francois Mitterrand. I suspect Well cover a Broad Range of political economic military matters Neuharth said. It varies from country to country. We try to cover what we think readers. Are most interested in concerning that Leader or that country. I think with Chancellor Kohl our readers Are vitally interested in How he views the . And the .s.r relations at this  the first edition of Usa today hit the Street sept. 15, 1982, followed in May 1986 with the publication of its first International edition. A year ago the newspaper reported after tax operating losses of $233 million since its initiation having experienced its greatest losses in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Usa today first turned a profit in May 1987. Although a Market research Bureau reported a year ago that Usa today had 5.5 million readers daily the newspaper in March 1987 reported its paid circulation at 1.5 million. According to the Simmons Market research Bureau Usa today s readership is comprised of 61 per cent male and 39 percent female with 60 percent of its readers Between the Ages of 25 and 49. Japanese making More enjoying it less Tokyo up japanese workers earn an aver age of $42,000 a year but their Quality of life suffers because they work longer hours and pay More for housing than their counterparts in the West the government said Friday. A 534-Page annual White paper issued by the labor ministry said Japan leads the world in average wages and in personal savings which average$63,000 for each of the 60.8 million workers. The labor ministry report confirmed Japan s reputation As a nation of workaholics with Little time for play saying the average employee works 2,150hours a year compared with 1,924 hours in the United states 1,938 hours in Britain 1,655 hours incest Germany and 1,643 hours in France. It said the japanese worker also spends More time commuting to work than their Western counterparts with 13.7 percent of the work Force spending an horror More going to and from their jobs compared with 6 percent in the United states 3 percent in West Germany and 2 percent in Belgium. The report concluded that Japan whose rapid Post War Rise from a poor nation scarce in natural resources to an economic superpower has been dubbed a Miracle needs to help improve the Liv ing Quality of its  report called for a reduction in working hours to bring about a comfortable  also recommended setting aside More land for housing in Tokyo which has the world s highest real estate costs and coaxing corporations to move to outlying areas while providing More Low Cost rental accommodations. The very High Cost of land and Homes in majorities poses a serious threat to workers there the report  to the report the average yearly Japa Nese wage in 1987 reached $42,000, reflecting a 2percent increase in real wages for the second straight year and savings per person increased by 11.8 per cent in 1987 from the previous year to $63,000. The High figures when expressed in Dollar terms Are due in part to the astronomical appreciation in the yen s value against the . Currency Over the past three years. The Dollar which was Worth about 240 yen Ina gust 1985, has plunged to about 130 yen in a coordinated move by industrialized countries touring Down the overvalued . Currency. Japanese workers age 55 or older accounted for18.9 percent of the work Force of about 60.8 million in 1987. In the United states workers in the same age bracket made up 12.9 percent of the total of about 120 million employees while older West German workers accounted for 10.2 percent of about 30.4 million. The report said women represented 36.5 percent of the work Force up 6.6 percent from 1955. The unemployment rate dropped to 2.7 percent inthe Early months of 1988 from 3.1 percent in May 1987. By comparison the jobless rate in the United states in 1987 was 6.2 percent West Germany 7.9percent, Britain 10.4 percent and France 10.6 per cent. New iranian Oil platform May threaten shipping Dubai United Arab emirates a Iran is building a new Oil platform in the persian Gulf and sophisticated equipment being installed behind its Armor plating could spell More trouble for shipping shipping executives said saturday. The platform will have Landing pad big enough to handle two Large helicopters and one Small one at the same time the executives said. It also is being reinforced with steel plating they said. The executives who spoke on Condi Tion of anonymity quoted iranian officials As saying the platform will become abase for Iran s Fleet of Oil shuttle tankers serving the Larak Island Export terminal in the Strait of Hormuz. But some shipping Industry expert say it also could be intended for military purposes including the electronic monitoring of shipping traffic and warships travelling through the Strait where some iranian attacks on Neutral shipping occur. Iran used drilling rigs As military communications bases in the past according to . Officials. Three have been destroyed or damaged in attacks by Ameri can warships one in october and two More april 18. The attacks in each Case were in retaliation for iranian military actions against american related ships and air Craft in the Gulf . Officials said. Abc television reported that the new triangular shaped Rig will be capable of coordinating sea and airborne attacks upon the . Navy and refuelling Heli copter gunships and patrol boats. The shipping executives said the facilities including Cabins for about 200 workers should be completed in 45 Days. Some shipping Industry officials expressed scepticism that the platform was for military use. The term Armor plated is exaggerated. They Are reinforcing it with steel but they Are not turning it into a tank said one Industry official. He added that the iranians probably would Arm it with anti aircraft guns As they have other Oil platforms in the Gulf. Foreign tankers pick up Oil cargoes brought to Larak Island from Harg is land in the Northern Gulf by Iran s flee of state owned and chartered tankers. Despite being nearly 1,000 Miles from iraqi bases Iraq raided Larak several times. Its most recent attack was May 14,when warplanes wrecked a Spanish Tanker and damaged four others including two huge ships used to store and Transfer Oil to other tankers