Well, a lot of Japanese news is done in a format where first the whole article is summarized in a paragraph or two, followed by a more in-depth version of the article.  So that's probably what you mean.  Once you get used to the format it doesn't seem so weird.

Last edited by Tzadeck (2013 July 09, 2:15 am)

I've noticed this, there are times on NHK and things where it seems to repeat the exact same sentence almost word for word 2-3 times. Maybe once in the title, then again in the first paragraph, and then again a bit later too.

Honestly I completely don't get it and still find it weird.

Ah, I misunderstood.

The title has the main information that is bound to be repeated within the article, usually in the first paragraph. The first paragraph repeats the info with Who, where, when, what, etc. Normally, that information is expanded throughout the rest of the article, but in the case of short articles (like most NHK news) it means that it is pretty much just repeated with some extra info.

Also, in order to get the main point across to casual readers (who are only skimming, or listening passively to the radio) it's recommended to repeat the news a few times. Since NHK is generally directed towards casual readers (it's not specialized material, and people will usually read/watch it to pass the time) it probably focuses on this. Not sure why they do it in writing instead of simply audio/video, but it probably has something to do with that.

It can also be that the normal reader will see "title, main info, main info", but since you're reading it more closely for language purposes you're noticing the details more than the average joe.