Kanjani8 was formed/debuted way before NEWS made their debut
Also in both cases , it just so happened that Ryo & an ex NEWS/Kanjani8 member Uchi were drafted into both bands & NEWS caused the spilt of a lot of Johnny Juniors bands so their formation was quite an issue at that time
NEWS was a 9 piece group when they released NEWS Nippon but then they were down to the current 6 , after another ex member Kusano & Uchi were busted for underage drinking . The 3rd guy left the talent agency altogether to form ONE OK ROCK I think
So now , this makes Ryo the only Johnny in the talent agency to be in 2 groups at the same time which explains why releases for both acts are not as frequent/regular as let's say KAT-TUN
Scans of NEWS/Ryo , you can go to
http://community.livejournal.com/nippon_news/ & you have to be a member to view the scans