Introduction
Statistics indicate that Japan is among the most media-saturated countries across the globe (Legewie, Nishihata and Seilder 2). For instance, by 2008, the number of the daily newspapers printed was more than fifty-one million. Moreover, a third of the one-hundred-and-twenty different available newspapers carry both the morning and evening editions. Apparently, each of the five top newspapers sells over 4 million copies per day, which is above each of the biggest Western counterparts, including The Sun in the United Kingdom, Bild in Germany, and Cankao Xiaoxi in China. Additionally, Japan’s public service broadcasting corporation referred to as NHK is the second largest in the world, behind only the BBC, and offers direct employment to about one hundred and twenty thousand people. Additionally, over one hundred and twenty corporations offer commercial broadcasts with the five largest television stations having their presence in almost all regions. Furthermore, the publication of approximately three thousand six hundred magazines is undertaken on a monthly or weekly basis, together with over seventy thousand new books on a yearly basis. Adding all kinds of mini-media to these including; wire service, the internet, free papers, and the social media, makes Japan qualify to be a media superpower. Notably, Article 21 in the Japan’s Constitution assures freedom of expression and guarantees an absolute prohibition on government suppression of the media even during an emergency. In this regard, the Japanese influential people rate the country’s mass media as being the most powerful group in this society, greater than any other such as the bureaucracy, intellectuals, political parties, civic organizations, and businesses. However, even if there is media freedom in Japan, the government has an indirect influence on all activities carried out by mass media, despite its role in informing the public about important issues that are beneficial to the society.
Government Influence on the Mass Media
Just like in any other nation, the government of Japan has an opportunity to control its media in an indirect manner, particularly in the broadcasting where private networks get their licenses renewed on a five-year basis by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Ostensibly, the influence of the government on the public broadcaster, NHK Corporation, is indeed even greater. For instance, the prime minister makes the appointment of the Board of Governors of NHK, and it is the responsibility of the Diet to approve the corporations' budget. Consequently, this has led to having some cases of self-censorship by the NHK Corporation (Legewie, et al17).
Nevertheless, much more of an issue is the direct efforts by the Japanese Government to control NHK reporting. For instance, in the year 2006, Yoshihide Suda, the Internal Affairs and Communications” Minister commanded this station to put the focus on the kidnappings of the Japanese citizens by North Korea in the station’s programs. Whereas Yoshihide Suga’s predecessors had made orders for the station to focus on significant national plans in abstract language, indeed this was the first time to make such a solid effort to interrupt the programs of NHK, an initiative that was a major concern for the entire media in the country.
However, the efforts of the government to regulate whatever the media reports, are not restricted to its relatively close link to the NHK, which is very natural since the NHK is a public corporation. Undeniably, within the legislative field, the government has moved a step further to control reporting to a level that some observers claim it to be an absolute censorship.
In the year 2003, Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister at that time, was at the frontline of a new law apparently intended to protect the privacy of the citizens. On the contrary, the unclear phrasing of the law could as well effectually hinder the media from doing research and reporting on any private citizen. The initial version of this bill received opposition from inside media such as the Japan Newspapers Publishing Association and the Yomiuri Shimbun; however, at the time a revised definition of what comprised a ‘media organization’ was offered, the inside media consented and the bill was approved (Legewie, et al. 18).
Again, the revisions to the law gave room for a broad scope of interpretation, with the central expression being the "objective reporters." (Legewie, et al. 18). A larger number of those who published the weekly magazines considered this as being a threat to their capability to carry out research and eventually release news. Since such magazines revealed scandals that involved senior politicians in the past, it is not a surprise that they got themselves getting locked out. Moreover, in the current day, mishandling information that is private, such as presenting a story in the media that reveals a political scandal, can attract hefty fines or going to prison for up to six months. Precisely, the impact brought in by the fresh privacy law was regarded with some uncertainty by the outside media. In this sense, the outside media reasoned that they would be able to find other means through which to obtain their news stories. However, it portrays the level to which the inside players receive support from the system while those outside are faced with resistance (Legewie, et al. 18).
The Effect of Mass Media on the Populace
The mass media campaigns are clearly among the policy tools commonly utilized to make an effort to bring an influence on the public opinion concerning certain issues. Nevertheless, the mass media’s influence on the public opinion has been portrayed to last for a short time since media coverage shifts from one issue to another, usually on a daily basis (Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui 204). In the long-run, media attention to certain matters has been exhibited to vary significantly, usually in recognizable cycles. On the other hand, several public opinion surveys in the developed nations have indicated that daily newspapers and television are utilized as the main sources of information. In Japan, it was revealed that most people in the country obtain information regarding the environmental issues from the daily newspapers and TV (Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui 204). With no doubt, the mass media are immensely influential tools for broadening public awareness about the environmental issues.
Reportedly, there was a review of the mass media coverage in Japan concerning the issues of global warming over a ten-year span, between 1998 and 2007 (Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui 211). The results of this research showed that coverage of the issue of global warming on the newspapers' front pages had an influence on the environmental concerns among a larger percentage of the Japanese people (Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui 211). Accordingly, in considering such points, there is a recommendation that the Japan’s Ministry of the Environment is required to construct its strategy once again for the national campaign program to ensure there is retention of the mass media focus on the issues concerning global warming (Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui 204). On this note, some researchers have postulated that a lack of the policy events contributes to having a lack of interest by the media (Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui 211). Apparently, risk reporting in the mass media is driven by what the news reporters consider to be relevant to their editors, their audience, and themselves. Therefore, to make sure that the news reporters acknowledge information as qualifying to be featured on the front page, it is the responsibility of Japan’s Ministry of Environment to consider how and when the information ought to be given to the media. It is as well imperative to come up with a way to offer information that the news reporters will deliver in line with global warming.
Conclusion
Works Cited
Legewie, Jochen, Nishihata Junji, and Seilder Andreas. Japan’s Media: Inside and Outside Powerbrokers. Tokyo: CNC Japan K.K., 2010. Print.
Sampei, Yuki and Aoyagi-Usui Midori. “Mass-media coverage, its influence on public awareness of climate-change. issues, and implications for Japan’s national campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Global Environmental Change 19 (2009): 203–212.
