Kisha Clubs/Media Influence

Question 1

Overview of how media has changed over the years

Answer 1

• Papers began in 1872 and were largely ignored, but became popular after Peoples Rights Movement papers went anti-governmental
• Government implemented similar system to that of US’ with limited spaces and so Kisha clubs were formed to communicate information for journalists not present
• Ranks 72nd on press freedom index (UK 40)

Question 2

How influential is the media in Japan?

Answer 2

• Kabashima notes Japan as one of the most media saturated democracies in the world, with the country’s elites perceiving it as the most influential force shaping its society
• 43% influenced by TV, 45% influenced by newspapers
• highest sales and readership (83% readership)
• Yomiuri Shinbun and Asahi Shinbun most read newspapers in the world

Question 3

What are the different problems within Japanese media?

Answer 3

• 4 main problems: uniformity, prone outside pressure, lack of freedom, and sensationalism
• Example of sensationalism: KTC ran story stating eating nato is good for dieting so to improve ratings. Once declared falsified information, talent agency stated “viewers have to be smarter because the producers think that anything which makes people happy is OK”
• Example of freedom: NHK (most watched TV channel) is state funded and part of the iron triangle

Question 4

Why Kisha clubs are the worst?

Answer 4

• Tick arguably 3 of the 4 factors, and as reported by reporters without borders, act as lapdogs to governmental officials

Question 5

Background as to what Kisha clubs are

Answer 5

• a club of reporters which are maintained by news organisations. they are formal associations of reporters from different media outlets assigned to a particular minister and other high ranking officials.
• This form of reporting is closely linked to that of the US structure, which is termed ‘pack journalism’ (when journalists literally travel in packs to report, leading to companionship and convergence on what ‘news’ is)

Question 6

What are the pros and cons to Kisha clubs?

Answer 6

• Withholding information to conform: Due to clubs being connected to government agencies, news takes on an official cast. The daily association of reporters at the clubs contribute to a uniformity in the news pages; reporters are constrained by what is described as a “phobia” about not writing what all the other reporters write (Feldman 1993, Freeman 2000, Krauss 2000).
• No foreign reporters/outside reporters: Foreigners cannot join and the Japanese actually interfere with their research (one titled ‘THE CLOSED COUNTRY POLICY, AND THE SUFFERING IT CAUSES US FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS IN JAPAN’). No freelance agencies included, no small-medium newspaper companies – must be part of Japan Newspaper publishers and editors association to get to sources. Phillipines govt case: Japan asked Pres. Aquino to exclude certain Japanese news reporters from the meeting with her. Such a large amount of information is given to the newspapers daily that work is divided up between rival paper companies to cooperate and summaries which means the news that is produced suffers greatly from uniformity. Press clubs criticised as – ‘propaganda organs for the authorities’ (p.375)
• Boasting of close ties to government: William Horsley, Japan BBC: The press club is foundation of countrys mass media. Cartels that monopolise what will be considered ‘official news’ coming from the government and ministries. To attempt to suppress them would be as fruitless as attempting with the LDP. Some reporters boast that they are ‘sleeping in the vest pocket’ of high officials from whom they obtain news. One advantage is the detailed reporting we see being done on Japanese news as sources are direct.
• Comparison to UK media: ‘Japanese journalists and British journalists are very different in the way they see their role and their duty. I’m generalizing, but I think it’s broadly true that if you’re a British journalist then your professional purpose and your pride is to embarrass people in power. Based on factual, accurate reporting, if you can show that someone in power, a politician, a ministry, or a big company has been lying or covering something up or causing damage, then that’s where the glory lies. Journalists in Britain, and elsewhere too, are troublemakers. Japanese journalists are the opposite. There are exceptions, but overall they’re very reluctant to embarrass or criticize or challenge powerful institutions. It’s not just because they lack information; it’s because Japan is a society that avoids confrontation in most cases.’

Question 7

What does Asano say of press clubs in Japan?

Answer 7

• Press in Japan is as free as in any other state, yet self-censorship runs rampant and there is a lack of scepticism toward authority
• Newspapers since the 1950s have acted as if their highest duty is to protect and enforce the rule of the LDP

Question 8

What does Freeman say of the Kisha clubs?

Answer 8

• They collectively make decisions about how information is to be presented

Question 9

Overview of the Iraq Mission for SDF

Answer 9

• Constitutional article change meant Japan was not allowed military
• SDF personnel dispatched into Iraq in 2004 marked watershed moment for Japan and a constitutional re-interpretation in the post-WW2 era: first time SDF forces sent abroad without there being a UN PKing mission being there
• Led to a rethinking and reinterpretation of meaning of Article 9 - tugging at the very foundations of what it meant to be Japanese

Question 10

Media Reaction

Answer 10

• Far from being lapdogs of the government
• Notable criticism and alternative views being founded from the media
• Despite there being real grounds to challenge the government however, it was not done until too late
• Unwise to state Japanese press demonstrated complete autonomy or even ‘watchdog’ accountability of government actions. Their early support for the mission until apparent that the public no longer did shows the media to represent a lap cat and Heywoods market model, rather than dominant-ideology model.

Question 11

Will they disappear?

Answer 11

• Foreign reporters: Some clubs opening themselves up to foreign reporters, but little sign of Clubs’ dissolution
• Movements: Other than Nagano Prefecture’s “end of our kisha club system” and creation of “press conference area” in 2001 as a movement to prevent the scandals.
• Investigative: Slightly more investigative journalism from journalists not in a Press club (Tahara Soichi: Considered ‘rude’, but leads the way in critical, investigative journalism)
• Sensationalism: Increased sensationalism E.G. PM Mori was seen getting in to a car with Yakuza boss, photo was published in weekly gloss (newspaper wouldn’t publish)
• Citizen journalism: After 3/11 disaster, twitter usage soared to 25million Japanese users in an attempt to overcome the lack of information government provides (i.e. Jun Hori (NHK Reporter at the time of the disaster) tweeted uncensored coverage and was told not to tweet some information – so quit.
• Blogs: 41% of world’s blogs are in Japanese (Problem: curation and quality control (question the depth of coverage and sources)