Compared to the United States and Europe, where global media conglomerates are transforming the media landscape, Japan?s media system has remained surprisingly stable over the last decade. Japan?s media were virtually immune from corporate media globalization until the early 1990s when Rupert Murdoch?s pan-Asian satellite broadcaster Star TV arrived on the scene. In order to found Japan Sky Broadcasting ?- the equivalent, it was hoped, of Britain's hugely dominant British Sky Broadcasting ?- Murdoch bought a 20 percent stake in TV Asahi, one of Japan?s five major television networks, causing a major shock to the Japanese psyche. Many Japanese media pundits believed that this was an unwarranted forced opening of the country?s media, akin to the arrival of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry?s black ships in the bay of Tokyo in 1853, which opened Japan to the world.
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"NHK (Japan's public broadcaster) has struggled to maintain the image of a reliable and objective news source, while not antagonizing the political leadership, by avoiding controversial topics and concentrating on neutral and bureaucratic news." |
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The wariness with which this perceived invasion of the airwaves was greeted appears to have been a factor behind the reluctance of other Japanese media players to join Murdoch?s JSkyB coalition. Murdoch sold his Asahi shares within a year. Japanese satellite television services have since expanded somewhat, but terrestrial television continues to be the dominant form of television in Japan.The major players in the television market are Japan?s public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) and the commercial networks Nihon TV, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Fuji TV and TV Asahi. Although cross-media ownership is restricted by law, Japan?s main newspaper groups hold a majority stake in their affiliated television networks, partly through direct ownership and partly through various subsidiaries. Japan's PBS: serving the ruling party
Japanese broadcasting laws (pdf) make NHK one of the most autonomous public broadcasting networks in the world. However, as Ellis Krauss points out in his book "Broadcasting Politics in Japan: NHK and Television News" (2000), the peculiarities of Japan?s political system have allowed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to use many unofficial means of limiting NHK?s journalistic freedom. NHK?s total annual budget must be passed by the Diet (parliament). This would not necessarily create a problem in a country where there is a regular change of government. In Japan, where a single party has dominated parliament since 1955, this system essentially gives one party control over NHK?s budget. The long period of Liberal Democratic Party incumbency has led to strong links between the party and the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT), which controls media licenses. The ministry oversees compliance with Japanese broadcasting laws (pdf) that demand that programs be "politically impartial." In the Japanese context, "politically impartial" is often interpreted as "politically neutral." There are also close links between the Liberal Democratic Party, the ministry and NHK?s board of governors. Among other things, the board appoints NHK?s president, thus providing the Liberal Democratic Party with yet another avenue to influence the public broadcaster. NHK has struggled to maintain the image of a reliable and objective news source, while not antagonizing the political leadership, by avoiding controversial topics and concentrating on neutral, authoritative and bureaucratic news. The public broadcaster is clearly limited in its scope to provide critical reporting or analysis of political issues.
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