Practising Global Journalism

9 Japan

Japan is media saturated, and both a difficult and an easy place for global journalism to flourish. Freedom of expression is enshrined in the Japanese constitution and any form of censorship is practically unheard of. The media is not muckraking as in many western countries but has Confucian values in the practices of the media. There are of course some taboo subjects such as criticism of the Royal Family.

The Press

In Japan, the pattern of news coverage influences public perceptions of what are the important issues of the day. Many Japanese scholars have accepted the idea that the mass media have powerful effects, because the media overwhelm Japan’s information environment. Compared to the United States, Germany and Hong Kong, for ...