Japan's Peculiar Free Press: a Propagandistic Tool against Social Change?
Recently, I watched a lecture on increasing realization of civil rights in China and the media's role in the realization. The lecturer made a strong point that the increasingly unstoppable dissent by journalists in officially sanctioned press, combined with spread of the info through SNS, is forcefully breaking down the propaganda apparatus maintained by the Communist Party (cited by the lecturer as "the most sophisticated in human history").
He notes with optimism that the media, backed by intellectuals, is institutionalizing dissent and slowly eroding the established cultural attitudes of the Chinese people. Foreign ideas, passed on through the media and SNS, is infusing foreign ideas rapidly into the Chinese mind...All very clichéd arguments that have been made by "Chinese experts" for years now. But a little side-note I picked up in his argument (and I want to discuss a bit) is that he notes the same thing did not happen with Japan's "free press with cultural peculiarities."
Interesting, he further goes to compare the road to egalitarianism in Korea and Japan. In 1970s Korea, like in China today, the press played a chief role in spreading news of right breaches by the government, allowing labor movements to capitalize on the info as core ideological foundations of labor movements that forced government policy toward economic egalitarianism. But at the same time in Japan, the movement toward egalitarianism was largely driven by the government itself, with little actions by the press or labor movements.
In so many words, the lecturer implies that the Japanese media essentially does not serve as an anti-government conduit of info, both during the early days of post-war developments and today. The media did not and still does not serve a channel for foreign ideas to enter and take hold in Japan, especially if the ideas conflict directly with the existing policies of the government. And indeed, Japan's media rarely (actually, never, as far as I see) speaks of Japan's need to learn from other countries, instead stressing Japan's socio-economic "uniqueness."
The lecturer's underlying point about Japan instantly reminded me of a TV show I saw the other day. Titled "the US, China, and Russia You Never Knew," the show made a sensational explanation, again, in so many words, America's violent obsession with guns, China's socially destabilizing economic inequality, and Russia's prevalent politically motivated assassinations. While there are no lies told, the show did take the liberty to focus exclusively on the negative sides of all three countries.
At the end of the three-hour show, a female celebrity guest happily exclaims, "I am glad that I live in Japan." Her comment captures the entire point of the show and the audience's expected reaction from watching it. Th show reflects the common sentiment here that the existing Japanese system, although no longer proficient for economic growth, is the generator of a level of economic equality and physical safety not found in even other highly developed countries. The Japanese people should be thankful that the current system is maintained.
And even more, Japanese media these days have been going through a boom of showing the past glory of Japan. Past celebrities, TV shows, music, comedy are oh-so frequently sampled in various shows to help the public relive their "golden days." In an age of cultural dominance in Asia by the "Korean Wave," these shows of nostalgia can be seen as a deliberate effort to sustain Japan's position (well, at least in the minds of the Japanese themselves) that Japan is a preeminent cultural power...all thanks to the existing system and cultural values so uninterruptedly held for the past decades.
The reality shows that the Japanese media and press, far from introducing new foreign ideas to the country and help social innovation, has been the major factor working against it. While it is difficult for us, the ordinary people, to know whether government effort is behind all this, but it is obvious to say that Japan's "free press" has not and cannot be a leading force, or even a factor, in bringing significant changes to the existing socio-economic and political arrangements.
Lastly, we can see an even more worrying trend of Japanese media toward avoiding serious topics in favor of pure entertainment. While not having good entertainment programs will cause most people to stop following the media, the excessive abundance of it inherently suppresses a free press' original role: to keep a constant check on the accountability of the policy makers. Considering the only sensationalizing political rant in Japan happens in tabloid magazines (accompanied by sex, a lot of it), I just do not how anyone can still take the local media seriously even when they choose to cover serious topics...
He notes with optimism that the media, backed by intellectuals, is institutionalizing dissent and slowly eroding the established cultural attitudes of the Chinese people. Foreign ideas, passed on through the media and SNS, is infusing foreign ideas rapidly into the Chinese mind...All very clichéd arguments that have been made by "Chinese experts" for years now. But a little side-note I picked up in his argument (and I want to discuss a bit) is that he notes the same thing did not happen with Japan's "free press with cultural peculiarities."
Interesting, he further goes to compare the road to egalitarianism in Korea and Japan. In 1970s Korea, like in China today, the press played a chief role in spreading news of right breaches by the government, allowing labor movements to capitalize on the info as core ideological foundations of labor movements that forced government policy toward economic egalitarianism. But at the same time in Japan, the movement toward egalitarianism was largely driven by the government itself, with little actions by the press or labor movements.
In so many words, the lecturer implies that the Japanese media essentially does not serve as an anti-government conduit of info, both during the early days of post-war developments and today. The media did not and still does not serve a channel for foreign ideas to enter and take hold in Japan, especially if the ideas conflict directly with the existing policies of the government. And indeed, Japan's media rarely (actually, never, as far as I see) speaks of Japan's need to learn from other countries, instead stressing Japan's socio-economic "uniqueness."
The lecturer's underlying point about Japan instantly reminded me of a TV show I saw the other day. Titled "the US, China, and Russia You Never Knew," the show made a sensational explanation, again, in so many words, America's violent obsession with guns, China's socially destabilizing economic inequality, and Russia's prevalent politically motivated assassinations. While there are no lies told, the show did take the liberty to focus exclusively on the negative sides of all three countries.
At the end of the three-hour show, a female celebrity guest happily exclaims, "I am glad that I live in Japan." Her comment captures the entire point of the show and the audience's expected reaction from watching it. Th show reflects the common sentiment here that the existing Japanese system, although no longer proficient for economic growth, is the generator of a level of economic equality and physical safety not found in even other highly developed countries. The Japanese people should be thankful that the current system is maintained.
And even more, Japanese media these days have been going through a boom of showing the past glory of Japan. Past celebrities, TV shows, music, comedy are oh-so frequently sampled in various shows to help the public relive their "golden days." In an age of cultural dominance in Asia by the "Korean Wave," these shows of nostalgia can be seen as a deliberate effort to sustain Japan's position (well, at least in the minds of the Japanese themselves) that Japan is a preeminent cultural power...all thanks to the existing system and cultural values so uninterruptedly held for the past decades.
The reality shows that the Japanese media and press, far from introducing new foreign ideas to the country and help social innovation, has been the major factor working against it. While it is difficult for us, the ordinary people, to know whether government effort is behind all this, but it is obvious to say that Japan's "free press" has not and cannot be a leading force, or even a factor, in bringing significant changes to the existing socio-economic and political arrangements.
Lastly, we can see an even more worrying trend of Japanese media toward avoiding serious topics in favor of pure entertainment. While not having good entertainment programs will cause most people to stop following the media, the excessive abundance of it inherently suppresses a free press' original role: to keep a constant check on the accountability of the policy makers. Considering the only sensationalizing political rant in Japan happens in tabloid magazines (accompanied by sex, a lot of it), I just do not how anyone can still take the local media seriously even when they choose to cover serious topics...
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