What do you think are some of the main differences in the way Japanese and U.S. media report the news?
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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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59 Comments
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Elephunk
While both are hopelessly biased, I think that Japanese one is to a far greater degree.
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kujiranikusuki
I agree with with the elephunk. Both are "hopelessly biased." I think the worse thing about Japanese news is the nature of Japanese people. They tend to believe whatever they hear and\or read much much more than American people. Its just a bi-product of their group based society. Its makes news and all these 'information' specials, and 'quiz' shows all the more dangerous.
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my2sense
ditto
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smartacus
It depends on whether we are talking about print or broadcast media. On Japanese TV news programs, there is a tendency to invite celebrities, authors, etc as news analysts, whereas in the U.S., I believe, the analysts tend to be long-time reporters who have specialized in a particular field.
In print, I have noticed that Japanese newspapers often leave out what Westerners would consider to be important details. You see this a lot in stories that Japan Today translates or gets from Kyodo. Often, the reader is left asking for missing details.
Another thing about Japanese news stories is that they often do not attribute quotes. These are often translated as "it was learned," or "it was announced." Seldom is it said who made the quote.
A third difference is that for decades Japanese reporters covering politics had a cozy relationship with the politicians they were reporting on. They would just hang out near their offices and dutifully publish whatever press releases were given to them. I have even known reporters to visit Japanese politicians at home and help themselves to food and drink in the fridge.
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combinibento
In general, the US media covers a far broader range of topics while the Japanese media is far more limited - except what little they cover they beat like a dead horse. Another difference is the Japanese focus is off. One example is the recent shuttle launch. The US covered the launch itself as news, while according to the Japanese media the main story was not the launch itself but rather the participation of the Japanese astronaut. Her face was all over the news for hours when they could simply have just moved on and overed other issues.
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Pukey2
The Japanese media, especially on TV like NHK, tend to talk as if the viewers are 6 year olds.
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my2sense
ditto again.
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MrDog
Japanese news has so many pointless things on it.
The best example is when there's been an accident/explosion and a reporter asks a witness, "what kind of sound did it make?" and the witness actually says "boom". What the kcuf is that about???
U.S. and British news has a lot more non-domestic news on it. Wheras Japanese news is 99.9% about Japan.
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dammit
I can only compare the US news they show on NHK and the dubbed Japanese news.
Both are hopelessly biased towards their own shores and the land within them. Of course. Why not? It's normal. Japanese news is more likely to have women with shrieking voices though. Plus there's Mr No-personality as I call him, from Ohayou Sekai if I remember correctly. A voice like an unmanned drone. (Poor bloke is probably a really nice guy in reality!)
What's wrong with Japanese news focusing on the Japanese crew member Combinibento? It's normal for US TV to feature the launch of any old US shuttle as main news, or at least news. But to the rest of the world it's too routine and distant to bother us. When it goes wrong, then it's news. But you should realise that if it wasn't for the occasional Japanese crew member the shuttle launches would generate little publicity here, and less cash. Think of all that footage and publicity, do the Americans really give all that footage away free? I doubt it. The only reason they have foreign crew members is for money. Remember that. Do you think the US covers all of the foreigners' costs? I think you'll find that allowing foreigners on board is the only way they can afford to keep it going. Plus, with a bunch of foreigners on the space station everyone has a reason to want it to stay safe. That's no joke, and no small expense. Do you think Japan is the only country that doesn't give a monkeys' about the shuttle launch without a national on board?
Anyway, in this house we're constantly criticising the ABC WORLD news because most of the time there's little or no WORLD news on it, it's just American news. Americans have a reputation for only caring about themselves for good reasons, many of them can't seem to understand that America doesn't actually rule the world, and certainly don't seem to realise that people of other nations actually are human beings and have rights. Japanese news may seem to refer to all foreigners as gaijin (surprise surprise,) but at least it acknowledges that they exist and aren't in any way under Japanese control.
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chotto
US has Fox News, Japan has NHK.
Both news broadcasts in both countries are largely sensationalised, boring trash.
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GW
For me one of the biggest problems in Jpn is the media self censor themselves WAY TOO MUCH. So much happens but they NEVER dig deeper, never ask the pertinent questions, rarely hold politicians or bureaucrates or the Japanese people responsible for their actions & also just as importantly their in-actions.
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timorborder
Difficult question. Having lived in both countries, I would have to say that the level of journalism in both seems to be on a downward spiral. In the US, the explosion of media outlets (cable TV, the Internet) has meant that there is a concerted race to target news at the lowest common denominator (the shallow end of the gene pool). This is very disheartening if you consider the journalist traditions of the country. In times past there were huge stories such as Watergate, etc. Now TV is just full of talking heads whose intellectual faculties are on par with your average educationally-challenged amoeba.
Meanwhile in Japan, journalism has never been much chop. This is because of its concentration in a very few hands, and the hand-feeding of information that goes on courtesy of the reporter-clubs system. Even NHK, the national broadcaster, has none of the independence that you see in the BBC or other national broadcasters. Rather, its news seems to consist of government-published propaganda and stories that are specifically crafted so the masses do not think for themselves.
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brotokyo
With respect to TV, the US will keep "breaking news" plastered on the bottom of the screen (as often seen on CNN) sometimes several days and even as long as a week (Haiti earthquake), long after the story first broke. Japanese TV, (as often seen on NHK) can actually make a "campaign" out of something and let in run every single day for more than a month (Chinese dumplings)
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kawaiitenshi
ahhh... well for one Japanese cameramen are expected to run after the reporter. They must point at things, they must show a blue sheet covering where they found a body, or in most cases... find the closest puddle of blood and zoom in on it.
I don't think I saw anything like that on the news in my brief visit to the USA...
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iron_brooklyn
I hate news coverage in Japan especially the sports coverage, I just hate when they focus only on the Japanese players, like that is the only person on the team? Also in light of pre-WW2 the Japanese news papers have always been about boosting the countries moral,so everything is centered around Japan.
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kawaiitenshi
iron brooklyn.. how is that different to the USA? winter olympics coverage in the states was horrible. They only aired things that americans were in, or were winning. At least when I watch sports here I can do so without biased commentators that criticize everyone but their own ;)
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Gurukun
A pet peeve of mine would be that the Japanese media tends to pry too much in very personal issues, kind of like a reporting paparazzi. Example: When a family member dies in some sort of accident, the question, "How do you feel right now?" (Ima no kimochii wa dou desu ka?)makes me boil! What kind of question is that! And, what kind of answer are they expecting?
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thedeath
similar in many way when talk about how they select what to show what not.
but the big difference is its content quality when present.
as any journalist in the world know they job are to answer 5Ws and 1H.
american media doing a better job in answer all of those. sometime i even feel that, they are a kind of digging too much, and i feel sorry for the people/person on the news.
the japanese medias? they fell on that. very few background story. it is exception for any news related to food and eating.
and the sport program is suck. all they do are throat scream, and give very few background history of the opponent but offer more than necessary information of the Japanese side.
all in all, it seem like japanese press don't do homework at all keep telling only what people already knew and saw. often leave big hold fill with questions in the background story.
and they(japan press) use a lot of paper on the presentation. american media go with electronic and CG technology. japan? tons of pen and paper then scrip behind those paper for read.
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kazan
I'm disappointed with both American and Japanese news; the BBC covers far-reaching international news as well as domestic issues, all the while being classy and concise about it.
Japanese news seems to cover domestic issues only, which is incredibly frustrating to someone looking to learn about what's going on in the rest of the world. I also dislike the 'mood-music' added to crime stories, and the way the news spins the issues (such as the recent problems encountered by Toyota).
American news, on the other hand, is equally guilty of spin-doctoring information. It's also full of 'special interest stories', mindless trite about celebrity scandals and potato chips shaped like Jesus. Celebrity gossip should be restrained to talk shows (or whatever), there's no place to turn in American television for pure, unbiased information on current events.
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telecasterplayer
The main, inescapable difference: The Japanese networks report the news in Japanese. The US networks mostly report the news in English.
Really, no one else noticed that?
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blvtzpk
TV news in the US has improved over the years due to the influence of cable sources. This had made the basic networks up their game. But when I was first in the US, seeing the 'International minute' (more like 35-40 seconds) of a 30 minute broadcast was appalling. It was little surprise that people had little knowledge of the rest of the world. This applied equally to the newspapers as well. As regards the print media, it was certainly better in the bigger cities, but once you left the big smoke - zilch.
Japan is myopic in other ways. I never watch the commercial news broadcasts, but NHK is like Japan central. Some issues will be gone over in mind-numbing depth for a 30 minute broadcast, and other stuff will be shunted to the sides. And as others have noted, if it's an international event, 'the Japanese angle' will be the focus of the report. However, I have seen more comprehensive international reporting in Japan than on the US stations' nightly news.
As for the commercial new stations, I have to question whether what they offer is news or entertainment - and don't get me started on the 'wide' shows.
As for NHK, I hate the breathless, jogging reporters ("I must show the urgency of he issue by running!"), the through-the-intercom and I-don't-want-to-show my face "interviews," and the token quick-roundup gals designated to give us the less important messages (that's you, NHK). I AM a big fan of NHK's 7PM weather presenter, Sai Nakarai, but not of her choice in clothing.
Oh, one last thing about US network nightly news. Any given week night there's ALWAYS a report about some new health 'breakthrough.' That's guaranteed. If you don't agree, just watch 'em.
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Fadamor
I have to disagree with blvtzpk. The presence of TMZ and technologies like Twitter have caused the news agencies to rush their stories on the air or to print with even less fact-checking than they used to. The need to be "first" has trampled all over the need to be "accurate".
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Branded
Ha-ha-ha- What a great question ! The answer is simple- One is controlled by the government- Japan ! The other is a totally free entity controlled by no-one but the interests of the public- The USA ! It really is that simple ! Japan's news media engages in a protectionist mentality- refusing to criticize the nation as a whole or the public. The US is just the opposite- openly criticising its political figures and citizens to no end. Japan also likes to focus on the "dark side" of foreign news- much like we see here at Japantoday ! It remains extremely rare to see anything positive coming out of other foreign countries- especially the USA. For example- the US just launched another shuttle mission- yet all we get here at JT is "Japanese this and Japanese that" ! Even Japantoday fails to accept the fact that the vast number of their readers are not Japanese ! Japantoday has been accused of not providing anything positive about America and it is an accusation that sticks today. I challenge anyone to go out and dig up anything positive from this site about the US. On the contrary, here in the US, my hometown newspaper has weekly articles about foreign countries and its nationals doing great things ! Japan seems bitter ! It's something they need to get over- too bad JT won't get the ball rolling with some uplifting storys about the wondefully compassionate, creative, energetic, and positive people living right here in America- I could fill this page with examples, but somehow I doubt you are interested- that in itself speaks volumes. Sad indeed.
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Lenin
Japanese reports (TV) are limited and insufficient. Moreover they appear to be merely spouting the CNN view of things. The CNN view of things filtered thru a leftist lens and Japanese (TV) further filters that news for some very weak coffee indeed.
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rbnjm
Japanese media only parrots what police, prosecutors, and politicians tell them. They do not investigative reporting and never call anyone to accountability. In truth, there are no real reportes in Japan, just police, proceutors, and politicians lackies...
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moonbeams
branded,
Japanese media heavily criticises their politicians, as well. JT is not a newspaper.
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ratpack
The japanese media would ask this question while the american media wouldn't. Also the American media are not afraid of upsetting the convoy of white trucks blasting out messages.
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blvtzpk
@ fadamor - I wasn't discussing accuracy, just international perspective. The news is a tad less US-centric than it used to be. Accurate...well that's another matter.
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Monkeyz
One thing that hasn't been pointed out: Although US evening news may be somewhat lacking in international coverage, it must be remembered that the US is VASTLY LARGER than Japan, with over twice the population. Of course it's going to be difficult to cover major news in the US plus major news abroad in twenty-two minutes.
Japanese news should have an easier time of cramming in a bit of foreign news, but I always feel like when they do, it's only to make other countries seem dangerous. May just be the impression I get ...
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sf2k
My impression is that Japanese trust the media reporting more than anyone else, even more than Russian Pravda or Chinese government news. You actually couldn't get a stronger control even if Japan was communist. Thus Japanese are uninterested in most things, are offended at any slight, and can't take any criticism.
Americans much less trust of media since they know they are being played and why the news media there are desperate to get their attention. The way they do that is by keeping viewers/listeners angry, also by delaying information so that they watch or listen to more ads. Angry people listen longer, so they make more money from their sponsors. Their media is so ridiculous they are inciting riot and hate. Thus why Americans are angry a lot, criticize everything and enjoy offending others.
Both are generalizations but you couldn't get more different.
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nisegaijin
While, in the US news stations report what government tells them to, in Japan news stations report everything without disclosing any facts.
go figure.
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Nessie
Good stuff, Smartacus.
I also agree with you, Fadamor.
I'd say Japanese are underinformed and Americans are misinformed.
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kanadamanada
Japanese news has no editorislization, and nobody is willing to go outside the common consensus on things. With a looming financial crash on the horizon, I've asked many Japanese if they think there is a connection between that and the current street security-camera boom (to protect the people, and they ask me "what cameras?". There is no debate, of any constructive sort, in Japan at the moment. NONE. The only news stories anyone knows are the ones about the cuddly seal on the beach in Yokohama, or a daikon growing up through asphalt on a sidewalk. The government here has, over the oast 20 years, throttled the media's ability to break stories. Now companies are protected against scoops by the right to do business laws. I once asked my lawyer how come all the restaurant guides give positive reviews and he said because a negative review would only lead to being sued, and sued successfully. Ever wonder why there is NO good celebrity gossip here???
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Mittsu
Japanese news is dumbed down more than US. Too many stupid sounds and subtitles.
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herefornow
Mittsu -- agree. Japanese news shows have no real journalists, just "reporters", who basically just repeat the PR release they were handed, or what was said at a press conference. And that's because of the whole press club nonsense. Reporters here are told not to ruffle feathers, less they lose their press pass. Reporters in the U.S. and Europe make their reputations by ruffling feathers. Huge difference.
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Katsuro1000
Too many lies in U.S media news.
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herefornow
Katsuro -- as opposed to all the quotes in the J-press from politicians and bureaucrats, which we all know are 100% true. Right?
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borscht
I see a lot less free advertising disguised as 'news' in the US. For example, JapanToday informing us that Tokoro George is the once-again new spokesman for Mr. Donut or that Country Ma'am has a new cookie. There are 'news' articles that are fluff pieces in the US but they are better disguised with information about other spokespeople or other cookie manufacturers.
Another difference that used to exist but doesn't much anymore is the investigative journalist who sought out things like lying presidents (Nixon). The US used to have many such journalists. I can think of one in Japan - he pestered Miyazawa until Miyazawa finally resigned. Forget his name...
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Badsey
The U.S. media doesn't report the news anymore. =Main reason people don't buy newspapers or watch news broadcasts.
Good example: ObamaCare-not one media entity actually read the documents or went thru the financials.
http://wikileaks.org/ -not one media entity talked about this video (Reuters camera-men murders)
Some local media are still quite good and have a following, but the national media has lost most of their news subscribers.
I believe the Japanese News is better even with the fluff.
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Farmboy
Japanese news has a lot of positive human interest stories, something the US media used to do. I like that, and wish US news could have a bit more of that and less of the scandal and innuendo type of reporting.
It's hard to compare overall, though, since the quality in the US goes from excellent reporting to just plain trash.
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sf2k
well said Nessie
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CaptDingleheimer
This man says he likes the Japanese news. They have many stories about Japan, he says.
This woman says she wishes that the Japanese news had more stories about Tama-chan the seal who swam up the river in Tokyo a few years ago. She wonders how Tama-chan is getting along these days, and misses the daily reports on his whereabouts.
This man says that when he visited Hawaii, the American news had lots of scary stories about people shooting guns. He says it made him feel anxious, and he stayed in his hotel room for the rest of his vacation.
This girl says that she's never seen American news, but she hopes it's all about what happens in Japan, just like Japanese news.
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InakaRider
Personally, I've never been too impressed with the Japanese or American TV news. I do think that the PBS News Hour is a good program however, and they do play that in the afternoons here in Japan (I watch it if I take a late lunch break).
And yeah, there is always some breaking medical story in the US!
However, I've always found the radio to be a great source of news in the US. PBS has some great programs, and when I was back home in the States, PBS also aired the BBC World Service. I can't talk so much for the radio in Japan, however. I've never bothered to listen to NHK radio.
Also, the newspapers here in Hokkaido are pretty paltry. There are few sections. When I look at the Tomakomai or Hokkaido Shinbum, it seems to be the usual local news, national news, some sports, a little international news, and a few other interest articles.
In Boston, the Globe newspaper was huge, with all different sections that included arts, sports, local news, national news, international news, automotive, etc. Sure, the Globe is left-leaning, but there is a great diversity of articles that covers a wide range of topics compared to what I've seen here in Hokkaido.
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GW
The Japanese language allows the j-govt, business & media to control, feed the j-pop & thats what it does 98% of the time, Japanese tend not to question much & many cannot take criticism, they want to be taken care of & be told what they are supposed to think/do & thats about it except for all the cutesy crap thrown in to keep people from thinking about their own lives too much.
The US reports less news than in the past, now its more about left/right agendas, I see the US pop becoming more highly divided due to politicians, business & the media & the average intelligence level seems to be dropping
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combinibento
CaptDingleheimer, LOL. Great impression of the NHK english translator doing the evening news.
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S7ro9kGm3aQ
This man says that he really likes what you did there.
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SilverStar
Any news in any country is made up of truths, lies, mistakes, deception, misinformation, sensationalism, fluff, heart-warming stories, under-reporting, slants, stupid stuff, fun stuff.
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Okinawamike
"... find the closest puddle of blood and zoom in on it".
And loop it over and over for the entire segment. OK, we get it! Little red spot on the ground.
And the Oobaa saying "So desu naaa" with her face hidden.
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Smitty
States news captures it all, the good and bad that people do. If a foreigner does bad they'll report it, if one does good they will report it. Japan will never report the good foreigners do in their country or community. They only report the bad that everyone else does. For that one bad foreigner's deed the 100's of good deeds will never be mentioned. Not much different then most Communist Countries reporting new about the states. Most news agencies will give a little more depth to their articles; with JT you get a very vague seven line news article that will leave many speculating. As for truths or lies all agencies want you to read/watch their news, you just need to weed out the report and come to your own conclusions.
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buggerlugs
No freedom of press in japan and us only reports us interests. Go to the BBC for aN only semi-biased news source.
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Nessie
Yeah, ever since Doshin muscled out Hokkai Times back in the day.
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ltsgosrfn
American news doesn't have that annoying little window where you can see the "talent" and their reactions to the stories. I feel that this alone makes American news the clear winner in any comparison.
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realist
The Japanese media toe the party line. They dont ask hard questions. In Japan, the media is boring. In America, the mass media also toe the party line v- the Democratic one, with a few exceptions, like Fox News and the Washington Post and the New York Times. Apart from that, journalism in both countries is a joke.
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UltraMarine68
Okay, does anyone remember of any Japanese government officials forced to resign due to pressure from the media that influenced public opinion? Happens here alot in the U.S.. If they can't cut the mustard or were caught with their hands in the cookie jar they may as well not consider running for office in the next election.
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finbarr68
they are both crap go europe the only place for true reporting!
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UltraMarine68
Lets take another view on all this. The only time I ever got to view the Japanese news media was when I was stationed in Japan. It was expected they would broadcast only about issues or events that occurred in Japan and that was what I saw. No airing of anything stories or press releases from overseas unless it affected Japan itself. The only instance I could know something right off if something occurred in Japan is if I was watching CNN or the evening news for national/international issues. From what I've seen of the Japanese news media it seems too insulated from outside issues and does not want to see what other people think. If there was an earthquake in Japan you most likely would see it aired here in the U.S. Anyone care to remember the tsunami that struck Indonesia a few years back? That was on the news here. Here's one to chew on. Do you actually believe Japan would air a news flash on an earthquake in the U.S.? Don't think so. What if that earthquake caused a tsunami that reached Japan and did alot of damage. Oooh, I think they would air that in a heart beat and beat up the story about it's originating point. What do you think Japan?
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Egalityranny
Many of the biggest names in US media were not born there - Rupert Murdoch (Australian) owns the Fox News channel; Greek-born Arianna Huffington's blog/news site is one of the top three of its kind online; Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has bought a controlling share in the NY Times. This is unthinkable in Japan.
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