The Japanese mainstream media do not have a well-developed 'watchman' ethic, because it colludes closely with those whom it should be watching and holding accountable. As a result, it is in no hurry to enable bloggers -- who in the U.S. have both 'watchman' and 'watching the watchmen' ethics -- by providing free content.

Friday 31st October, 06:54 AM JST

Tobias Harris, the creator of the popular blog www.observingjapan.com. He says the role played by Japanese mainstream media is different from the United States, in the sense that they are ‘‘very much part of the establishment.’’

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5 Comments

Statistician at 10:31 AM JST - 31st October

The Japanese mainstream media have almost no investigative instincts at all, very much a part of the "We Japanese" institutional establishment.
TPOJ at 11:32 AM JST - 31st October

I would LOVE to see someone disagree with this.

Actually disagree, not just pull the typical "look! Over there! Other countries!" distraction stuff.
kweto at 02:17 PM JST - 31st October

An interesting viewpoint is at

http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/the-collapse-of-journalism-in-japan/

Note: The writer is generally dissatisfied with mass-media regardless of its nation of origin.
Nessie at 04:21 PM JST - 31st October

Japan has more blogs than any other country. Unfortunately, most of them are cellphone blogs about pets.
MeanRingo at 08:54 PM JST - 31st October

Why would they need a watchdog media when they only really watch the news to view the cherry blossoms as they travel north? The level of apathy in this country is appalling, to the point of being infantile. So few get angry about the way things are done around Japan. I don't know whether I would say the media leads the way in this or is a direct product of it. Chicken, egg, egg, chicken.