There is a world that goes unreported. With this awareness of the problem, we, Global News View (GNV), have been disseminating information on world issues and phenomena in order to point out the paucity and bias of international reporting and to fill in the gaps.Global News View:(GNV)The media is supposed to be a watchdog. The media, while transmitting information about the world, also has the role of a "watchdog" that monitors powerful people and wealthy corporations and organizations, and exposes and points out problems when they arise. But to what extent is the Japanese media fulfilling this role? From such questionsGNVhas sought to be the "watchdog of watchdogs" in the field of international reporting, monitoring the media itself and pointing out problems. And2019counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)9In June, the company celebrated its third anniversary.

Globalization and climate change are advancing, and no region of the world can be considered a stranger to the world. In addition, technology continues to advance, and information is becoming more readily available. In such a world, what should the news media communicate from among the vast amount of information and how should they do it? What kind of information will help people understand the world? Here, we would like to reexamine what we are aware of and what we value, and how we can communicate them to the public.GNVThis article will tell you how this is reflected in the policies and structure of the

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Awareness of GNV Issues

There are three main issues that GNV sees as problematic.1The second is the lack of international coverage. In terms of figures, about10% (of the total)Only a small percentage of the world is reported. This percentage of sports coverageless than halfBut there is.

Second, the international press has only a fragmented view of the world. See the map below. By country, the United States, China, and North Korea are the most common.3All international coverage in one country alone.nearly halfIn some cases, the number of articles on a large continent, such as Africa or Latin America, may account for as much as 100 percent of all international coverage. In comparison, articles on large continents such as Africa and Latin America3.3% and2%The number of poor countries is extremely low, with only

Distribution of international coverage among the three major newspapers(2017)

globalizationWith the advancement of the global economy, Japan is both affected and influenced by the world, not only in terms of trade and security, but also in terms of climate change, poverty, human migration, pollution, garbage, infectious diseases, and other issues that affect the entire planet. Japan is both affected by and influenced by the rest of the world, and it is now even being questioned to what extent it is appropriate to view the world on a country-by-country basis. Nevertheless, the Japanese media focuses on only certain parts of the world and turns a blind eye to many other issues, phenomena, and events.

The third is breaking news, or news reports that only disseminate breaking news and events (breaking newsThe point is that there are a lot of news stories that are not well written (e.g., "The news is not good news. These news stories do not provide much background or context to the events. Mere events and facts alone make it difficult for readers to grasp the current situation and its significance. Under such conditions, people will not fully understand what is happening in the world and will not develop an interest in it.

thereforeGNVis working to point out areas not captured by the international press and to disseminate information that will help people gain a deeper understanding of world issues and phenomena. I would like to explain what is important to us in this regard.

What we value

 First, in analyzing international news coverage, we will look at bias and trends at various levels. We will also analyze which regions and countries are covered more frequently and from what angles, as well as what topics are covered more frequently. In addition, the number of words in the articles and the length of time the news has been covered will also be analyzed to determine trends in coverage. We will then point out ways in which the coverage can be improved.newspaperBesides,TVand ... andonline mediaIt also covers a wide range of media outlets, including

Media in various media (Photo: Gregor Fischer/Flickr[)CC BY-ND 2.0] )

However, simply pointing out problems in the current international press still does not deepen people's understanding or foster interest. Therefore, it is necessary to actuallyGNVis replacing the traditional news media to report on issues and phenomena in the world that have not received the attention they deserve. What is particularly important at that time is a large3There are two.

The first is comprehensiveness. Since the entire world has become so closely connected, it would be impossible to accurately understand the world's problems and phenomena without a complete picture. In addition to regional comprehensiveness, we also emphasize comprehensiveness in terms of issues, phenomena, and fields. We strive to address global issues occurring beyond the borders of national borders in as balanced a manner as possible.

The second is objectivity. Rather than conveying issues from the perspective of a specific country or position, we aim to provide articles that are as multifaceted as possible. However, communicating objectively is only an ideal and practically impossible. Inevitably, we have to take some position. Therefore.GNVWhen the "Mere Old Man" is not objective, he takes the side of the weak, those who are far from the concentrations of power and wealth. Since those on the weak side, the impoverished, are also the majority of the world's population, this is considered an unavoidable "bias" in the watchdog role of giving voice to the voiceless.

The third important thing is to take a long-term perspective and write explanatory articles. Above.GNV'sAs mentioned in the Problem Awareness section, many articles do not provide sufficient background explanation of events, partly because news reports are limited in terms of the number of words and time available.GNVaims to enable readers to delve into and understand each of the many world issues and phenomena, rather than consuming them as mere news articles. To this end, we analyze world issues and phenomena in depth and try to disseminate information in a way that is easy for readers to understand and does not sacrifice the complexity of the background and context behind the information as much as possible.

Typhoon (Photo: Photobank gallery/Shutterstock)

So let's now move on to the next step, which is to determine whether they areGNVI would like to explain how this is reflected in the composition of the

Specific decisions

 First, the News View is responsible for the analysis of international news coverage (seeNews View:NVThis is an article of the kind called ThisNVis the media's watchdog story. And it is the global view that actually communicates about world issues, phenomena, and events (Global View:golden variableIt's the kind of article called.GNVevery week1The two commentary articles are being sent out, but are currentlyNV,GV,GVThe articles are published in rotation as follows.golden variableis more because we want to emphasize the constructive aspect of actually communicating the unreported world on behalf of the media, rather than the critical aspect of pointing out what the media is failing to capture.

Now I would like to explain the specific decisions we actually make in writing articles.

First, let's look at inclusiveness.NVThe "International Reporting" section attempts to strike a balance between a macro perspective, which analyzes trends in international reporting in general, and a micro perspective, which analyzes specific places and time periods. Also,golden variableTo avoid bias toward a particular region or country in theGNVis divided into six groups that divide the world into regions for convenience (East, South, and Central Asia; Southeast Asia and the Pacific; the Middle East and North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Europe; and the Americas), along with a group that focuses on issues and phenomena common to the world as a whole (Global Issues).7The two groups are divided into three groups, which in turn send out articles.

At this time,GNVThe "Japan Times" aims to be inclusive of the world as a whole in its international reporting by filling in the missing pieces that are not covered by the media, so it does not write articles focusing on countries or regions that are widely reported by the media, such as the United States, China, the Korean Peninsula, and Western Europe. In addition, we are conscious when selecting the themes of our articles so that no region is left out of each group. In addition, as far as possible, I try to write articles on a variety of topics, including society, the economy, security, and the environment, and to maintain a good overall balance.

Global View page

Next is objectivity.NVWhat we focus on in the following section is the importance of the issue or event and the actual reporting trends.GNVbelieves that not only the relationship with one's own country, but also the scale of the problem or phenomenon itself should be reflected in the amount and trend of news coverage. Therefore, we point out the existence of problems and phenomena that are not reported despite their large scale. Alsogolden variableIn this report, I will not write from the perspective of Japan, so that the entire picture of the issues and phenomena can be understood as fully as possible. This is because when writing from Japan's perspective, the current situation is viewed from the biased viewpoint of Japan's involvement, and objectivity is lost. For this reason, we do not pay attention to the impact of what we write about on Japan.

Also,GNVreceives no advertising revenue or government funding. Therefore, they do not write with corporate or government opinions in mind. And since we do not sell news as a commodity, we do not write articles in order to gain views. In this way, they maintain the objectivity of their articles.

Next, about writing commentary articles from a long-term perspective.NVThen, sometimes 30In some cases, trends in news coverage over the years are analyzed. Also,golden variableAt the "News Letter" section, we try to write what we call "slow news". Slow news is news that is not aimed at breaking news, but rather deeply analyzes an issue or phenomenon and explains it in a way that is easy for readers to understand. Instead of news reports that are often breaking news, we want to play an archival role that can be read over time. We will write articles that are as connected to the latest events as possible, but we will also aim to provide a comprehensive view of the current situation by explaining the history and context leading up to the issue or event in order to explore the background of the issue or event in depth.

In writing explanatory articles, we also do not neglect careful explanations in order to create articles that readers can understand. The reality of any issue, phenomenon, or event in the world is complex. The more we simplify them as news articles, the more difficult it becomes to understand the current situation. Therefore, while the text may be relatively long in some articles, we strive to make it easy to understand, while at the same time explaining the complex current situation, background, and context without sacrificing any of it.

Future tasks and goals

Above,GNVhas sought to help people gain a comprehensive understanding of world issues, phenomena, and events, while striving to play the watchdog's watchdog role of analyzing international news coverage in Japan and then pointing out problem areas. To this end, we have placed importance on disseminating objective and reader-friendly articles in a commentary format. The challenge for the future is to increase the format of our dialogue with the media. We would like to discuss and cooperate with them on how we can actually improve international reporting, rather than just sending out one-sided messages.

International reporting in the future will be subject to cost reductions in financially strained news organizations, which will further run counter to the accelerating pace of globalization.decreaseThe market is expected to be biased in the future. However, even so,GNVbelieves that there is value in viewing the world objectively, and has emphasized this. We will continue to monitor the international press and disseminate information to people about the world that is not being reported and to promote understanding.

Interview (Photo: wellphoto/Shutterstock)

Writer: Maika Kajigaya

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