GNVhas analyzed international news coverage, particularly that of major newspapers, and found that the ratio of international coverage is low among all news reports and that there is a bias in the countries and regions covered in international news coverage.pointing outThe media, however, is not limited to print. But the media is not only print. Television, which conveys news through images, is another important media that delivers information to us. In this study, we analyzed international news coverage on TV news. The survey covered the following weekdays21from time to time1It is broadcast on the hour,NHKNews Watch, a news program of9". This time,2021Year (*)1) were analyzed for the percentage of international coverage in the broadcasts, the countries and regions covered, and the genres.NHKIn this issue, we would like to explore how the "Mere Old Man" sees the world.

NHK Broadcasting Center (Photo:Kakidai (brand-name breath mint marketed as having various medicinal properties) / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0])

Percentage of international coverage

First, we will look at the percentage of international coverage in the overall news (see2)The The survey results show that international coverage is the overall11.9%The results of the study showed that it wasPast SurveysNow, let's take a look at the major newspaper3The percentage of international coverage in the company's10%Since it was aroundNHKof Newswatch 9 devoted to international reporting tends to be generally the same.

On the other hand, there were differences in the way they were covered. Newspapers have an international section, so a certain amount of daily paper space is always devoted to international coverage. In the case of Newswatch 9, however, the time for international coverage varied depending on the day of broadcast.1Of the hour's airtime20Some days there would be a full minute of international coverage, while other days there would be none at all. Some days it was the top news item at the beginning of the program, while other days it was carried over to the latter half of the program, so there was no fixed slot in the program.

Next, we would like to compare international and sports coverage. The amount of time devoted to sports coverage is about18.8%The number was International press coverage of approx.1.5This means that twice as much time was spent on sports coverage. International and sports coverage differed in the way they were covered in the program. Sports coverage was the second half of the program.10The broadcast slot was fixed at about 2 minutes. When a Japanese athlete performed well outside of Japan, he or she was sometimes featured in the top news story, but even in such cases, the10The minute-long broadcast slot was still available. In this respect, it can be said that the way the two are treated in the news differs.

International coverage by region

The next section looks at the percentage of international coverage by region. As shown in the chart below, the share of each region in total international coverage is Asia45.5%North America30.4%Europe14.3%Africa1.0%Oceania0.9%Central and South America0.03%The result was that Asia and North America accounted for a very large proportion of the total,2The sum of the two alone is the entire80The results accounted for a large percentage of the total. The overall trend is,Newspaper reportsIt could be said to be the same as

Notable, on the other hand, is the lack of coverage of Africa, Latin America, and Oceania.Past SurveysAccording to the "Mere Old Man," out of the total international coverage in newspapers, the coverage on Africa3.4Percentage, Latin America is2.1Percentage, Oceania is0.9The percentage was a small percentage. While even this value is a small enough percentage, it is even more pronounced in the case of television. Especially in Latin America,1During the year, Mexico1degree (angle, temperature, scale, etc.)30It was only featured for a second or so (*3) There was not a single report on South America. As for Africa, there were no reports on Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or Sudan.3Each country has its own2degrees each, while South Africa1The total airtime for these programs was1In a year, about18The time was only 2.5 minutes.

This disparity in local coverage is mainly due to the3Two reasons are possible.1One is that the TV1It means that there is a limit to the amount of news that can be reported at one time. There is a limit to how much a newspaper can report at one time.1The amount of information that can be included in the daily paper and the TV news1In terms of the amount of information that can be conveyed in a given amount of time, the latter is far less. Because of the limited amount of information that can be conveyed, the selection of information becomes more pronounced, and regions that are not usually considered important are more likely to be omitted. As a result of the selection of information, only news from Asia and North America are reported, and news from low-income countries tend to be less likely to be covered,Newspaper reportsIt is even more pronounced than2The second is television's characteristics as a visual medium. Print newspapers can report world news by citing news agencies and reports from other countries' media without necessarily having to travel to the actual location of the news. On the other hand, since television is primarily a visual media, quotations from other countries' media are more limited than those in print when covering world news. Third, there is a bias in the number of bureaus.NHKis the world31There are branch offices in the cities of the United States, but they are particularly concentrated in Asia. In Africa, on the other hand, Cairo, Egypt and Johannesburg, South Africa2In Central and South America, there is a place in Sao Paulo, Brazil.1There are only two branch offices. The small number of branch offices around low-income countries,NHKThis is probably an indication that the "Mere Old Man" does not place much importance on those countries and regions. As for newspapers, the small number of bureaus in Africa and Latin America is also noticeable, but in the case of television, the cost of travel is even higher due to the transportation of equipment and other factors. Against this background, the disparity in TV coverage by region is even greater.

Amount of media coverage by country

While the above results show the percentage of international coverage by region, we would like to take a closer look at the breakdown. As shown in the chart below, the most frequently covered areas in the international press were10countries and their percentages are as follows: the U.S.28.2Percentage, China.11.7%, Myanmar is the7.5Percentage, Afghanistan is6.0Percentage, the United Kingdom.4.2Percentage, North Korea.3.0Percentage, South Korea.2.9Percentage, Israel.2.6Percentage, Russia.2.4Percentage, Germany.1.7percent. Even if you add up all the coverage of African and Latin American nations, which have less coverage,10There was such a divergence in the amount of coverage that it did not rank in the top three.International Newspaper CoverageThe trend remained the same, with the U.S. and China being prominent compared to the U.S. and China. The high volume of news coverage in the U.S. was particularly noticeable, accounting for about3percent to the U.S.1The countries are accounted for alone. In addition, Japan is also accounted for as a relevant country in international reporting for news related to Japan-U.S. relations and Japan-China relations. If this were also included in the ranking, Japan would account for only3.6percent, ranking second only to the United Kingdom.

The reason for such a large volume of U.S. news coverage is probably due to the fact that, like newspapers, the U.S. has strong political and economic ties with Japan and that the U.S. is the world's largest military and economic power. Because developments in the U.S. government and society have a major impact on Japan, the volume of coverage inevitably increases as well. In addition2021Only for the year,1month21The new presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on April 1 and the resulting focus on U.S. politics were also the reasons for this.1It can be said to be one of the most important.

Turning to other Asian countries, we see that, like newspapers, China, South Korea, and North Korea3Countries were particularly heavily featured. This3The large number of countries can be assumed to be due to the fact that they are Japan's neighbors and have strong political, economic, and cultural ties with Japan. China, in particular, was often mentioned in the context of political conflict with the U.S., and North Korea tended to receive a prominent increase in media coverage when it conducted missile tests and other activities.

On the other hand, Myanmar and Afghanistan were the two Asian countries that received exceptionally large amounts of media coverage. These2The amount of press coverage of the countries is,2021The background is that there was a major political upheaval in 2006. Myanmar was2021counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)2A coup d'état in June led to the establishment of a military junta. Afghanistan was2021With the withdrawal of U.S. troops in August 2006, the Taliban regime was restored to power, attracting attention from around the world. News Watch 9 also devoted much of its time to broadcasting the daily protests of citizens against the regime. On the other hand, the amount of coverage in Southeast Asia outside of Myanmar wasnewspaperThe number was very low as well. Southeast Asia is physically close and has strong economic ties with Japan. However, countries other than Myanmar received only a small percentage of the total media coverage1.7There was only a %.

Other countries that featured prominently were the United Kingdom, Israel, Russia, and Germany. The United Kingdom and Germany appeared in many healthcare-related news stories because of their early start of vaccination against the new coronavirus. Israel was also often mentioned because it was ahead of other countries in vaccination, but in addition2021counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)4The conflict with Palestine also flared up from May to May,Newspaper reportsIt was given as much attention as the As for Russia, it is often discussed in the context of political conflict with the United States and2021counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)12In May, a military drill near the border with Ukraine wasinformation volumeincreased.

Protests in Myanmar in 2021 (Photo:MgHla (aka) Htin Linn Aye/ Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0])

News that was not reported

So far, Newswatch9We have looked at countries and regions that were covered extensively in the However, important world events are also taking place in countries that have not been covered.GNVis "2021The 10 biggest news in the world lurking in 2012and not reported much by Japanese newspapers.10The report covered the significant news of the Among them, Newswatch9was taken up by the Corona disaster and the gap between the world's rich and poor.enlargementThe news was related to the fact that the The economic disparities widening due to the Corona disaster were addressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in relation to the 8 minutes of news.1It was reported only once. However, other9Two news items were not covered by Newswatch 9. The following is a list of them3I would like to take the two as examples.

1Second, for the first time in the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended a malaria vaccine. In the health care sector,2020Since the year 2000,new strains of coronavirushas been extremely widely discussed, malaria has claimed the lives of many people every year.Number of infected personsschool (e.g. of ikebana)2019Year.1Annual,2hundred million2,900The number of fatalities is as high as 10,000, and the annual number of deaths is40ten thousand9,000A person, the67%.5It is a dreaded disease of children under the age of 18. The development of a vaccine for it, on the other hand, is30It has been worked on for years, and it is2021It was to bear fruit in 2006. However, this news was never mentioned on News Watch 9.

2The second is the release of the Pandora document.Pandora's boxHa,35It exposes the tax haven-based financial transactions of prominent individuals, including politicians and millionaires from around the world, including two current or past heads of state. The document, which exposes tax avoidance as a growing social inequality, shocked the world. However, there was no broadcast on Newswatch 9 that covered this.

The last one is about the legal recognition of abortion in some Latin American countries. In some countries in the Latin American region, abortion is not allowed even for women who have unwanted pregnancies.question (e.g. on a test)It had become It was2020From the second half of the year2021Over the course of the year, it became recognized in countries such as Argentina and Mexico. This news, which is also related to the advancement of women's status and rights, was not mentioned at all on Newswatch 9.

As mentioned above, despite the fact that this is very big news worldwide, Newswatch9Some of the news was not reported in Most of the news given here were in low-income countries. As mentioned above, the Japanese media basically focused on high-income countries, including the U.S., China, and European countries,GNVhas beenpointing outI've been doing it. News Watch for this issue9The same trend is evident in the analysis of the

International Reporting by Genre

While we have focused on trends in coverage by country and region, we would now like to look at the percentage of international coverage by genre within the overall news cycle. As shown in the figure below, the genres that account for the largest share of international coverage by genre are politics, with nearly half of the48.7percent, and the others are health care is21.1Percentage, Society/Life.8.1Percentage, the military is3.7Percentage, the economy is3.6Percentage, Environment/Pollution.3.3The result was a "%". 

The most frequent topic was politics, with security and related talks and summits often discussed in relation to neighboring countries and the U.S. China was discussed in relation to its rivalry with the U.S., and South Korea was discussed in relation to its history with Japan. China's confrontational relationship with the U.S. was the most frequently discussed topic, while South Korea's historical awareness with Japan and other topics dominated the discussion.

The second most common field was healthcare, mostly related to novel coronaviruses. In particular, there were many reports on the vaccination status of various countries, with the spotlight on Europe, the U.S., and Israel, which were the first countries to vaccinate their citizens. Other demonstrations/Riots and wars/The conflict field was dominated by news about Afghanistan and Myanmar, followed by coverage of Israel/Palestine. Environment/With regard to pollution, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ((COP)The issue was covered somewhat before and after international summits such as the "World Summit of the Americas," but not often in peacetime.

These are the newswatches9This is an analysis of the genres of international news coverage discussed in the following section. There was a marked difference in the amount of coverage in the political and healthcare fields and the rest of the world. As mentioned in the previous chapter, there were many events in other areas, such as the movement to legalize abortion in South America and the Pandora document, that were barely mentioned.

summary 

This is all through the analysis of the Newswatch 9 report so far,NHKWe have looked at the international news coverage of the media in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The ratio of international news coverage to total news coverage on television tends to be similar to that of newspapers, while the ubiquity of countries, regions, and topics covered is more pronounced on television.

How well do viewers really grasp the current state of the world under such international reporting?

1 2021counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)1month4Day ~2021counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)12month24The broadcasts were made up to the day of the event. In addition,7month23Day ~8month5The second day was not broadcast due to a special program for the Tokyo Olympics, so it was not broadcast on the same day.NHKNews" of the7The "Broadcasting" broadcasts were included in the study.

2 GNVFor the definition of international press coverage of the "GNV Data Analysis MethodsSee "The

3 GNVschool (e.g. of ikebana)United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)criteria, and in accordance with those criteria, Mexico is treated as Central America.

Writer: Takumi Kuriyama

Graphics: Takumi Kuriyama