The United States has a tremendous influence on the world in politics, economics, diplomacy, military affairs, and culture, and its influence on Japan is particularly strong...strongThe U.S. is the world's leading source of information on the world's most important issues. It is clear that this U.S. influence in all areas is related to the amount of media coverage in Japan. The U.S. is always at the center of international coverage by the Japanese media, and every event is the subject of coverage. Furthermore, one gets the impression that the U.S. tends to influence not only coverage of the U.S., but also coverage of other countries in Japan, and that countries and international issues of importance in the U.S. tend to be influenced by the U.S. and are also considered important in Japanese news coverage. In other words, even the way the world is viewed in international reporting may be influenced by the US. In this article, we will explore the relationship between the U.S. and Japanese international reporting in more detail, using data from the international pages of the New York Times as well as international reporting in Japan.

2015 Secretary of State John Kerry shaking hands with then Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (photo:U.S. Department of State / (Flickr [United States Government work])

Japanese Media Concentrating on the U.S.

Interest in the United States in the Japanese media is very strong and distinctive. The extent to which international coverage is focused on the U.S. has beenGNVThe survey reveals that the

 GNVschool (e.g. of ikebana)2015Since 2006, we have studied the amount of international coverage by country in various media outlets and have found that almostException(*1) The U.S. is the most reported country in Japan by an overwhelming margin. For example,2017In 2006, the Asahi, Mainichi, and Yomiuri Shimbun3In a survey of international news coverage by region and country conducted by the U.S. News & World Reporting Agency, the amount of coverage of one country, the U.S., was the highest of all.28.1% (%)The number of people who had been living in the area was also accounted for by the Also,2021In the yearNHKThe U.S. was the only country in the world to win the overall28.2%The amount of press coverage of the event was accounted for by the amount of press coverage of the event.

In addition, the company does not do its own reporting, but provides a compilation of reports from traditional media outlets, such as Line News (LINE NEWS), but the amount of media coverage on the US is extremely high. morning, noon and evening.8The Line News Digest, which provides news selected by the editorial staff one at a time.LINE NEWS DIGESTIn.2017counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)5from month to month12Month of8of the total international coverage during the three months of the year was on the U.S.28%.The news reported through these apps also shows a high level of interest in the United States. The news conveyed through these apps also shows a high level of interest in the United States.

From the above, it can be said that the Japanese media, regardless of its form, has a very large share of coverage on the U.S. when looking at its international coverage as a whole, and that its interest is concentrated on the U.S.

Japanese students playing election games at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo (Photo:U.S. Department of State / Flickr [United States Government work] )

To cite a specific example, only the amount of coverage in the U.S. is outstanding with regard to elections.GNV(at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusionsurveyThen,2017counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)5From the latest election results finalized through June.6In the amount of press coverage up to a month ago1Rank.2016The U.S. presidential election in 2006 and the2Rank.2017In the French presidential election in 2006,4The difference in the amount of media coverage is more than twice as great. There is also a large difference in the length of time during which election coverage is active, with coverage of the U.S. presidential election being approximately2While the elections in other countries become more active a year in advance, the date of the elections in other countries1There is very little coverage going back to a month ago.

Actually, let's check it out,2022counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)12The midterm elections held in the U.S. in May were not a presidential election, but an election for public offices such as Congress, yet the Mainichi Shimbun reported that the election was held in the U.S.1from a year and a half ago.2021Year.6There are articles from the month of May,2022In 2006, only articles containing the words "U.S. midterm elections" in the international pages54The number of cases (*2) is found. Also,2024counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)11Regarding the presidential election to be held in June, the Mainichi Shimbun reported2022counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)7In May, an article about Donald Trump's desire to run for president (2022counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)7month28(Sun. "Former U.S. President Trump: Trump enters capital city, first time since leaving office, eager to run for U.S. president") was found, and the election was conducted.2that was a year ago2022counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)11Since April, many articles on the international pages have used the headline "U.S. Presidential Election,2023counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)8By the end of the month.67The number of articles can be found (*3).

Japan has very strong political and economic ties with the United States. In terms of security, Japan is under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and maintains a close relationship with the U.S., mainly through the Japan-U.S. Alliance and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. On the economic front, trade and investment are thriving, with Japanese companies' cumulative direct investment in the U.S.ordinal1placeThe results of the U.S. presidential election will certainly have an impact on Japan. While the outcome of the U.S. presidential election will certainly affect Japan, the conduct of the election2One can wonder whether there is any significance in taking up such a large issue when two years ago it was unknown who would be president. In addition, there are approximately200Considering that there are as many as 20 countries and regions in the world, and that many other countries have close ties to Japan, there is room to reconsider the share of the U.S. in international reporting as a whole. When media interests are biased, the interests of readers, who can only learn about world events through the media, are also biased, and coverage becomes increasingly concentrated in regions of interest.

The World Through an American Lens

Not only does the Japanese media have a strong interest in the U.S. and report more on the U.S., but they also often report on other countries in the world from the U.S. perspective.

Events in which the US is directly involved bring attention to countries that normally receive little media coverage. For example,GNV(at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusionsurveyThen,2015Japan's major newspapers in 20063In the paper, Cuba alone accounted for about half of the Latin American coverage, with63%The United States appeared in an article in Cuba does not usually receive much attention in international reporting in Japan, but this may be because the Japanese media showed interest in the change in relations with the U.S., which has improved relations between Cuba and the U.S.

We also see situations where the Japanese media report the U.S. government's point of view as it is. For example, when Taliban forces in Afghanistan2021This section looks at the U.S. response to the return of power in 2006. In response to the regime change, the U.S. froze the assets of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, which were stored in U.S. banks, and half of them were to be returned without involving the Taliban, and government officials proudly called this "humanitarian assistance" at a press conference.announcementThe company decided to keep the other half of the assets. However, the remaining half of the assets were to be kept in custody and "scheme to seizeThis can be seen as a "one-size-fits-all" situation. In any case, since this money belongs to Afghanistan, it is clearly not support by the U.S., but the Japanese media emphasize the U.S. government's point of view of support for Afghanistan and focus on the negative aspects of thereportThe Japanese media has not done so. Thus, it can be seen that the Japanese media sometimes simply follow the viewpoints and arguments of the U.S. government and the U.S. media.

Japanese media interviewing Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Prime Minister's Office (photo:U.S. Department of State / Flickr [United States Government work])

 In addition to this,2018A Saudi journalist was murdered in the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey in 2006.incidentexists. This journalist is2017He defected to the U.S. in 2006 and has written column articles for the Washington Post and other newspapers, and due to his proximity to the American press, his work has been widely covered in the U.S. and Japan. The amount of coverage in Japan increased after then-President Trump spoke out about the incident, and the subsequent15days before the incident occurred.1Equivalent to the amount of press coverage on Saudi Arabia per year.3With a text volume of 10,000 charactersreportThe two countries were. The high level of interest in this incident as it relates to the U.S. and the low level of interest in Saudi Arabia on a day-to-day basis is evident. There were several reports questioning the U.S. government's response to the incident, but almost no mention was made of anything related to Japan, and Japan's dependence on Saudi Arabia for oil was not questioned.There wasn't.The U.S. is the only country in the world with which Japan has a significant relationship. Thus, even in reporting from the U.S. perspective, and even in reporting on regions with important relations with Japan, the U.S. may report more on relations with the U.S. than on relations with Japan.

And there are also articles that look at events that the U.S. is not directly involved in, but see those events through the U.S. For example,2023One example is the media coverage of the Sudan conflict in 2006. The Yomiuri Shimbun (May 6, 2023, "Sudan Fighting 'May Prolong'") carried the view of the US Director of National Intelligence that the conflict in Sudan may be prolonged. This article reported on Sudan not from the Sudanese site or from its African bureau, but from Washington, USA. In another example, the Asahi Shimbun (May 17, 2023, "One Month of Fighting in Sudan, Destroying Lives, 200,000 Refugees to Neighboring Countries,") reported on the US response from Washington.

The obsession with the U.S. seen in the Japanese media is not only due to the volume of coverage about the U.S., but also to the close relationship with the U.S. media. The Japanese media frequently cite U.S. intelligence agencies and use them as sources of information. For example,2023counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)8Month of1In the past three months, the Asahi Shimbun has been the only Japanese media outlet to cite the U.S. media in its international reporting.27Article, in the Mainichi Newspaper45Article, in the Yomiuri Shimbun112Articles exist (*4).

Influence from the U.S.

We have looked at many examples so far, but can we see an overall trend in the influence of the U.S. on Japan's international reporting?GNVhas done in the past.surveyNow, let's look at the New York Times and the major Japanese newspapers3Taking the paper relationship as an example, the regions they cover were all ranked in the same order in terms of the amount of coverage by continent. In particular, there is a view that the less interest the Japanese media has in a region, the more the topics covered by the Japanese media become similar to those covered by the American media. However, this study is not a conclusive validation, and further research is needed to confirm that Japan's international coverage is influenced by the US.

New York Times Headquarters (Photo:Adam Kinney / Flickr [CC BY 2.0])

Various factors affect international reporting by the Japanese media. For example, until nowGNVThe relationship between the amount of media coverage and various factors conducted by thesurveyThen, the poverty rate, population, and gross domestic product (GDP) (GDP), the volume of trade with Japan, and the data on the distance from Tokyo to each capital city were statistically analyzed in relation to the amount of media coverage. The results of the statistical analysis showed that the poverty rate, distance between capitals, and population3The first two were confirmed to have an impact on the volume of news coverage, but the volume of trade between each country and Japan and each country'sGDPNo statistically predominant relationship with the volume of news coverage was found for In other words, in the world as a whole, economic ties with Japan do not affect the volume of news coverage. The Japanese media certainly has a strong presence in international reporting, including the U.S.G7countries and a limited number of countries with close ties to Japan, such as China, South Korea, North Korea, and Russia, but does not seem to place much importance on other countries with which it has strong economic ties.

In this survey, we will explore the impact of the U.S. media's international coverage on the Japanese media's international coverage. The New York Times, a major American media outlet2019Based on the number of articles about each country on the international front in 2006, we will see how much the amount of coverage in the U.S. has affected the amount of coverage in the Japanese media. Before2019Japan's major newspapers in 20063Targeted for paperGNVTo compare with the survey of2019The data from 2006 will be used. This survey confirmed a correlation between the amount of coverage of each country by The New York Times and the amount of international coverage in Japanese newspapers (*5). In other words, we found that the Japanese media's view of the world is influenced by the American media's view. It can be said that the interest of the U.S. media influences the interest of the Japanese media and its international coverage.

A large number of containers (Photo:NOAA's National Ocean Service / Flickr [Public Domain Mark 1.0])

In the background of countries cozying up to the U.S.

As we have seen, Japan's international reporting is influenced by U.S. international reporting and U.S. relations with the rest of the world, resulting in a bias in Japan's relations with the rest of the world. It is also difficult for Japan's international reporting to reflect a unique Japanese perspective based on the relationship between Japan and other countries. The first reason for this is that the U.S. has a great deal of influence in the world, and the Japanese media is beholden to that "power" and reflects the U.S. viewpoint. In addition, the Japanese government has been heavily influenced by the U.S. in politics, economics, security, and other areas.affectThe Japanese media, which is considered to be the most important source of information in the world, is likely to be further affected by this trend. The press tends to be passive, waiting to be given information by domestic and foreign "elites" rather than proactively obtaining information.pointing outThe first time I saw a new company, I was surprised at how much I had to pay.

 The next factor is whether the coverage network is well organized. The bias in the coverage network can be seen in the number of news organizations' branches. For example, the Asahi Shimbun has a total of5The branch offices are located in21Of the three, the U.S. has a total of1The branch offices are located in3As there are two places,web for collecting newspapers, etc.are in place. On the other hand, there are few bureaus in Africa and Latin America, and it is thought that their independent reporting capabilities will be weaker and they will rely more on the information-gathering capabilities of the United States.

summary

As we have seen, it has been confirmed through statistical analysis that the U.S. has an influence on the international coverage of the Japanese media. Considering the magnitude of the U.S. influence on the world, it may be inevitable that the amount of U.S. coverage will increase. However, should the Japanese media be more influenced by the US than by the relationship between Japan and other countries?

note 12022Major Japanese newspapers in the first half of the year3By country, Ukraine received the most coverage in the international press.16.9%But, if Russia is15.7%and the U.S.14.5%The number of respondents exceeded the number of

2 Mainichi Shimbun Databaseevery planUse of the

3 In every measure, the key word is U.S. presidential election, and the period is2022counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)11month1from the day of2023counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)8month31The date is the end of March. The coverage will be on the international pages of the Tokyo morning and evening newspapers.

*42023counter for years (following a number in the hito-futa-mi counting system)8The number of times the Japanese media surrounds the U.S. media in international coverage during the month of March. The search criteria are: national edition, morning and evening editions, international coverage only, and the keyword is "AP.communication OR Washington Post. OR The New York Times. OR U.S. News & World Report OR American newspaper OR U.S. Media"

The results of the regression analysis are as follows.

Robust standard errors in parentheses

*** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1

The P value is one of the criteria for determining the significance of statistical results and should be used with caution because it is not a general rule, but the smaller the value, the more likely there is a relationship.

Writer: Junpei Nishikawa

Data Analysis: Dilou Prospere

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