Position Paper #3 | Authoritarian Media

Authoritarian Media In Japan

In the United States of America, journalists, news commentators, and influencers alike take their 1st amendment for granted. Every day they can publish their perspectives and views on various issues with the most repercussions being backlash from the public. Their family and livelihood are never at stake. Around the globe, there are so many countries that restrict people’s freedom of speech.

Authoritarianism can occur in any type of government and does not have to be reduced to the obvious types like military dictatorship or totalitarianism. For example in India, a democracy, four journalists were murdered for their work in 2021. Despite the government not having any restrictions on the press, they were killed in retaliation for the issues they spoke out against. In an authoritarian-run country personal freedom is repressed and strict authority enforces obedience. This limits what kind of media is released in that country and controls how other countries perceive them. 

In countries that implement authoritarian practices in their government, all forms of communication are under the control of the governing elite. They use this form of repression to regulate what the citizens are learning when concerning political or personal issues. In an authoritarian country, the government has the right to restrict things from the press to “maintain national security.” Censorship is a form of suppression and has been a relevant topic for the past few years thanks to Donald Trump and Kanye West. 

The Government of Japan runs under frameworks established in 1947, the Constitution of Japan. It is described as a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Prior to this paper, I had no idea what that description meant so to break it down Japan runs similarly to Great Britain or Canada. Three branches make up the Japanese government, legislative (the Diet), executive (the cabinet), and judicial (the courts). The people do not elect a president directly, but rather the Diet members elect a prime minister among themselves. The prime minister leads the cabinet. The people elect the Diet and then within themselves they create those branches. Japan has an Emperor, but their role is limited to ceremonial duties.

Japan’s government doesn’t openly restrict media like we see today in countries like China and Qatar. Instead, the Japanese government is trying to prevent large media outlets from running the entire scape. Media ownership is primarily run by five major conglomerates. These five mass media outlets are Yomiuri, Asahi, Mainichi, Nikkei, and Sankei. They own a majority of the major newspaper and broadcasting enterprises in Japan. The regulations in each state concerning the investment of newspaper enterprises in television stations are not supposed to exceed 10% of the station’s share. To get around this “sister companies” invest their max 10% and as result end up owning an average that surpasses 50% of its affiliated TV station. These large newspapers provide local stations with more than 80% of their content. This means these five outlets are controlling most of the media the citizens in Japan are consuming. 

This becomes a larger issue when elite power groups invest in these conglomerates. Money truly does provide power in these instances. If one person owns a majority of the stock of one of these enterprises then the people at the companies are going to do whatever they can to keep that investor. On top of that, the Japanese media professionals that make up a majority of the higher-ups at these said companies are members of the academic elite in Japan. Almost all of the recruits are from the top prestigious universities. Japan has one of the most competitive education systems, resulting in academic status becoming a distinction when trying to maintain a position of success following school. 

On October 6th of 2021, an unnamed reporter was found dead outside of their condominium after having fallen from a considerable height. Two days prior the reporter tweeted comments insinuating he had been pressured to write a previous article to please “someone in a position of power.” He also mentioned that if he had to write these kinds of articles the person asking him should “persuade or deceive me more skillfully.” The reporter worked for the Asahi Shimbun, one of the previously mentioned conglomerates that own a large fraction of media outlets in Japan. Come to find out, the editor of the reporter, Tomoji Watanabe, had been transferred to remote offices. Asahi sources revealed that Watanabe always looked for angles that benefited advertisers or his personal contacts. One of his personal contacts was a government official that the reporter was assigned to write about. 

Another source said that Watanabe scolded the reporter in front of other employees because the article provided a negative view of one of Panasonic’s conferences. Panasonic is one of Asahi’s largest sources of ad revenue. The police found no evidence of foul play and declared the death a suicide. The requests Watanabe made were more than just journalism. It is speculated that his section of the company was a part of a scheme to reverse the company’s failing financial debacle. Personally, I don’t think anyone is at fault, but I do want to point out that people in power will always have an agenda. Sadly, it took a death to shed light on the fact that journalists were being influenced by the elite to write articles that were a part of a bigger scheme.

To summarize, authoritarian media extends past just a government undoubtedly controlling what media is allowed through restriction of television, newspapers, and the internet. Authoritarianism is much more complex than its surface value and will always be an issue as long as rich people remain in power. Through time press outlets have gained some of that control back by exercising their power to reveal damaging facts about the government elite. In some cases, the media can make or break the career of a member of any political office. Japan today has come a long way from its Imperial Japan past and openly tries to stay transparent with not only its citizens but also other governments around the world. Despite their best efforts, authoritarianism is still an issue in the lives of people who work in the media.