Media Comparison in Japan and USA (Research Paper Sample)

Media Comparison: Japan vs. United States Student's Name Affiliation Course Date Introduction Japan is one of the leading industrialized countries in the world today. Its communication media consists of numerous television stations, radio networks as well as newspapers and magazines. However, when compared with other media of industrialized countries, startling differences can be noticed. One such example is the United States of America. At first glance the condition of the Japan media goes parallel to that of U.S but a closer examination proves otherwise. As witnessed in other industrialized countries, the media in japan are undergoing rapid changes, especially with regard to the rise in multi-media technologies and introduction of digital services (Kreiner 2004). This paper provides a detailed comparison of some selected aspects of the media of Japan and the United States of America. These media aspects include: the Media control (freedom of press), medial scale, media content, media system and broadcasting. Media control /regulation Press freedom is considered one of the most fundamental rights of the media society in the present day. While such freedom implies the absence of government interference in the media, it relies heavily on the legal structure and constitution of a given country (Kamalipour 2000). Both Japan and U.S have different constitutions and legal systems, hence the media control varies. However, some similarities occur. For instance, media activity in both nations is controlled by laws on the press, broadcasting, advertising and access to information. Both media exercise a considerable similarity in terms of control. Others include, wider coverage, freedom of broadcasting and limited investigative journalism. The level of freedom of press in Japan is however limited as compared to that of the U.S. The Japanese government does not consider the freedom of the press as a fundamental right. The government of Japan has a lot of control of information that the press releases to the public. There is a lack of transparency and almost zero access to information that directly affect the government. One such example is the lack of transparency concerning the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The media have limited control broadcasting certain issues; an example being the nuclear power.Diversity and interdependence in reporting are very low in japan media. Most of the media firms rely on press clubs and major media outlets that maintain cozy relations with politicians and bureaucrats. Official censorship of information is not a rare thing in the media. Freelance journalism, investigative reporting is very limited in Japan. Journalists are sometimes prevented by the government from writing, critical stories (Skinner 2005). Journalists are silenced from expressing opinions concerning the government. There exists an indirect control of the central government upon newspaper companies. Japanese media are liable to avoid political or social issues that may receive complaints from the government.Japanese journalism has a lot of conventions and a complex bureaucracy. The government press relation is very poor. The media regulation and control is slightly different in the United States. Similarities occur in different areas of the media. Just like in Japan, there has been government control in media operation in the U.S. Although the constitution guarantees freedom some of the press.The media are still manipulated and controlled by the government. Nevertheless, the U.S media enjoy a much more freedom of investigative journalism and freedom. Print media are largely unregulated; magazines and newspapers exercise much more freedom in comparison with their Japan counterparts. The American bill of rights has been amended to suit the media. Though the media have a wider freedom as compared to that of Japan, investigative journalism is still limited. In the recently released global press freedom rankings American media take position 46 while Japan is in position 53 (Buckman 2013). Censorship of information is still evident in U.S media and government has control of the press in matters affecting it. Independence of the press is not exercised. The same case applies in Japan. There are four categories in which the media of Japan is not supposed to do detailed investigative journalism. They include, defense, counterterrorism, diplomacy and counterespionage. There is a new law that prevents the media from access to sensitive national information and failure to comply can lead to 10 years in prison. In American media, some information is still kept from public for government reasons. With a new media law being recently enacted, the U.S government is exercising effective censorship of information on none compliant press (Skinner 2006). The bottom line is both these two nations are faced with the control of the media being in the hands of the government. However, in comparison to Japan, the U.S media enjoys more much control with fewer regulations. The Japanese government has stricter regulations than the U.S. The recent bills passed government of Japan concerning the leaking of government information far outweigh those of the U.S. Almost 90% of the mainstream media in the US is controlled and owned by six major corporations (Noam 2006). These companies have powerful say on what the media does and does not. Japanese media on the other hand is privately owned: just like U.S, it's operated by six large corporations, where each run publishing firms, television networks and newspapers. It's evidently clear that these nations have a concentrated ownership of media. The media control and power is rested on few companies, hence affecting the diversity.The result is manipulation of the media by political power. In the recent past, Japanese media have undergone a number of changes in its regulatory mechanisms. As a result, it has experienced an increase in media publications, media ownership and media control. The U.S is regarded as one of the freest countries in regard to its media. Nevertheless, it's controlled by powerful groups, parties and factions who use the media to support their own interests. Unlike U.S media, Japanese's press power and control is very low. It serves as observers in reporting of some events that are carried out by the government. The United States, though faced with restrictions has a better control.It can broadcast and print some critical issues carried out by the government. The Japanese media have not developed enough to uncover facts needed to expose the ills and corruptions of the government. Media content The Japanese media has one of the largest circulations of newspapers in the world. Recent stats by the Japanese newspaper publishers and Editors show that on average, Japanese newspaper daily circulation is 72 million as compared 59 million of U.S. The total numbers of issues in Japan outweigh that of U.S by a greater margin. It has a higher number of copies per paper. Japan has both morning and afternoon editions to meet the need for new coverage. International news coverage in both state newspapers is very low. The majority of the citizen in these countries receives mostly local news and very few global issues are broadcasted on televisions. Most of the Japanese rely on local papers while their American counterparts widely use internet content. Television news still dominates in the two countries, despite the improvement of internet technology. Some variations occur in the media content of the two countries.The chief characteristics of the Japanese media is uniformity.The contents of the top five newspapers in Japan are almost identical. The article content is similar in all the papers. There is uniformity in the broadcasting of news and the content is to a greater extent homogenous. In contrast to the U.S newspapers, for example the Washington Post and the New York Times, Japanese papers conform to a wide range of principles and do not explicitly cover interests of a certain class. The U.S New York Times mostly covers the interests of middle class and intellectual ideologies. Japan also has block papers which have a more appeal to the locals as they cover several prefectures. The united nation has very limited number of both national and local newspapers. The majority of the people depend on the television broadcast.Most of the television companies in japan rely on the newspaper's content and always analyze them during their morning and evening programs (Kreiner 2004). The style of writing in Japan differs from that of us. Its content serves the locals more since it's mostly written in Japanese. On the contrary, the U.S media cover wide area and can be read easily foreigners since English is used. Writing sources in japan inspire very little credibility and most are kept secret. Most of the printing media rely on similar sources, hence lack diversity. The media content of U.S is diversified from several sources are used. Media system Japan uses a dual system of broadcasting.It consist of a primary broadcasting station (NHK), sponsored broadcasting and public broadcasting.Radio and television are the commonly used media.Newspapers, magazines, and local block papers are also circulated across the country (Silverblatt et al, 2004). There are similarities in the media system used by both nations. The two systems are strongly bound by political and cultural ties. In both, informational style of journalism is dominance and political neutrality tends to be strong. The two countries largely use commercial broadcasting in their media system. In the two nations, the media system is privately owned; diversity of ideas is encouraged. There is the use of a western kind of media system, although aspects of free flow of ideas and non-government control are very limit...