During the occupation of Japan after World War II the Japanese were pushed towards a more democratic society by the occupying forces under General Douglas McArthur. The Japanese did not adopt all forms of American democracy, however. The press of Japan adopted a system that most western journalists would find incompatible with a free press.
Mainstream journalism companies in Japan pay fees every year so that their reporters will be members of kisha clubs (reporters clubs). The clubs provide the reporters with direct access to government officials and function in a manner similar to that of the White House Press Corp. Unlike the White House Press Corp., the kisha members visit officials in their homes, often become personally close with officials and hesitate to publish information that may be damaging, in fear of losing access. The system often results in non-kisha members, the underground press or free-lance reporters for example, exposing major government scandals. Once the scandal is exposed, the kisha members will cover it, but it is rare that a major newspaper or TV station will expose some government controversy.
In my search for information about the kisha clubs, I hope to discover how they came into existence. I would also like to know if the system shows any signs of disappearing.
My intended audience is scholars interested in different media systems throughout the world and American journalist that might serve as foreign correspondents in Japan. This search will provide the scholars with a look into a unique media system that they might not be familiar with. It will also provide American journalist with hopes of working in Japan some insight into what barriers they might face while gathering the news.
UNC library catalog
Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis
Print Sources
1. Cooper-Chen, Anne with Miiko Kodama. Mass Communication in Japan. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1997.
P92.J3 C67 1997
2. Gunther, Richard and Anthony Mughan, eds. Democracy and the media: a comparative perspective. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
P95.8 .D394 2000
Non-Print Source
1. Brinkley, David, writer, Roger Goodman, dir., Phyllis McGrady and Yoshihisa Hayashi, producers. Nightline and town meeting: Pearl Harbor plus 50 (ABC News, Oak Forest, IL: MPI Home Video, 1991), video.
Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis Sources
1. (2001, May 17). Nagano Wants a Wider Press. Asahi News Service[Online], eight paragraphs. Available LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, July 13].
2. (1998, October 25). ‘Kisha’ Club Merits Debated. The Japan Times Ltd.[Online], 16 paragraphs. Available LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, July 13].
3. Drexler, Michael. (1998, February 7). The Kisha Club and Why Japan Can’t Get It Right. Mainichi Daily News[Online], 14 paragraphs. Available LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, July 13].
4. Kingston, Jeff. (2000, August 8). Japan’s media watchdog is a lapdog. Japan Times Ltd.[Online], 19 paragraphs. Available LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, July 13].
5. (1998, December 28). No News is Bad News. The Financial Times Ltd.[Online], 13 paragraphs. Available LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, July 13].
6. French, Howard. (2000, February 6). Tired of News That Rocks the Boat? Visit Japan. The New York Times[Online], 19 paragraphs. Available LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, July 13].
1. Title: J@pan Inc Magazine 4/01—Freeing the press
Web Address: http://www.japaninc.net/mag/comp/2001/04/apr01_press.html
Brief Overview: This page is the first page of an eight-page feature done by J@pan Inc Magazine. The article discusses the affect the Internet is having on the Japanese people as consumers of information. The article also addresses the possible affects the Internet will have on the kisha clubs and gives a basic background into the current club system.
Source of Web site: J@pan Inc Magazine
2. Title: The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan, FCCJ
Web Address: http://www.fccj.or.jp/Default.htm
Brief Overview: This site provides an overview into the FCCJ, one of the two foreign press clubs in Japan. It also has a history of the club and some interesting club-related links.
Source of the Web Site: FCCJ
3. Title: Pacific Region Forum: Media and PR in Japan
Web Address: http://www.cic.sfu.ca/forum/horvat-1.html
Brief Overview: This page provides some insight into exactly what foreign journalist have to deal with when they attempt to gather information and cover the news in Japan. The speech was given in 1990, but the information is not very dated and it provides some historical insight into the foreign press-kisha club dynamic.
Source of the Web Site: Andrew Horvat
4. Title: Japanese Media at Present
Web Address: http://www1.doshisha.ac.jp/~twatanab/watanabe/english/japan.html
Brief Overview: While this page is text heavy and contains a large amount of information, the information is very good. The page provides a great amount of detail about the current state of Japanese media, including some of the problems of the system.
Source of the Web Site: Takesato Watanabe
5. Title: JPRI Working paper #18; April 1996
Web Address: http://www.jpri.org/public/wp18.html
Brief Overview: This online version of an article by Laurie A. Freeman, “Japan's Press Clubs as Information Cartels”, provides a great deal of information about the kisha clubs, what life is like for non-club members and competition that develops between clubs.
Source of the Web Site: Laurie A. Freeman
As the Internet grows, so do issues of access. The majority of the world does not have access to the Internet, and while most Americans consider a slow modem the biggest problem with Internet access a large number of people in this country are not connected to the Internet. The disparity between those who have access and those without it is obvious and threatens to accelerate the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
The digital divide is already affecting under-funded public schools in highly concentrated urban areas and lowly concentrated rural areas. Children that miss the opportunity to not only survive, but thrive, in the business world of today must learn how to use information technology early. If these children fail to learn while their peers at private schools and well-funded public schools grow proficient with information technology, they will be behind possibly for the rest of their lives.
The digital divide is not only increasing economic gaps, but it is increasing racial gaps. In a speech in 1998, President Clinton condemned the digital divide and said that affluent schools were almost three times more likely to have Internet access and white students were more than twice as likely than black students to have home computers.
Several states have instituted programs to alleviate the growing disparity. Colorado is developing a network that should be fully operational in 2003 (1). Seattle recently received a $100,000 grant from 3Com Corp. to bridge the gap in Redmond High School. 3Com has donated more than $2.5 million in equipment and services to 25 cities across the country since it started its Urban Challenge program in July 1999 (2). Students and teachers in Los Angeles have developed an online journal that has produced research on the digital divide and how it has directly affected their communities (3).
Programs like Urban Challenge, the Colorado network and the Los Angeles online journal will help America breach the digital divide, but more programs like these are necessary to make the digital divide disappear in America.
NOTES:
(1) Anne Constable, “Conference Targets Broadband Issues,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, 22 June 2001, Local, p. B-1. Also available [Online]: LEXIS-NEXIS [Accessed 15 July 2001].
(2) Margaret Taus, “Redmond Wins a $100,000 Grant from 3Com to bridge ‘Digital Divide’,” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 26 June 2001, News, p. B-3. Also available [Online]: LEXIS-NEXIS [Accessed 15 July 2001]
(3) “Online Journal ‘Teaching to Change LA’ Hosts Digital Divide Summit for Urban Youths in Los Angeles,” Ascribe Newswire, 1 June 2001. Also available [Online]: LEXIS-NEXIS [Accessed 15 July 2001]
THREE WEB SITES:
1. Title: The Digital Divide Network: Digital Divide Basics
Web Address: http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org/content/sections/index.cfm?key=1
Brief Description: Provides a wide variety of research about the digital divide including basics, access questions, economic issues and international issues.
Source: Digital Divide Network
2. Title: Digital Divide
Web Address: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/chu/digdiv/
Brief Description: This page provides general information about the digital divide, but its best feature is the page’s look at who is affected by the digital divide. The page provides many useful links.
Source: Clara M. Chu
3. Title: Digital Divide
Web Address: http://www.pbs.org/digitaldivide/index.html
Brief Description: This page provides a look at a series PBS did on the digital divide. In addition to information about the series itself, the page provides themes of the digital divide, tools to learn more about the divide, news about the divide and links.
Source: PBS
| PORTAL |
| HOME |
| RÉSUMÉ |
| PORTFOLIO |
| LINKS |
| QUESTIONS, COMMENTS AND SNIDE REMARKS |
| JOMC 50 |