Who is Telling Us the News…?

If you catch the morning, afternoon, or evening ‘news’ programs on commercial television in Japan, you may find out that a semi-talented ‘singer’ is having a baby with their manager. Or you may learn what kind of skirts to wear this season. Or you may even find out a great new place to take the family to eat, and learn what flowers are blooming right now across the nation… But you are less likely to learn much about major policy debates, the intricacies of foreign policy with the Middle East, or what the latest Supreme Court decisions really mean in the context of the constitution…

In fairness, the political content of these broadcasts has increased significantly since I first came to Japan. This is thanks in large part to the popularity of the Koizumi administration. But unfortunatly, in recent years, much of this coverage has deteriorated into more of ‘what is the first lady wearing today’ as opposed to ‘what does the Minister’s statement really mean…?’…

In the US, ‘love-him-or-hate-him’ radio personality Rush Limbaugh has coined the term ‘chickification of the news’, referring to the ‘touchy-feely’ approach to network news in recent years, as opposed to more of the hard nosed investigation and analyses that gave starts to shows like 60 minutes all those years ago… I’m sure there are few places around the world that truly embrace this approach more than the commercial networks in Japan.

I have noted with interest two similar stories over the last few weeks. They are by no means unique, but they highlighted the growing theme of ‘news’ broadcasts, especially on the commercial networks. NHK has its own issues, but at least it sticks to what I would loosley define as ‘real news’. The two stories I refer to are the leaving of ‘announcers’ Kikukawa Rei and Takigawa Christel from their positions on relatively high profile ‘news programs’. Both women are in their early 30s, had been doing their jobs since their mid 20s, and were replaced by younger women (one of whom, Nana Suzue, is even a former ‘Miss Keio‘). If this is not a statement about mysoginism in the Japanese media, it would be difficult to find a better one… But aside from that, the fact that these women were in these positions at all makes a mockery of the commercial television ‘news’ industry in Japan.

There has long been a fading and elusive line in Japan between ‘journalists’ and ‘announcers’ on television and in radio. The latter are trained and employed based on factors such as their look, their personality, and their voice, and then working their way up through a vigorous and often humiliating apprenticeship. Journalistic ability is usually a secondary, tertiary or even quaternary or quinary (yes, I did look those last two up….) factor… This does not auger well for the run of the mill ‘Joe public’ (maybe in Japan that should be ‘Joji public’), who get much of their diet of information from these ‘news’ broadcasts.

Aside from the male and female announcers, there is an increasing trend on Japanese television for grabbing anyone with a bit of fame and likeability, and a ready-made audience, and sticking them at the head of a ‘news’ program. Thus we get Mino Monta hosting a ‘news’ program in the morning on TBS. This is a man that surely can’t put in the preparation necessary for a major new program, given that he holds the Guiness Record for the most hours of live TV per week (more than 22 hours per week). I’ve caught snippets of his early morning program, and he really does seem to ‘phone it in’ quite a bit.

Continuing this trend, again on TBS, is late morning ‘news’ and information program ‘Hiru-Obi’, which is led by comedian Megumi Toshiaki. Megumi is certainly a polished presenter, but offers few, if any, weighty insights into the news.

On Asahi, its major late night news broadcast ‘Hodo Station’ is presented by Furutachi Ichiro, who started out with zero news experience. Indeed, in his early broadcasts in 2004 he often made mention of the fact that ‘he was learning along with the viewers’. A far cry from the likes of Cronkite and Jennings…. Before taking over the reigns of the flagship ‘news’ program, Furutachi was a sports announcer who specialized in wrestling…

In more recent times, even Kitano (‘Beat’) Takeshi has enterred the ring on TBS as host of the Saturday night ‘Newscaster’. According to a Japan Times article that announced the new show in 2008, the inclusion of comedian Beat Takeshi in this show ‘turns news into farce’. Its hard to disagree… While Kitano the director and ‘Beat’ Takeshi the comedian and presenter have great gravitas and popularity in the entertainment industry, its difficult to argue that he adds anything to the news side of the equation…

Fuji have also tried to get a head start on the weekly news with their Sunday night ‘Saki Yomi’, which featurues ‘talent’ (a term used loosely here) Eiji Wentz in a prominent position. There are also a host of other programs that have tried to use comedians like ‘Bakusho Mondai’ and ‘Cream Stew’ to boost ‘news’ viewers, if not content or quality…

Needless to say, I rarely watch network news anymore in Japan. If I do watch, its for a specific purpose, and then I turn it right off, so as not to become infected with the inanity of it all… But even if we do watch it, it is important to understand just who we are getting the news from. Granted, most of the background work is still likely carried out by reporters and writers. But the people that are telling us the news these days are increasingly less and less qualified to make any comment about it.

I can remember in my youth thinking that it must take a lot of intelligence and must really mean something for someone to earn a Master’s degree. That was until I earned two myself, and realized that neither I, nor the ‘professors’ I associated with, had changed in the twinkling of an eye into a genius. A know-it-all perhaps. But not a genius. The same is doubly, triply, quadruply (…you get the point…) true of ‘news’ presenters, and even journalists.

I often wonder where that inquisitive nature has gone. I find it in spades online, on blogs and in various other places. But commercial television is not generally a place for intelligent debate or real depth and questioning. Its a shame. I feel sorry too for people like Kikukawa and Takigawa, who are used and then spat out by the system. Both are likely to be fine, and are probably happier making commercials and building acting and seiyu careers… And I must be honest, while Kikukawa has alwasy been easy on the eyes, I’ve always had a hard time watching the Fuji late night news broadcast because it always looked like Takigawa was being tortured – she never, ever smiled. Apparently in her new hair commercial for TSUBAKI she has finally been allowed to smile… As Japan Today put it ‘it includes scenes with her smiling’. Good for her.