Politics and the News Media in Japan

The author discusses the importance of the national dailies in Japanese political life; reporters' work patterns and their formal and informal interaction with political news sources; the objectives reporters and politicians have vis-a-vis one another; and how Japanese cultural factors affect the role reporters play in politics.

This volume fills a serious gap in the literature on the Japanese media and its role in the political system by focusing on the structure and process of news-gathering by Japanese reporters. It is the first work based on a survey of rank-and-file members of the Japanese National Diet; newsmen and editors of national and local newspapers, news agencies, and broadcast media; political party officials; and secretaries to Diet members. It will appeal especially to those interested in comparative politics, comparative mass communication, and Japanese studies.