The press and reform in Japan

What political role does the Japanese press play? How does it cover important political issues and events? The common answers in the literature offer two very different views:the press as a "watchdog" for the public and a force of opposition to the dominant ruling party or the Japanese press as a "lapdog," subserviently reporting whatever officials dictate. We examine the Asahi newspaper's coverage of two critical issues in a decade of enormous political upheaval: political reform from 1992 to 1994 and administrative reform from 1995 to 1997. An analysis of the patterns of coverage for all the articles during these periods and an examination of agenda setting, bias, and objectivity in a random sample of articles reveals that neither of the extreme characterizations of the press fits. Rather, the press plays a combination of roles: It is frequently the passive transmitter of information for agenda-setting officials, but it occasionally exhibits a pro-reform bias and tries to set the agenda in specific and limited ways. The authors conclude with a discussion of why these patterns of coverage emerge and why these overdrawn and distorted images of the Japanese press still exist.