Reporting with Wolves: Pack Journalism and the Dissemination of Political Information

Abstract

One could say that Japanese society is flooded with information. Japan has a literacy rate of 99 percent, one of the world’s highest newspaper consumption rates, and a publishing industry that churns out a large number of weekly and monthly magazines as well as journals and books. According to the World Association of Newspapers, Japanese daily newspapers circulation (67.2 million copies) in 2008 was the second highest in the world, after India (107 million copies; the United States came third with 51 million copies). In per capita terms, Japan ranked fourth, with an average of 613.1 newspapers circulating per 1,000 adults, following Iceland (817.4), Switzerland (627.4), and Luxembourg (619.3).1 The television industry also flourishes in Japan. NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) or Japan Broadcasting Corporation, the nonprofit state broadcasting corporation, reaches all of Japan with four TV channels: two using terrestrial broadcasting and two satellite channels. Another five major private TV stations and many local TV channels are available to audiences throughout the country, in addition to numerous cable and satellite broadcasters.KeywordsPrime MinisterNews MediumLiberal Democratic PartyPress ConferenceAdvertising ExpenditureThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.