Editorial
The more things change, the more they stay the same: the evolution of Japan's print media
Mainichi Shimbun staff writer Mitsuyoshi Hirano learned that there are children who cannot receive medical treatment because their parents failed to pay premiums for public health insurance funds when he interviewed an elementary school teacher. He then launched a campaign in the paper calling for relief measures for these children saying, "Children cannot choose their parents. Society should protect them."
The government did not even know how many children were living without health insurance, and the Mainichi began to investigate the situation initially in Osaka Prefecture and then across the country.
Finally, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry launched its own investigation, finding that 33,000 children across the country were not covered by public health insurance programs. Legislators then took action: In December last year, the Diet approved a bill to revise the National Health Insurance Law to issue health insurance cards to all junior high school-age and younger children.
A series of Mainichi reports that focused on this problem, which was caused by the ongoing recession and poverty, won a Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association Award for fiscal 2009, recognizing the fact that one of newspapers' roles is to shed light on social issues -- one that tends to be overlooked.
Newspapers are also required to pay close attention to the political situation. Four years ago, newspapers came under fire for their sensational coverage of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's fielding of so-called "assassin" candidates in many constituencies to unseat "rebels" who opposed his long-cherished postal privatization bills in the general election.
During the campaign for the latest general election on Aug. 30 -- in which the Democratic Party of Japan scored a landslide victory to take over the reins of government -- newspapers attached particular importance to calmer coverage of policy debates between political parties. Even though their coverage may not be sufficient, newspapers did their best to fulfill their roles as printed media.
The Japanese news industry is undergoing a gradual change following the transfer of power. The changes include the opening of some government organizations' news conferences to all news organizations, not just members of press clubs. Newspapers are required to fulfill their role as an "eye" to closely look at changes that are occurring now.
The finding that an innocent man was forced to spend more than 17 years behind bars has raised questions about the way news organizations cover crime cases. Toshikazu Sugaya, who was convicted of murdering a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, in 1990, is likely to be acquitted in his retrial, as the DNA test which convicted him has proven to be wrong.
Following the incident, many newspapers treated him as the perpetrator in their articles because they overestimated the accuracy of DNA tests. Prior to the introduction of the lay judge system in May this year, news organizations changed the way they write articles on crime cases not to determine suspects are the perpetrators. Newspapers must reflect lessons they have learned from their coverage of the Ashikaga case on their coverage of crime cases.
"Newspapers are windows through which we can see the current situation of the Earth," is a slogan of the Newspaper Week from Oct. 15 to 21. High school girl Shion Honda, 18, who created the slogan, highly appreciated the accuracy of newspapers' coverage.
"I feel secure when I see newspapers at my home. Newspapers are accurate and reliable," she says. However, readers cannot see the reality of the world simply by receiving information from newspapers.
"It's important for articles to give us motivation to read them. Through the slogan, I sent a message that readers must open the window on their own," Honda says.
Newspapers must respond to the expectations of young readers living in a rapidly globalizing modern society.
(Mainichi Japan) October 15, 2009