Ms Azusa Iwane, IAFOR Global Fellows, organised an event titled ‘What is the Watchdog Watching: World Media Coverage in Japan and the Future of Journalism’ on October 15, 2024, at Kyoto Research Park, Kyoto, Japan, alongside The 5th Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media, & Culture (KAMC2024), and The 15th Asian Conference on Media, Communication & Film (MediAsia2024). The purpose of the event was to explore the current challenges to media independence, examining the pressures faced by journalists and media outlets. The event invited three panellists from different media fields.
Makoto Kusakawa, a journalist with experience working in major Japanese national newspapers (Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun), discussed the current trends in Japanese journalism, specifically the role of power dynamics in the field. He also introduced potential consequences on democracy caused by the absence of watchdogs in journalism. He concluded that journalism as an institution is in a critical state in Japan, and raised issues regarding how we could support individual journalists who try to fulfil their watchdog role.
Keiichi Hashimoto, Senior Advisor from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), brought his experience in media development assistance in conflict areas and low-income countries to the panel discussion. He talked about the infringement of journalists in authoritarian nations and about how JICA, as a Japanese development assistance agency, is working on the issues regarding the establishment of a legal framework and capacity building for local journalists.
Virgil Hawkins, Professor at Osaka University School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), introduced several case studies where Japanese companies were involved with corruption in overseas activities and how Japanese media continue to overlook the issues. He also provided a theoretical framework for those instances to better grasp the structural problem of each case study.
The event had a panel discussion session and a Q&A session with the audience. The panel discussion deepened the understanding of today’s journalism situation by comparing it with worldwide trends. The event reached out to a wide-ranging audience with interests in journalism and media. The positive response from both the panellists and the audience lends confidence to the fellow and her media organisation to organise similar events on a more regular basis with the hope of creating a space where both media professionals and regular citizens can reflect on the current state of media.
