The LMU Faculty for the Study of Culture awarded Yosuke Buchmeier the Faculty Prize for his dissertation titled Public Service Media under Pressure. NHK’s Role in Japanese Democracy. The dissertation examines public service media’s role in the public sphere, and its manifold challenges against the backdrop of digital transformation and political headwinds. Based on a comprehensive news analysis and journalist interviews, the dissertation investigates NHK’s role within the complex dynamics of contemporary Japanese democracy, explores why its legitimacy has suffered, and discusses what needs to be done to restore it. One of the major findings is that NHK’s news has shifted away from explicitly political and complex topics toward more emotionally engaging, human-interest content, with ordinary citizens now more prominently featured—a development that aligns with global trends in journalism.
More reading on Buchmeier’s research on NHK and Japanese media is found here:
(2024) “Media politics in Japan: News journalism between interdependence, integrity, and influence” in: Publizistik 69 (4), 495-526, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11616-024-00858-3 (open access)
(2024) “Japan: Exploring Historical Legacies, Political Interdependencies, and Digital Transformation” in: Aljosha Karim Schapals and Christian Pentzold (eds.): Media Compass: A Companion to International Media Landscapes, Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons., 348-359, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394196272.ch33
(2022) “Protecting the people, or the Olympics? Agenda-cutting of the COVID-19 risk in the news coverage of Japan’s public broadcaster” in: Media, Culture & Society 44 (6), 1132-1148, https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437211060236 (open access)