In Japan, coverage of the world is very limited and shows strong regional bias. This trend was commonly identified in GNV’s analyses of international news coverage in Japan in 2015 and 2016. Has this trend changed at all? Based on an analysis of international news coverage in Japan in 2017, we would like to explore this question.

Share of international news coverage (2017)

First, let’s look at the share of international news in all newspaper articles in 2017. The figure below shows, for Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Yomiuri Shimbun, the percentage of international news articles relative to each paper’s total number of articles (Note 1).

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The results were 10.7% for Asahi, 10.3% for Mainichi, and 11.1% for Yomiuri, showing no major differences among the papers, as in the previous two years. Compared with the 2016 figures (Asahi: 11.7%, Mainichi: 11.0%, Yomiuri: 11.0%), although they did not decline to the 2015 levels (Asahi: 10.0%, Mainichi: 9.3%, Yomiuri: 8.9%), Asahi and Mainichi saw slight decreases.

To gauge how large these shares are, let’s compare them with sports coverage as one benchmark. In 2017, sports-related articles accounted for 23.3% in Mainichi, a figure similar to the past two years. It is clear that international coverage in Japan is extremely limited.

International coverage by region

Next, let’s compare coverage by region (Note 2). The pie chart below classifies by region the total amount of international coverage (by character count) for the three papers—Asahi, Mainichi, and Yomiuri—in 2017.

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By region, coverage was greatest for Asia, followed by North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania, with Asia accounting for a plurality of 42.7%. Although this is down from 46.5% in 2016, Asia still constitutes the bulk of international news in Japan. Meanwhile, North America’s share grew compared with 2016 (22.4%), and the character count also increased. Looking only at character counts, the amount has continued to rise from 2015 to 2017. It is not hard to imagine that the inauguration of U.S. President Trump in January and the extensive coverage of him were key factors. The “Trump effect” evidently had a major impact on international coverage as well.

While Asia, North America, and Europe account for 90% of all international coverage, Africa (3.3%), Latin America (2.0%), and Oceania (0.7%) receive extremely little attention—together only 6.0%. Low coverage of these regions was also seen in 2015 and 2016. The same pattern appears not only in newspapers but also in other media such as LINE NEWS and TV Tokyo’s “Akira Ikegami’s news special”. The region with the largest change from 2016 was Latin America. Character counts roughly doubled from 2015 to 2016 but almost halved in 2017. It is reasonable to conclude that the temporary increase in 2016 due to the Olympics reverted to prior levels.

Top 10 countries by coverage (2017)

Let’s look more closely at coverage by country. The chart below shows the 10 countries that received the most coverage in international news in 2017. The figure on the far right shows the share of international news devoted to Japan itself.

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As in 2016, the United States occupied a large share. Compared with 2016, U.S. coverage increased in both share and character count. Also as in 2016, China, North Korea, and South Korea—East Asian countries—followed in the rankings, though North Korea and South Korea swapped places. Remarkably, just four countries—the United States, China, North Korea, and South Korea—accounted for more than half of all international news. With the exception of North Korea, Germany, and Iraq, the other countries have ranked in the top 10 for three consecutive years since 2015. Meanwhile, there is still no change in the tendency for no countries from Africa, Latin America, or Oceania to make the top 10. While there is a great deal of coverage of East Asian countries with strong geographic ties and of major powers with significant political and economic clout, coverage of populous countries geographically close to Japan and growing in influence—such as India and Indonesia—is limited, with both falling below 1%.

So what news drew attention in 2017? For the United States, which ranked first, President Trump’s inauguration and his policies and actions naturally received major coverage. China, in second place, saw heavy coverage throughout the year—perhaps because both its geographic proximity to and political-economic ties with Japan are strong—with a wide variety of topics. North Korea, which was not in the top 10 in 2015 but rose to fourth in 2016 and third in 2017, saw its coverage increase year by year; in addition to continued reporting on its nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, 2017 also saw attention to the killing of Kim Jong-nam. South Korea, in fourth place, likewise had varied topics, but the impeachment and verdict of President Park Geun-hye, charged with bribery and coercion, were major stories. In the United Kingdom, ranked fifth, beyond Brexit-related issues, the terrorist attacks that occurred around London from March to September drew attention.

Among other countries, France’s coverage was about 1.5 times that of 2016, with the presidential election receiving major attention; more than 40% of French-related articles included “presidential election” in the headline. Even so, France’s 2017 coverage was less than half of 2015, when terrorist attacks were a major topic—evidence of how much terror incidents in advanced countries capture public attention. In the Middle East, Iraq and Syria ranked within the top 10. In addition to coverage related to IS (the Islamic State), Iraq also drew attention for the Kurdish independence referendum.

Which countries were most reported on in Africa, Latin America, and Oceania, which did not make the top 10? In Africa, Egypt had the most coverage, accounting for about 20% of the continent’s total, followed closely by South Sudan at about 17%. Coverage of Egypt focused largely on the frequent terrorist attacks, especially the November assault on a mosque. For South Sudan, many articles included “PKO” (UN peacekeeping operations) in the headline. In Latin America, Mexico was covered the most, followed by Venezuela and Brazil. In 2016, Brazil topped the list due to the Olympics, but that surge appears to have subsided. Regarding Mexico, much of the coverage was tied to developments in the United States, such as the renegotiation of NAFTA and U.S. immigration policy.

Japanese newspapers (Photo: fas /pixaboy [CC0 1.0])

Unchanged international coverage

Based on our three-year analysis from 2015 to 2017, the amount of international news in Japan, while fluctuating slightly year to year, remains low, and there has been no change in the reality that most coverage is devoted to major powers and advanced economies with strong political and economic ties to Japan, and to East Asian countries with close geographic links. Even when focusing on regions with extremely low coverage—Africa, Latin America, and Oceania—it is apparent that only countries connected to developments in major powers or those where particularly attention-grabbing incidents occurred received substantial coverage. Because of this strong bias, the picture of the world that can be known through the news remains limited—still a major issue for Japan’s international reporting today. Through international news, Japan is failing to grasp the realities of an ever more globalized world. Will this tendency be corrected in the future, or will the bias grow even stronger? Continued careful analysis will be necessary (Note 3).

Note 1: We consulted each company’s online database. For the definition of international news articles, see “GNV Data Analysis Methods [PDF].”
Note 2: Regions are divided into six according to the UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division) standards: Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, North America, and Latin America.
Note 3: GNV currently publishes a Monthly Report, our own statistics by year and month on international coverage. We will continue to update it, so please take a look.

Writer/Graphics: Eiko Asano

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