Abstract
Japanese local media organizations are increasingly using platforms such as Yahoo! News, SmartNews, and LINE NEWS. Initially, this move was mainly led by local newspapers, but we have seen more and more local broadcasters making inroads into platforms in recent years, and news provided by local broadcasters, which had been consumed solely in each area, started to “cross the border.” Consequently, local information and problems are becoming increasingly visualized at the national level.Similarly, different types of media are visibly “intermingling”-while radio stations are eagerly going online and posting transcriptions converted from audio to text, newspapers are posting videos and becoming more like television. As a result, new moves have appeared in various media organizations. For instance, radio stations are now shifting from audio to text, having more access from out-of-area listeners than from local listeners. On the other hand, broadcasters are purchasing scoop videos from newspapers that have turned into “television”. Furthermore, some local media started distributing videos nationwide in collaboration with platform companies.Meanwhile, there have been some cases where news distributed by local broadcasters to nationwide audience became the target of groundless abuse and calumny on the internet.These media organizations are going through trial and error to seek the best option of the new types of information delivery via platforms. These efforts may trigger new perspectives other than the traditional Tokyo-oriented one. When broadcasters finally overcome the conventional centralized mindset and present alternative views, broadcasting will be able to further serve democracy.
