Abstract
In January, 2021, two important documents for considering the future of NHK and receiving fee system were released. One is the report compiled by the subcommittee on the roles of public service broadcasting of the study group on issues surrounding broadcasting, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). The other is NHK's Corporate Plan for Fiscal Year 2021-2023. This paper summarizes the movements and discussion leading up to the publications of these two documents. Following them, the author focuses on the issues that have been put off or left out of the framework of discussion at the subcommittee.
The author believes that the subcommittee should broaden their horizon to include above issues in the framework because the topics currently discussed do not suffice though they are important ones. The reasons for the author's argument are as follows.
It appears not a few people and viewers are looking at NHK and its receiving system from outside the framework of discussion, which the MIC and NHK regard as the major premise. This theme must be discussed in connection with the “dual system” consisting of NHK and commercial broadcasters and with the future of terrestrial broadcasting media, namely “public nature of broadcasting” and “universal services.” Otherwise, people cannot see the expected roles of NHK and the role sharing with other media. More and more efforts are made to solve problems both within large frameworks such as the government's “Society 5.0” and the SDGs and small frameworks of individual communities that are becoming more multi-stratified, it is indispensable to review the public nature and discuss from the viewpoint of the roles that media can play.
On a side note, there were various movements of media during the period targeted for this paper, but this report mainly examines policy discussion.
