Abstract
On February 24th, 2022, Russia undertook an invasion of its neighboring country, Ukraine. With its overwhelming military power, Russia launched missile attacks from the air and simultaneously advanced ground troops. At the outset, it seemed simply a matter of time before Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, would fall. Responding to the unilateral change of status quo by force, the United States and other G7 countries strongly protested and intensified economic sanctions against Russia. Anti-war demonstrations were observed around the world, and, even in Russia, people raised their voices to oppose the invasion.
How have Japanese televisions reported the war of aggression waged in the 21st century? To investigate it, the author conducted a quantitative survey on the amount of TV coverage. The survey focused on the five days from the first day of the invasion through the fifth day—the day when cease-fire negotiations started, targeting five evening news programs of NHK and commercial broadcasters. The author also surveyed and analyzed studio commentaries, live broadcasts and reports from the local sites, remote interviews, and videos posted on social media sites during these five days. The survey revealed that the coverage during this period included a large volume of reporting on war situations and damages, Russia’s intentions, and economic sanctions. It is also found that footage from social media sites was extensively used, which suggests the series of news reporting can be characterized as “war coverage in the age of social media.”
There is no sign of a cease-fire at the point of completing this paper, and the situation is being protracted. This survey focuses on the initial stage of invasion, in order to see the whole picture of war coverage, but it will be important to conduct surveys covering a longer period of time and compare the war reports with those of the past.
