Reflecting on the Institutional Reform of Broadcasting in the Heisei Era [Part II]

Discussions Surrounding the Rules on Broadcast Programs

Abstract

In the first part of this paper on the institutional reform of broadcasting in the Heisei era, the author examined the reorganization of the broadcast-related legal system and other issues. This second part reflects on the discussions focusing on the rules on programs.As reviewed in the first part, in the course of reorganizing the legal system and revising regulations regarding the broadcasting business structure, unconventional agents such as the IT Strategic Headquarters of the Cabinet Secretariat joined the discussion around 2000, and new ideas of overhauling the legal system were emerged. Meanwhile, the rules of programs were discussed separately from these processes. Similarly, institutional revisions were often prompted by individual issues related to certain programs rather than in response to the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications.For example, the 1997 reform of Broadcasting Act intensified the functions of deliberative bodies for broadcast programs, which was prompted by various problems surrounding different programs that had occurred prior to the reform. Likewise, the 2010 reorganization of the legal system tightened regulations, including the obligation to publicize the classification of the broadcast program, which was also triggered by criticism against TV shopping programs that had taken place right before the revision. In this way, in the revision of the broadcasting institution in the Heisei era, the broadcasting business structure, such as the principle of excluding multiple ownership of the media, and the rules of programs were often examined in separate contexts. Since the structural reform of the broadcasting business eventually affects the content of programs by securing plurality, diversity, and regionality, it is presumably reasonable to consider the reform in conjunction with the rules of programs to achieve the goals. However, sufficient efforts have not been made to comprehensively examine these two areas.The revision of broadcasting institution is ongoing even in the Reiwa era. In doing so, it has become crucial to comprehensively examine the institution by re-identifying the goals of broadcasting policy, taking into consideration the evolution of information sphere in recent years.