Abstract
February 24th, 2023 marked the first anniversary of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. How has the Japanese media, especially television, reported the first year?
To explore this, the NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute conducted a quantitative survey of evening news programs to examine the amount of TV coverage. In addition, as an experimental attempt, articles on the internet were analyzed by computer. Furthermore, at the “NHK BUNKEN FORUM 2023”—an online event open to the public organized by the Institute—panelists discussed what the Japanese media could and could not do.
The quantitative survey identified that the focus of news coverage has changed with the passage of time, from “war situation and damage” in the early stage, to moves “inside Ukraine” as well as “inside Russia.” In the meantime, at the “BUNKEN FORUM, panelists exchanged thoughts on how to maintain people’s interest as the war protracts, what the media could do to accomplish this, and the meaning and challenges of on-the-spot reporting and studio commentaries.
This paper presents the findings from the quantitative survey as well as an overview of the discussion at the forum. Although this is the second review of media reports on the invasion of Ukraine, no clear path to the end of the war was seen even at the time of drafting this paper, with the war situation still unfolding.
