Generation Z has come into the spotlight as a forerunner of digital natives who may shape the future media landscape. The NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute held a symposium themed on “How Generation Z Uses and Perceives Television” at the NHK Bunken Forum 2023 to examine their realistic distance from television and explore the future relationship between Generation Z and television. From the comments of university students who joined the session, we learnt that conventional TV sets do not match the lifestyle of students today and that they select information sources depending on the purpose. Among diverse information sources used by Generation Z, social media demonstrate a notable presence, with TikTok being used by a large portion of respondents, especially those in their late teens. Videos dealing with political topics were also viewed by students, regarding which one media expert on the panel pointed out the risks of misleading content and fake news. We also interviewed and surveyed students to investigate their attitudes towards “taipa” (an abbreviation or “time performance,” an English word coined in Japan, meaning time effectiveness), the pursuit of which is often described as a characteristic of Generation Z, and found that viewing at double speed is not for every content but depending on what the content is about and that they view fan-edit highlights not only to save time but also out of their trust in the passion of those fan editors who purely want to share and spread the content they love. At the end of the symposium, students made recommendations for future television, or how television can become a rational media choice for Generation Z. Their comments including “television should become more stress-free for the viewers” and “television should be humbler” revealed their expectations and frustrations about television.

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NHK BUNKEN FORUM in March 23 featured interviews with leaders of experimental non-profit media and projects in the United States, who are seeking ways to elevate people’s power in the communities they serve. They include Bettina Chang, Co-founder of the City Bureau in Chicago; Natalie Frazier, Chicago Documenters Community Coordinator; Sarah Alvarez, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Outlier Media in Detroit; Elizabeth Green, Co-founder & CEO of Chalkbeat and Votebeat; Jim Friedlich, Executive Director & CEO of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. The 2023 report, ‘The Roadmap for Local News--An Emergent Approach to Meeting Civic Information Needs,’ penned by journalist authors including Elizabeth Green, calls their practice Civic Media and their coalitions Civic Information Networks. In ‘Redefining News: A Manifesto for Community-Centered Journalism’ published by the University of Oregon Agora Journalism Center, the author Damian Radcliff describes such journalism as ‘community-centered, as opposed to ‘journalist-centered,’ quoting Sarah Stonbely. They are united in working to invite people to partner with newsrooms in creating news and information useful for people to take better decisions and actions for themselves and their communities; to create opportunities for people from different backgrounds to connect, to participate in solving problems, and to shape policies. They are creative in their choice of measures to deliver news and information, prioritizing mediums and platforms that are easy to access, such as text messaging, online guidebooks, data-base, and public events. They see organizations other than news media, such as libraries, schools, community centers, and residents’ groups, as potential partners and providers of civic information and believe that bringing together the strength of such diverse practitioners will contribute to creating a more reliable and trusted information ecosystem that can connect communities. All this is crucial, they say, in filling the information gaps left by the decline of local news and in pushing back the tidal wave of misinformation and disinformation, the widening divisions among people, and the deepening crisis in democracy. This article outlines their thoughts, practices, and impacts, in their words, translated into Japanese from interviews conducted during and before the 2023 NHK BUNKEN FORUM.

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The media landscape is in the vortex of dramatic change. The change in the landscape is forcing journalism, which has long been the responsibility of the mass media, to undergo a substantial transformation. At the same time, we believe that some areas must change, and others must not change in journalism, which should be recognized to support a sound democracy. How should journalists and organizations transform the areas that must change and maintain the areas that must be secured? If this issue is left untouched without proper explanations, public understanding of journalism will become more uncertain and their trust in journalism will deteriorate at an accelerated pace. With this in mind, we started investigating the current state of journalism in a concrete manner, turning our attention to the newsroom. The series centered on interviews, asking news senders about their mindsets towards their practices in news reporting and production. In interviews, we prioritized understanding interviewees’ motivations for and viewpoints on news reporting and program production, ingenuity in news gathering, and awareness of the issues. Then, we examined the significance and challenges they present in the current media landscape from our own perspectives. We hope our report on the current state of journalism, including ongoing challenges, can contribute to promoting viewers’ understanding of journalism and anchoring their trust in any way. This series is a reprinting of the past three articles that reported examples of practices developed in NHK’s local stations. As these articles featured only reporters and TV directors, we plan to survey a wider range of people involved in news reporting and news programs in our future research, which will also look into efforts made by other media than NHK.

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