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.

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On February 24th, 2022, Russia started the military invasion of Ukraine, calling it a “special military operation.” The government’s propaganda has been intensified since then, with Russian state media extensively reporting the news in accordance with the intentions of the regime and with the government exercising the control over speech. Propaganda, however, is not a specialty unique to Russia. It has been widely used by various countries in past wars and conflicts. This paper summarizes the transition of propaganda in line with the changes in the latest media of each time period, tracing back the history from the First World War, when large-scale propaganda is said to have started, to the invasion of Ukraine that is occurring in this age of social media. The author also overviews the countermeasures against the Russian propaganda implemented by Western countries and the European Union. Furthermore, focusing on one of the previous studies on propaganda, the paper discusses why the Western media intensively report the situation in Ukraine while rarely covering the ravage of war in Myanmar, from the viewpoint of “worthy victims” and “unworthy victims” expounded by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky along with their “propaganda model.”

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As the emergence of social media has diversified the means for sending out and acquiring information, the shift away from television and disinterest in news, especially among young people, is becoming increasingly serious. Behind this problem, however, may lie an issue of mass media itself that is not fully playing the role of delivering the necessary information to people who need it. With this perspective in mind, this paper examines the coverage on the special-paid-leave subsidy for working parents, which started with the spread of the COVID-19, focusing on to what extent the media was able to communicate this information to the parents concerned and to contribute to their use of the subsidy. The author conducted an internet survey to visualize the actual conditions of working parents’ media contact, centering on those with pre-school children.The survey result confirmed the need for television as a means for checking daily news. Meanwhile, many parents had fewer opportunities to watch TV news because they were too occupied with housework and child care or had to prioritize children in deciding which programs to watch. In terms of how parents came to know of the subsidy, television made a certain contribution as an access to the information, but not to the extent of playing the role of encouraging behavior change for them to use the subsidy. To deliver the necessary information to those who need it, it will be imperative to review the method of reporting news.

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