JOURNAL OF MASS COMMUNICATION STUDIES
Online ISSN : 2432-0838
Print ISSN : 1341-1306
ISSN-L : 1341-1306
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Volume 90
Displaying 1-24 of 24 articles from this issue
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Current Trends in Mass Communication Research: Rethinking Theoretical Approaches
  • Policy Information Framework and Issue-Deliberative Motive Formulation Analysis for Japanese Atomic Power Generation
    Tsuneo Ogawa
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 3-28
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_3
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    This study analyzes how a significant difference may result in stimulating a recipient of the internal motivation for“ I think further deliberation is needed ” through differences in the information framework regarding a given issue. Conventional research on mass media effects focuses on the areas of recipient recognition, image, and evaluation. However, in this study, midway through the information process from recognition to evaluation, the focus is on processes before an evaluation is formulated, and the impact on“ issue-deliberative motive formulation.” 　　The study examined the issue of Japanese atomic power generation through two types of information frameworks printed in Japanese newspapers. These were read by 120 college students and the degree of stimulation for the issue upon reading was measured. The study measured orientation towards: a） inner reflection, b） external information, and c） dependence on other’s judgement. 　　The two informational frameworks were as follows: 1.“ Fact-oriented type information,” which explained important factual areas of the issue objectively. 2.“ Prediction-influencing type information,” which predict the pros and cons of changes in the individual’s daily life. As the result, despite the information covering the same issue, the “prediction-influencing type information” was significantly different in the orientation toward a） inner-reflection and b） external information.
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  • Towards Critical Media Theory in the Age of Post-Media
    Yoshitaka Mori
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 29-45
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_29
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    　On entering the twenty-first century, our media environment has been dramatically changed by the development of digital computer technology and the Internet, the spread of mobile information terminals, and the arrival of new technology such as VR, AR, and IoT. How can we develop critical media theory that has historically focused on mass media: newspapers, radio, and television? How do we identify with the media, when the media is fragmented and pene trates our society, everyday life, and even our bodies? This paper tries to map out some concepts in order to propose（ a） critical media theo（r ies） in the Post- Media age. 　　The paper explores four shifts along with the transformation of the media: from the culture industry（ Horkheimer and Adorno） to the creative industries, from Fordism （Gramsci） to Post-Fordism （the Regulation School）, from the media as messages （McLuhan） to the meta-medium as software （Manovich）, and from the disciplinary societies （Foucault） to the societies of control （Deleuze）. How the nature of the media, the relationship between human beings and environment, and the power relation in capitalism have been transformed is discussed through examining these shifts. 　　Following the British Cultural Studies’ theoretical tradition, which has been concerned with articulations of different, sometimes contradictory theories, historical conjunctures, and contingencies, the paper proposes a new theorization of power in the digital media through re-considering the central concept of Marxist critical theory: ideology. It also discusses how we can articulate the theory of ideology in the Left’s politics with the latest affective theory.
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  • Media and Communication Studies and Political/Social Theory
    On the Development of Hegemony and Radical Democracy
    Shuzo Yamakoshi
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 47-63
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_47
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    This paper argues for the need to draw on political and social theory in the field of media and communication studies. 　　Hegemony is the main focus in this paper. This theoretical term was introduced into media and communication studies in Japan through cultural studies in the 1980s. Stuart Hall, who is the theoretical figurehead of cultural studies, applied the concept of hegemony in media and communication studies. His theoretical model, “encoding/decoding,” became one of the “standard” theories in this field. However, since the decline of cultural studies, media and communication studies in Japan has not concerned itself with the theoretical development of this concept.　This paper examines how new theories of hegemony and discourse were developed by political theorist Ernest Laclau. As pioneers of the theory of radi
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  • Trends of Journalism Studies in Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication: 2000-2015
    An Analysis of Presentations at Workshops and Papers in the Journal of Mass Communication Studies
    Jun Oguro
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 65-79
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_65
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    　　This research aims to reveal recent trends of journalism studies in Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Society in what follows. I analyzed individual and collaborative presentations made during the Society’s workshops, which take place twice a year in spring and fall, in addition to peer-reviewed papers in the academic journal Mass Communication Studies, which is published about twice a year. This investigation covers the last 16 years from 2000 to 2015. 　　The analysis of the 394 presentations showed that: ① Eighty-four of them（ or 21％） are“ reporting/journalism related.” ② Graduate students made about two thirds （64％） of the “reporting/journalism related” presentations. ③ Twenty-nine presentations focus on “newspapers,” allowing them to have a central position among the 4 major mass media. 　　The analysis of the 195 papers revealed that: ① Twenty-seven of them（ or 14％） are“ reporting/journalism related.” ② Graduate students wrote half of all papers. ③ Forty-four percent of all papers focus only on newspapers; 11％ only on tele vision; and 7％ both on newspapers and television. ④ Half of all papers were written based on “examinations” of “reported content.”
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Articles
  • China’s Internet Censorship and the Concentration of Online News Sources
    A Content Analysis of the Sina News Website（2000-2012）
    Haichun Yu
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 83-104
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_83
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    　This article examines the concentration of online news sources in China. Using the Gini coefficient as the indicator, this article explores the degree of concentration of online news sources, with the aim of establishing whether online news can be seen as a tool to gain access to a wide range of print and electronic news media. 　　Through a content analysis based on online news （2000 to 2012）, drawn from the Sina News website（ a representative commercial portal in China）, this article confirms that online news sources in China are indeed highly concentrated. 　　The findings of the study can be summarized in four areas. First, it showed that the degree of concentration of the news sources changed over time. It observed a comparatively lower degree of concentration of news sources in 2006. However, after 2006, news sources became increasingly concentrated due to a rigid policy in China’s internet censorship. Second, the study identified differences in the degree of concentration of news sources across news content. News coverage of political issues and social problems showed a comparatively lower degree of concentration, which can be explained by the changes in the censorship of internet and traditional media. Third, it revealed that online news reinforced the concentration of traditional media, by observing consistently high centrality of news sources in Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai. Finally, it identified the political factor as a key factor influencing the degree of concentration of online news sources. Given China’s firm control on online news websites, this article argues that online news may not yet be an effective mode of gaining access to a diversity of information, and is thus unable to bring about transformative political change in China.
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  • An Empirical Study of the Correlation between Library Lendings and Book Sales
    Takahiro Kanmei
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 105-122
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_105
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    　In newspaper articles and the publishing industry, there is an opinion that a decrease in the sale of books affects an increase in the lending of books in public libraries. However, there are few proof cases of the correlation and causality between these variables. We sought to empirically study whether the two variables truly demonstrate correlation or causality. We used data from 1970 to 2015. 　　The regression coefficient for the two variables of level data showed very high significance. However, this was a case of“ spurious regression.” The“ spurious regression” theory was proved by Granger and Newbold（ 1974）. We then performed regression analysis using stationary time series data, and the data after removing the time trend. We conducted a unit root test to derive the stationary time series data. Additionally, we used the Hodrick-Prescott filter to remove the time trend. Analysis of these data did not return a significant regression coefficient. We conclude that the lending of books at the public library has no effect on the sales of books.
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  • Projected Youth on the Screen
    The Audience of Kurosawa Akira’s No Regrets for Our Youth
    Kyohhei Kitamura
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 123-142
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_123
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    　The idea of youth differed significantly between the prewar generation and the wartime generation, who sacrificed their adolescence in the Second World War. The crucial gap in film reception—which was actualized in visual culture in the early stages of the U.S. occupation period—can be observed by comparing the discourses from those generations with Kurosawa Akira’s No Regrets for Our Youth. The film was released at a political-cultural turning point in Japanese society; and while the young generation commended this film, the prewar generation criticized it. This paper aims to analyze why their evaluations conflicted with each other, and explore how the representation of youth— depicted by Kurosawa and embodied by star actress Hara Setsuko—functioned for the young audience. 　　The film’s reception by the audience is conditioned by its reading position —here, a society living through a wartime experience. In addition, their social attributes strongly influence the cultural meanings they receive from the screen. In other words, there is a gap in film experience between those who are allowed to sensibly watch films as amateurs and critics who are required to analytically watch them as experts. This paper reveals that the exaggerated and dynamic cinematic expression of youth by Kurosawa—which was prohibited during the wartime period—is affectively connected to the young generation, for whom youth was an impalpable idea. The “lost youth,” for them, was visually reconstructed as tangible and concrete through moving images and a lively cinematic body.
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  • Understanding Ubiquitous Visual Experiences in Mediatized Society: The Articulation of Cinematic Advertisements and Urban Space in 1920-30s Japan
    Kazuto Kondo
    2017 Volume 90 Pages 143-161
    Published: January 31, 2017
    Released on J-STAGE: October 06, 2017
    DOIhttps://doi.org/10.24460/mscom.90.0_143
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    　In contemporary society, many visual advertisements for film and TV are embedded in the urban space. People can easily consume these secondary texts before and after watching the primary texts, and visual experiences relating to film and TV are mediated everywhere and all the time. Such experiences shape contemporary media culture, and researchers have tried to understand the logic of the reception of these texts. However, previous studies assumed the ubiquity of these texts and neglected the historical process in which visual advertisements came to be utilized. For understanding ubiquitously mediated visual experiences, it is important to construct histories of these secondary texts. From this viewpoint, this research investigates when and how exhibitors started to utilize visual advertisements for newly released films, and analyzes the reception of such materials. 　　Focusing the discussion on the oldest cinema trade magazines published first around 1930—Kokusaieigashinbun and Kinemashuho—this paper shows how from the late 1920s, film exhibitors began to embed visual advertisements in urban space to attract emerging audiences on the move. During the 1920s,through the reformation of transportation systems, urban audiences could move more freely among entertainment districts such as Asakusa, Ginza and Shinjuku. Given this possibility of moving around, film exhibitors had to make an effort to draw them to their own movie theaters. Consequently, on the one hand, vicarious film experiences were mediated through such materials in the context of time and space, without being related to actual watching practices; while on the other, film experiences as expectation/memory were persistently mediated before/during/after watching films by the relay of filmic images. In these two ways, film experiences were redefined and became ubiquitously mediated.
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Workshop Reports
Research Group Records(April to September, 2016)
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