Editorial article:

Whats News?

Someone help me. When I open TV, I don't know what's news and what's entertainment.

Of course, the subjectivity is always in question what comes to interpreting any media, including this website, of course. One way would be just to stop watching TV. That is not a bad idea, in any case. Get rid of the device. But then, sometimes TV gives valuable information, such as in event of earthquake, or other such disaster. And somehow, the TV ends up getting turned on in the evenings.. I admit it, I need my feed of news in visual way too.

But the fact is that the content of TV news in Japan is hardly what I call serious journalism. I get the sense that my emotions are played with, soundtracks of famous movies are mixed in, for example, and facts are not portrayed clearly. Take recent murder case for example. TV excessively interviewed the victim's father and family residing in England. Moreover, the TV went on and interviewed the suspect's parents. In Europe, police would be interviewed instead because it's the professional and legal institution related to the matter. It would even feel improper to make the families involved in such news in Europe. Their emotions are their own and they shouldn't be exposed to the public.

NHK is perhaps on the cooler end of the spectrum, and their news tend to be less rumor focused. Sometimes they even include news from abroad.

But then, there are these scandal shows. You know, security tapes of criminals, police footage and other such material, usually from US. Usually these all will have a sad end, someone getting killed, usually it's "the bad guy". I think these are a miniature tragedies, but they are treated as a pure entertainment anyway.

I mean, there are things I don't want to know.

While I must confess that I watch these myself occasionally, I can't stop feeling awkward.

Then, real news from abroad are generally very rare in Japanese TV and NHK seems to have exclusive right to show actual, real documentaries.

Sometimes I do miss the news of Finnish television. Especially YLE 1. You know, the cool, objective facts shown in linear, unobtrusive matter. Of course, sometimes the importance of the news is questionable. Like you know, there is war and famine going on somewhere in the world, and people talk about how eggs became a cent more expensive. But Finnish news do include segment called "news from abroad". And it is included everyday. This is what I miss.

If I want to know what happens in Europe, for example, I have no other choice but to get BBC, or read internet websites.

I call for Japanese mass media to start to respect good journalism. Rumor programs and entertainment should be separated into their own programs, and news should be just what they are, subjective news with actually useful information.

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