Dear colleagues,
you are cordially invited to the next meeting of the
DIJ Social Science Study Group on 9 December (Wed) at
6:30 PM at the DIJ (for directions please see
http://www.dijtokyo.org/access). All are welcome to
attend, but registration (kremers@dijtokyo.org) is
appreciated.

Tobias Weiss (U Zurich/DIJ) will give a presentation on

Framing and networks in Japanese nuclear power
reporting

Japanese mass media - especially television and
newspapers - have been heavily criticized after the
3.11 Fukushima nuclear accident. For some they have
under-reported the risks of nuclear power and
contributed an irrational belief in the safety of
nuclear reactors. For others they have disregarded the
victims of the 3.11 Tsunami by overemphasizing the
importance of the nuclear accident.
I will try to answer two questions in my presentation.
How did Japanese journalists portray nuclear power from
the start of the "nuclear controversy"
in the 1970s through the Fukushima nuclear accident and
what factors have influenced their portrayal of nuclear
power.
In the first part of the presentation I will present my
findings from a content analysis of Japanese newspaper
reporting before and after the Fukushima accident. I
use Irving Goffman's concept of "framing" to analyze
article series focusing on nuclear power. The results
indicate, that Japanese mass media do not always tend
towards conformity, as literature on the press club
system asserts, but show a substantial variation of
framing.
In a second step I will try to shed light on the
circumstances of news production on nuclear power
reporting in Japan, drawing on interviews and other
data. While the news companies' editorial line has
varying influence on nuclear power reporting of
individual journalists, network integration seems to be
a good indicator of the stance journalists take on
nuclear power.

About the presenter:
Tobias Weiss studied Japanese Studies, Chinese Studies
and Economics at University of Hamburg. He was from
2007 till 2008 MEXT scholar at Fukui University, Japan
and is since 2012 PHD student at University of Zurich,
Research Priority Programme Asia and Europe. He is a
DIJ doctoral fellowship holder during the fall of 2015.

Location:
German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ),
Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku,
Tokyo, 102-0094, Phone: 03-3222-5077
For directions and a map visit
http://www.dijtokyo.org/access