Review and Reflect
Shaping International News Coverage in Japanese Online Media View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sooyeon Kim
Increasing access to online media leads us into a “Digital Era in Journalism.” Japan, the largest newspaper circulator, is cognizant. Shaping public opinion, online media is indispensable to addressing social issues and policy challenges. This study analyze international news reporting trends in Japanese online media and examine what influences news coverage, particularly Japan’s leading online media, Yahoo! News, during 2020–2021. The findings indicate that the proportion of international news covered in online media was relatively small, and there was an imbalance in reporting trends, that is, only a few specific countries were covered. Thus, it was clear that there was no significant difference in reporting trends between traditional and online media despite the latter’s fewer limitations in terms of publishing space. Furthermore, although international news coverage is the foundation for mutual understanding and public opinion formation in the international community, much of the coverage was related to the “home” state: Japan. Therefore, in the Japanese context, readers may be unable to gain an objective outlook on various world affairs. In addition, this study can clarify the trends and determinants of online media’s international news coverage. Comparing the results with research on traditional media can help understand the role of online media in Japan and other countries. Finally, focusing on online media is essential due to the potential increase in fake news and deepfakes in the future, which would lead to the spread of disinformation. Therefore, these findings help shed light on journalism in the digital age.
Featured Racialized Epistemologies and the Derivative Work Right: Sampling as a Function of Iterative Musical Aesthetics View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lesley Model
“The Disco Re-edit Movement” rolls in at the turn of the millennium, hitting us hard with its funky, chunky renditions and interpolations of – the sometimes iconic but also previously overlooked and resonant – sounds of the past. I argue that, by tracing the techniques, priorities and more iterative aesthetic furthered by such flagrant uses of sampling to the Caribbean musical influence over 1970s New York (specifically showing itself in disco and hip hop's intervening scenes), we can explain their misalignment with copyright's musical work. In doing so, I approach copyright through a postcolonial lens, drawing out the racialized contours of its foundational tenets. I propose that by expanding the definition of derivative work (in copyright), so that this is assessed differentially and on the basis of genre, we might open up a space for epistemological diversity.
The Impact of Live Broadcasts of Japanese Professional Sumo Wrestling on Mongolian Wrestling Fans
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Unursaikhan Tugj, Bat Oyun Sukhbold, Mendkhuu Ganbaatar, Ariunzaya Norovsuren
In recent years, the popularity of professional sumo wrestling has extended beyond Japan’s borders, with a growing number of foreign wrestlers joining the ranks of the sport. Mongolian wrestlers, in particular, have made a significant impact on Japanese professional sumo, with many rising to become some of the sport’s top stars. Live broadcasts of Japanese professional sumo wrestling matches have played a significant role in spreading the sport’s popularity both within Japan and abroad. Thanks to the availability of live streaming and television broadcasts, fans from around the world can watch and enjoy the excitement of sumo wrestling matches as they happen. In particular, Mongolian wrestling fans have been able to closely follow the performances of their favorite wrestlers in the Japanese league, and support them from afar. The impact of live broadcasts of Japanese professional sumo wrestling matches on Mongolian wrestling fans is an area of particular interest for this study. It is likely that such broadcasts have not only helped to expand the fanbase of the sport in Mongolia but also allowed Mongolian fans to gain a deeper understanding of the customs and traditions that are a part of the sport. Additionally, the success of Mongolian wrestlers in the Japanese league may have inspired young people in Mongolia to pursue a career in professional sumo wrestling, creating a ripple effect of cultural exchange and influence.
The Abstruction of Julian Assange
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Joshua Guitar
With the launch of WikiLeaks in 2006, Julian Assange significantly altered the relationships among journalism, government, and democratic citizenry. Boasting a database of over ten million documents, WikiLeaks specializes in the publication of classified or restricted materials about governmental, organizational, and corporate corruption. For his work, Assange has accumulated a multitude of awards from reputable human rights organizations and news organizations. Yet, his practices have made him one of the most wanted people in the world by major government powers. Through an unwavering campaign, government and media associations have criminalized Assange and quelled public attention to Assange’s persecution and the revelations of WikiLeaks. Operationalizing abstruction analysis, this study demonstrates how mediated messages restrict Assange’s capacity as an agent of political change. As theorized, abstructions manifest in discourse from the aggregate reactions to singular agents who expose and dissent against authoritarian power. Considered threats to the inequities of the status quo, these agents and their personal identifiers undergo three ideological processes. First, agents like Assange, endure an erasure of agency through abstraction. Referent terms then, like the name “Julian Assange,” become disconnected from their antecedent persons. The names are then rhetorically reconstructed as sites of inconsequential political ructions that distract from the substance of the agent’s dissent. As a result, these processes obstruct democratic discourse about the reasons for the initial protest. These abstructions afford institutions and agents of authoritarian power the ability to continue assaulting democratic governance. This analysis demonstrates how Assange endures the abstruction processes that reinforce authoritarian power.
