Paper short abstract:

Given an increasingly oppressive media environment, this paper argues that public broadcaster NHK has positioned itself less by an overt plea for official policies but rather by a (relatively) subtle eschewal of controversial issues, known as "agenda-cutting" in communication studies.

Paper long abstract:

In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident, marking the symbolic failure of national policy (kokusaku), news coverage by semi-independent media behemoth NHK has frequently become the object of criticism. On the one hand, in its mission as public broadcaster NHK is supposed to serve the citizens' interests, on the other, the media organization has always maintained an ambivalent relationship to political power, which often turned the "watchdog" into a "watched dog" (Ellis Krauss). The news coverage on Fukushima and topics related to nuclear energy expresses this normative dilemma very vividly. This paper argues that while NHK does not blatantly promote government policy, it rather tends to avoid content which could question the official narrative. As the government has been trying to establish narratives of recovery and safety, particularly with the Olympics coming up, issues surrounding Fukushima such as the disposal of contaminated water or food safety have again become highly sensitive subjects. In this light, a news content analysis reveals how critical issues are marginalized or completely dropped from the program, a media phenomenon known as agenda-cutting in communication studies. It seems that, for the time being, NHK is going to remain the most authoritative media channel in communicating and framing "official reality", no matter if intended or not.