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КУЛЬТУРА И ИСКУССТВО
Вестн. Ом. ун-та. 2G1G. № 1. С. 163-16S.
УДК 37S Л. В. Жилина
Омский государственный университет им. Ф. М Достоевского
МЕДИА-ФАКТОР В СОЗДАНИИ ОБРАЗА СТРАНЫ РОССИИ В ЯПОНИИ*
Японцы всецело зависят от средств массовой информации как информационных источников. СМИ, однако, не только развлекают и предлагают новости людям, но также и передают стереотипы. Большинство молодых людей в Японии получает информацию о зарубежных странах именно из СМИ.
Ключевые слова: стереотипирование в средствах массовой информации, образы, СМИ в Японии, газеты.
Introduction
As active participants in the global information flow, media audiences are heavily exposed to messages from the mass media, accumulating, directly or indirectly, large amounts of images, sounds and news bites—so much so, that very little of what media consumers believe constitutes social reality, particularly about people, events, and issues of a global nature, is based solely on personal experience.
The media1 is one of the primer sources of information and of socialization in our society. That is why it is an important factor influencing the people’s stereotypes. Recent studies are backing this statement. The American Scientist Larry Bartels stated that consistent, distinctive media information has a longterm impact on its audience over a relatively extensive period of time [1]. This can make the media very effective in influencing the people’s long-term picture of other countries. Representatives of the priming effect furthermore believe that the media has an important effect on people’s opinion making [2]. Priming is the process by which certain portions of media content are brought to the forefront and certain other portions are relegated to the background. In this context one also speaks of agenda setting [3]. Both processes allow the media to exercise control over public opinion2 [4]. Media is the most powerful tool for the formation of Public opinion in contemporary times.
This research has been conducted to determine the effect of the mass media on the public’s belief systems in Japan. These studies have concluded that the media’s power to influence public perception and the de gree to which people are exposed to media representations combine to make the mass media one of the most significant influences in developed societies.
This paper highlights studies that provide evidence tosupport the following the mass media are a primary source of public information about
* Статья написана в рамках научного проекта «Формирование общественного мнения японцев о России и русских в начале XIX века. Сравнительные исследования», поддержанного Грантом Японского Фонда в 2007 г.
© Л.В. Жилина, 2G1G
Russia and the Russians for Japanese students.
Place of the mass media in the life of contemporary Japanese people
The Japanese heavily depend on mass media as information sources. Compared to the United States, Germany, and Hong Kong, Japanese respondents are more dependent on mass media (newspapers, television, magazines, and mass weeklies) and less dependent on interpersonal communication and personal observation [5].
Japanese newspaper 'Yomiuri" conducted the poll on October 6-7 2007 all over Japan, 1812 persons took part in this research: 92 % of the participants consider the newspapers as a necessary source of information. In research, which was conducted Thus, quite high or the high degree of confidence to a printed word has declared 87 % of the respondents. As was clarified during this interrogation, in spite of a wide circulation of the Internet, on the average Japanese people spend more time reading the newspaper, instead of reading the information from the Internet, sitting in front of the monitor screen of the computer . In country of the Uprising sun about 87 % of Japanese people read newspaper from 10 mines to one hour per day, and 36 % of the participants of interrogation use the Internet at the same period of time (45,2 %-in general, never use "the global network ").
As one of positive qualities of the newspaper, that was named by the Japanese respondents that they are less than television intrudes on people’s privacy. 73 % of the participants answered this way. For a television this figure was only - 46 %. In general, 63 % of the Japanese citizens suppose that newspapers create youth’s interest to the life of Society [6] .
According to obtained in 2007 survey data3, given in my work “Representations of neighbouring countries at the beginning of 21st century - Russia and Japan in students’ imaginations” [7] - Popular Sources of Information about Russia and the Russians for Japanese students4-
TV news 42,1 %
Newspapers 31 %
The Internet 12 %
Journals 2,3 %
Radio 1 %
Summarizing Books (5,8 %),Lectures (3 %),Talks with friends (2,8 %) - 11,6 %, which help to contemporary Japanese to learn about Russia, it is possible to make the following conclusion: Mass media (88,4 %) have the potential to mediate reality. For people with extensive personal contacts in a myriad of social contexts, the mass media are just one source of knowledge about political affairs and different ethnic, national or cultural groups. The information and impressions that people receive from the mass media are far less influential when they have firsthand experience with these issues and groups, upon which perceptions are built [8]. On the other hand, for issues and subjects concerning which most personal experience is limited, for example foreigners, television and other media forms may virtually be the only vivid sources of information [9].
Japanese media representations of
Russia promote false and negative images and stereotypes
The mass media play an influential role in shaping people’s attitudes about the world they live in and about the individuals who inhabit the world with them.
I decided to pay special attention to Newspapers because newspapers were chosen by students of JWU as one of the main source of information on Russia.
Having all the variety of existing sources of information (including newspapers) some of them are well-known and respected in definite social groups. People give more credit to their information than to some others. Reliability, authority and high level of source of information contributes to accept icon of convincing message. The level, reliability, authority of the source of information depends on the character of the problem and definite situation, the reputation of the source and a number of other factors, characterizing the peculiarity of the group itself. Based on these considerations, it was decided to pick out for the analyse 3 the most popular in Japan newspapers -Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun - covering the largest audience of readers.
There were analyzed publications, printed 30.07.2006-30.07.2007, in Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun , Mainichi Shim-bun - were randomly chosen to be examined as part of the sample. In the random sample, 3 of the newspapers analyzed had 1588 arti-
cles in whose titles contained words “Russia” and “the Russians”.
In the newspapers examined, the following types of publications contained words “Russia” and “the Russians” were identified, as follows:
1. Political life.
2. Economical life.
3. Society.
4. Sport.
5. Culture.
6. Incidents-accidents.
7. Others.
For example in Yomiuri Shimbun - during period 01.08.2006-01.08.2007 - 315 ar-ticles5, contained the words “Russia” or “the Russians” in the titles were published.
The study concluded that 94 of those articles focused on with "Economical life” of Russia and included topics about "Financial affairs”, "Enterprises”, "Technique and Technology”, "Trade”, "Business”, "Information and news”.
EXAMPLES of students’ answers show how Japanese students responded to the question “What is first of all coming to you in association with the word “Russia”:
- The country with rich marine products
- Country has rich natural environments.
- The import of crab.
- “Russia possesses minerals”.
- “May be it is not absolutely true...but, it has not the image of the rich state and I think, that the important role plays the extraction of minerals”.
- “Becoming the democratic state it is in the
chaotic disorder. It possesses natural
minerals and develops.”
- ”It has entered into capitalism Attention of
all world has been attracted to the country because it possesses oil”, “It became
capitalist state”, “from socialist became
capitalist state”.
- Market economy became active.
- It represents itself as a member of BRIC.
- It became little bit better as in India, China and following, it seems, Russia.
- “Russia began to sell oil much more”.
- “Owing to increase of the prices for oil”.
Russian business therefore, until now, has remained “a cat in the bag” and because of this is feared. Fundamentally, its shape is formed de-facto by three figures: YUKOS, Roman Abramovich and Gazprom, with the latter having the greatest influence at the current time. The effect of this is that too often Russian business is associated with the system of political power itself in Russia. The “political” functioning of Gazprom (for example, in the conflict with Ukraine) has a negative influence on its image as a business-structure.
71 of them dealt with political life of Russia and dealt with such topics as "Elections”, "Diplomatic affairs with Japan”, ”War”, "Administration”,” Military affairs”,” The police”,” Justice”.
EXAMPLES of Japanese students’ answers:
- Military state.
- It fought against Japan many years ago.
- The RussoJapanese War.
- Instability.
- Country where economy isn't stable.
- The society which still is unstable.
- Bad relations with other countries.
- There is image of the country which isn't on good terms with Japan.
- The image of the country which is on bad terms with Japan.
- It is not on good terms with Europe.
- The ima.ge which is terrible like a soldier as Putin being.
- It is not so opened.
- A closed country.
- The country is connecting with North Korea.
- It is on good terms with China and North Korea.
- Connection with North Korea.
2,8 % of students link their word associations for Russia with the territorial disputes regarding the “Northern territories”:
- The “northern territory” problem.
- The country which doesn't return the “northern territory”.
- The country fighting with Japan for the territory.
- The top problem of the difficult relations with Japan is “northern territory” problem.
- Two countries are arguing over “northern territory”.
68 articles dealt with theme "Society”. These articles dealt with such topics as "Labour”, "Children”, "Civic movement”, "Social security”, "Women ” and " Education”.
EXAMPLES: There were such answers like these:
- Society gap is big.
- The gap of society.
- Life of old men seems so hard..
- People are poor.
- Life is hard.
- An orphan lives in the manhole.
28 articles dealt with theme "Sport”. Recently a number of the articles on sport topics is increased.
EXAMPLES:
6.6 % of students associate Russia with sports, sports achievements and sportsmen: -Sharapova.
-Plyuschenko.
-Figure skating.
-Volleyball is strong.
-Synchronic swimming is terrific.
-Rhythmic sportive gymnastics is strong.
40 articles dealt with theme "Culture” and they were devoted to "Art”, "Literature”, "Music”, "Theatres”, ”Performing arts” and "Dance” . Articles on cultural topics are shorter than political and economical discussions on the pages of these newspapers. Typically, most articles, identified as “Culture”, dealt with theatre topics (first nights of the performances, new staging, festivals and so on).
EXAMPLES:
In this context the students listed: -Dostoyevsky.
-Prokofiev.
-Russian literature.
-Japanese books are popular.
4.6 % of the respondents name “shows” -national dances, ballet and duet “Tam”. This is not entirely surprising given the fact that JWU is pure female university with a high interest in dance and related activities.
And 132 (!) of these articles were devoted to "Incidents-accidents” -"Crime”, "Fire”. There are many articles deal with "South Kuriles Fishers” theme, but these topics have been given from different points of view. So these articles are identified as "Political” and
"Economical life” and "Incidents-accidents”.
For 7,5 % of Japanese students it is association with negative incidents or the facts connected with Russia:
- The poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko who was famous in context with the spy problem.
- Accident with the spy and his unnatural death.
- A popular image - spies, military activities.
- Chernobil accident.
- There are many problems in the politics.
- There is no transparency in political situation.
- Image of the country with financial difficulties problems).
- Though it is a republic, politics is monopolistic.
Negative perceptions of many processes and occurrences in Russian business are based upon antiquated stereotypes, the tendencies of mass media and unavoidable projections of the image of the country in the reputation of its corporate citizens. The fundamental factor currently determining the perceptions of Russian business abroad is Russia's image, which unfortunately still has a negative influence.
The next topic in terms of the length of the newspapers coverage dealt with representatives of Russia who were either involved or suspected to be involved in various crimes. However, the analysis shows that most people who were specifically identified in these reports as the Russian criminals or suspects were in fact not ethnically Russians. For example, Japanese mass media often referred to members of organize crime from post-Soviet
countries as “Russian Mafia” even though academic studies revealed that most criminals among immigrants from the Soviet Union were not ethnically Russians, and they were not organized formally and hierarchically like the Italian mafia. In 2007 summer - in mass media there was very popular theme dealt with “Russian LEXUS-club” in Tokyo.
In this connection I can demonstrate answers of Japanese students:
- Danger.
- Russian Mafia.
- Killing.
- There are many crimes.
- Now, public safety is bad.
Terrorism was the second biggest news topic concerning Russia in terms of the number of stories and the third in terms of the number of words.
It was indicated in students’ answers:
- Terrorism.
- There are many people who do something like terrorism.
- A dreadful country.
Positive stories related to Russia were much less prevalent than negative and mixed reports. The positive coverage was mostly confined to non-political topics, such as Russian artists and sportsmen, and growing popularity of vodka and so on:
- They like tequila.
- Cold, liquor, Moscow.
- Cold, vodka is drunk well.
- Cold, Wide, There were many small nations.
- Cold, dreadful, wonder.
- Cold, Big, world history, many beautiful people.
- Putin, Dostoevskii and Sharapova.
Also 6,3 % of students indicated word associations with “national cuisine”:
- The alcohol’s degree is high.
- Caviar.
- Pirozhki.
- Warm cooking such as Borscht is famous.
There were such students’ answers:
- People’s hearts are warm.
- Population is large.
- Aeroflot.
- The image of the quiet towns.
- Mammoth.
- Cheburashka.
-1 have the image of the child's culture because I like a Russian picture book -“Cheburashka”.
- As the Russian animate cartoon ”Cheburashka”, it is a little sad image.
Japanese students being generally based on limited and sometimes inaccurate information given by such sources as TV, newspapers, animations or cartoons. But in general, it is necessary to note - there are no dominant of positive images of Russia in imagination of Japanese students.
Conclusion
The analysis of major publications printed 30.07.2006-30.07.2007, in Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun , Mainichi Shim-bun shows significant differences in quantity, the content, and quality of Japanese newspapers coverage of such political topics as
Japanese-Russia relations, the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, terrorism in Russia, the “northern territory” problem and so on.
This study confirmed findings of several previous studies which reported a prevalence of negative coverage of Russia. The newspapers coverage of Russia and the Russians was dominated by negative stories, such as tense relations with Japan, crime, and undemocratic developments in the Russian politics. Many of the news reports were biased against Russia and the Russians. For example, they suggested that the Russian government was implicated in the Litvinenko poisoning without presenting sufficient evidence or examining alternative versions. Similarly, stories about crime tended to misrepresent criminals and suspects as Russian immigrants or Russians.
In addition, a world view that upholds false and negative stereotypes of Russia leads to an increased level of fear in Japanese community. There is a complex relationship between mass media depictions of Russia and the public’s understanding.The role of Japanese mass media in forming of an image of Russia in the eyes of its audience is very important because it is powerful factor influencing the people’s stereotypes.
The mass media present a stereotyped picture of life, which can often lead to undesirable prejudices within not just national, but international society. The mass media and in particular the television and print based news are often accused as being a significant source, in wide ranging and varied ways, of enhancing common stereotypes.
NOTES
1 The terms “media” and “mass media” include newspapers, radio and television. Various studies cited focus on one or another of these media, and others examine some combination of media. Where the specific source is not mentioned, the reader can understand the terms "media" and "mass media" to include all of the above.
Iyengar, Peters and Kinder showed in one of their studies about the mass media that media profoundly affects what problems viewers consider important. This is called agenda setting; compare Iyengar, Peters and Kinder(1982).
The subject of this public opinion poll became knowledge of the Japanese students about Russia, the Russians and their features (national character), the economic situation in contemporary Russia. We employed the most widespread, as in sociology, kind of interview style questioning. The Public Opinion poll we conducted has al-
lowed us to find out sources of information about Russia and what Japanese students know about this country.
Within the framework of my research, supported by Grant of The Japan Foundation, conducted in 2007 in Tokyo (Japan), students of Japan Women's University, which is one of the oldest known universities in Tokyo, have participated in our public opinion survey. JWU is the largest and oldest private women's university in Japan. The University has some two hundred full-time teaching staff and 6182students.
Total amount of the articles is different from summarized, because some articles deal with different problems (in this case there are two or more topics the article deals with).
REFERENCES
[1] Bartels Larry M. Messages Recieved: “The Political
Impact of Media Exposure // The American Political Science Review. 1993. Vol. 87.
[2] URL: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_Setting
[3] Iyengar Shanto Mark D., Peters and Donald R. Kinder. Experimental Demonstrations of the “Not -So- Minimal Consequences of Television News Programs // The American Political Science Review. 1982. Vol. 76.
[4] URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/priming
[5] See Edelstein A., Ito Y., Kepplinge H. Communica-
tion and culture: Acomparative approach. New York: Longman, 1989. P. 206.
[6] URL: http://www.vz.ru/news/2007/10/14/ 117213.html
[7] Zhilina L. Representations of neighbouring coun-
tries at the beginning of 21st century Russia and Japan in students' imaginations. Omsk, 2008.
[8] Silverstein B., Flamenbaum C. Biases in the per-
ception and cognition of the actions of enemies // Journal of Social Issues. 1989. 45, 2, P. 33-51.
[9] Silverstein B.. Enemy images: the psychology of
U.S. attitudes and cognitions regarding the Soviet Union // American Psychologist. 1989. 44, 6. P. 903-913.
