A working group on public broadcasting was set up in “the Study Group on the Ideal Broadcasting System in the Digital Age” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) in September 2022. The group has been discussing the role of public service broadcasting in the internet age and NHK’s operations using the internet that are currently defined as “optional operations.” In the four deliberations of the working group so far, experts have noted that NHK should be allowed to expand its online operations, with remarks such as “The strength of public service broadcasting is its capacity to deliver basic information that must be shared by the public in a trustful manner without being preoccupied with the attention economy. How to provide these benefits to those not watching broadcasts should be worth considering” and “If the system is left unchanged, Japan will lag further behind within the entire information space in terms of providing the public with healthy access to information.” On the other hand, the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association argued, “If making internet operations compulsory is to be considered, NHK should explain its aims and content concretely and go through careful discussion,” and the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association, “If NHK’s internet operations become compulsory, it will impede fair competition and undermine the diversity of speech and the pluralism of media, which may cause detriment to the public and society.”
This paper is a re-publication of the past four articles posted on “BUNKEN blog” that reviewed the discussed of the working group on public broadcasting. One of the articles included a summary of the developments of January 2023, during which a series of actions surrounding NHK occurred. Please note some issues featured in the blog saw changes in the content as the discussions progressed, but the author keeps them as a record of the discussion process.