Media Narratives and Framing of the Poor: A Study of Japanese Print Media on Poverty Issues

Mass media have been playing a crucial role in communicating public policy while targeting the audience as consumers. Such a contradictory nature of media operation is apparent when media report social issues related to marginalized populations. Poverty issues may appear bland and lack commercial value, resulting in less coverage in the media. Nevertheless, poverty remains a pervasive problem even in advanced societies, including Japan. Once a role model for Asian countries to emulate, the prospering image of Japan has glossed over the Japanese government's failure in the past two decades to create wealth for households via higher wages. Notably, the urban older poor often face the most pressure as they are assumed to possess a self-reliance ethos. How has the Japanese media represented the people who experience poverty?

The study will present the preliminary findings from the data collection from three major national print media outlets in Japan, i.e., Yomiuri Shinbun, Asahi Shinbun, and Nikkei News. Yomiuri is the national paper with the highest circulation, while Asahi and Nikkei have different socio-political interests. The study selects news from significant periods in the past 30 years, such as the economic bubble burst and the coronavirus outbreaks, to identify and reveal the shifting patterns of media narratives on poverty. The implications of the use of media language in Japanese society will be discussed.